Social media marketing is a surefire way to establish direct communication with your target audience, build long-term relationships with customers, and pivot your business. But social media marketing isn’t easy.

Your plan consists of hundreds of more or less important details. It takes a lot of strategic thinking to craft a unique course of action that perfectly resonates with your brand. Unfortunately, many marketers delve so deep into the subject that they forget the very essence of the business.

To remedy this, we’ll highlight important rules of social media. This covers what customers really expect on Instagram, Twitter, and similar platforms.

Here are seven important laws of social media marketing.

1.    Law of Listening

The first and most important law of social media marketing is the law of listening. Instead of being brand-centric, be open to users’ experiences and learn as much as you can about your followers. That includes:

• Average age and other demographic details like gender and location
• The relationship status of a typical fan
• Content interests
• The time of the day when they are active online

All of these features are important if you want to be able to craft unique and high-quality social media posts. But that’s not all – the law of listening also means you should treat social networks as customer services tools. Listen to your followers, analyze their comments, and gain new knowledge on how to solve people’s problems.

2.    Law of Quality

Do you know why users follow business pages on social platforms? They expect to see interesting, educational, relevant, and entertaining content. In other words, brands that do not publish premium-level content do not respect the law of quality.

For instance, you cannot publish only irrelevant stock images to your social channels and expect to impress your audience. It would be like launching a professional writer service, only to plagiarize someone else’s works.

Additionally, avoid posting brand-centric content too often. While it is good to remind fans of your products from time-to-time, don’t do it too frequently. Most marketers respect the 80/20 principle:

• Publish 80% high-quality posts to provide value
• Reserve only 20% of posts for direct brand promotion

Look at General Electric’s Facebook account. Although GE manufactures strictly technical equipment with no day-to-day usage potential, they still make an outstanding impression on followers thanks to innovative and premium-quality posts.

3.    Law of Influence

According to a report, 80% of consumers purchased a product after an influencer recommended it to them. The strength of social influencers is immense, so they have become one of the latest laws of digital marketing. Two things play the key role here:

• Awareness: If you’re trying to raise awareness quickly, hire a social media influencer. The idea is clear – a person with 200,000 followers can spread the word about your business instantly.
• Engagement: If you hope to increase conversion rates, concentrate on micro influencers, or with a smaller reach. Individuals with up to 40 or 50 thousand followers have a much more loyal audience. They can encourage people to take action and perhaps even purchase your products.

Check out how Nike promotes the brand with the help of Instagram influencers. Their current goal is to raise awareness for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Nike does this by collaborating with renowned athletes from Japan.

4.    Law of Compounding

Everything you’ve done so far should lead you to the next social media rule: the law of compounding. Namely, a well-planned and executed social media marketing strategy will have a compounding effect. It’ll maximize your overall online visibility.

Jake Gardner, a digital marketer, explains high-quality content inspires followers to re-share your posts: “This basically means your reach is going to skyrocket if you keep posting amazing content across social networks.”

5.    Law of Focus

Once upon a time, social media marketers tried so hard to be Jacks-of-all-trades. They tried to aim for success in every way possible. This approach is bad because you cannot expect to stay relevant in the long-run without a clear idea of how to behave and create relevant content. You must be able to adapt.

This is why the law of focus became so critical. It means you shouldn’t attempt to approach and impress every customer out there. On the contrary, concentrate on your target audience and design content for your average client.

Secondly, don’t create an account on all social platforms, especially if you are running a small business. A better solution is to focus on up to three networks where you know your audience is active and supportive.

GoPro is a great example. The brand mainly focuses on video streaming platforms such as YouTube and Instagram.

6.    Law of Accessibility

Social media marketing is a 24/7 game. Users expect you to be available around the clock. The law of accessibility means your audience can reach out to you and expect a near-to-immediate response.

Keep in mind social networks have been built primarily as communication channels. In such circumstances, it is useful to keep in touch with fans, ask questions, reply to their posts, and answer their comments.

Upwork demonstrates this well. The freelancing network always replies to followers, provides support, and solves issues quickly. This is the way to build a genuine community and prove you care about your social media fans. Anything else will be treated as rude and disrespectful.

7.    Law of Reciprocity

Finally, respect the law of reciprocity. If you don’t share other people’s content, don’t expect them to share yours. If you want people to engage with your posts, interact with other people’s posts. As you spend time creating and sharing content, take time to share and talk about other people’s published content, too.

The Bottom Line

Brands can use a variety of tricks and hacks to stand out. But all should respect the fundamental rules of social media marketing. If you forget any of these laws, you”ll lose focus and jeopardize the results of your social media campaigns.

We highlighted seven key concepts of social media marketing. Follow these rules to help ensure the long-term success of your campaigns.

Author Bio: Alice Jones is a full-time digital marketer and a part-time assignment help writer from San Francisco, California. She is focused on topics such as social media marketing, search engine optimization, and digital advertising. Alice is a passionate traveler and a dedicated yoga practitioner.