Welcome to a deep dive into organic social media marketing and its crucial role in scaling direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands. As the digital landscape evolves, the ability to harness the power of organic social strategies can define the success of a DTC brand. Today, we're unpacking strategies to not just participate but thrive in this space.
In this blog post, we delve into the world of organic content marketing through social media, featuring insights from Max Schaubel, the founder and CEO of Drift Element. Max will unpack the strategies that propelled his brand to achieve an impressive organic reach across multiple platforms. Whether you're just starting out or aiming to scale your existing efforts, you'll gain valuable tips on how to effectively engage your audience and boost your online presence.
In this talk it’s all about organic social media marketing strategy:
Content marketing foundations: Max outlines how Drift Element started with content marketing, emphasizing the importance of jumping right in and learning through experience.
- Strategic content distribution: Learn how to maximize your reach by strategically using various social media platforms, from TikTok to Instagram and beyond.
- Key growth levers: Discover the essential elements that can drive growth on social media, including how to optimize for average playback time—a critical KPI for content engagement.
- Adapting content across platforms: Gain insight into how to tweak your content for different social media channels to keep your brand consistently engaging across the board.
- Real-life campaign successes: Max shares examples of successful content strategies and campaigns that have significantly increased engagement and follower count.
- Future trends in organic social media marketing: Explore what the future holds for social media marketing and how to stay ahead of the curve.
Stay tuned as we explore these topics, providing you with the expertise you need to leverage organic content marketing for your brand’s success.
Organic social media marketing for DTCs
Markus Repetschnig, Admetrics CEO: Hello and welcome to the latest episode of the DTC Dive Podcast. Today, we have Max Schaubel with us, the founder and CEO of Drift Element, a company that sells custom watches primarily in the motorsports sector. Drift Element is particularly known for its organic reach, now boasting over 2 million followers across all channels. Max, it’s a remarkable achievement. I’m thrilled to welcome you today!
Max Schaubel, DriftElement Founder: Thank you so much for having me. I’m looking forward to our chat.
Markus: Max, as you've mentioned, you're particularly strong in organic content marketing. Could you share a bit about how you started using online marketing or content marketing for your online shop? What were the first steps?
Max: We launched our brand, and naturally, when you start a brand, you initially don't have much experience in e-commerce. Then the TikTok hype started, and we thought, why not give it a shot? At first, we just made some videos, filmed our products a bit, and jumped right into the cold water. Since performance marketing isn't straightforward with products like ours where customer retention is low, we thought we'd post on TikTok and see how it goes.
Markus: How did you distribute your efforts across social channels?
Max: Initially, TikTok introduced this short-form content, and it was a big hype. Soon after, other platforms like Instagram, Meta in general, and even YouTube introduced short-form content. So, now we create a video and post it across TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and other channels. We essentially use the same content across all platforms.
Markus: Could you share some key elements of your strategy? What are the levers for growth on social media?
Max: Sure, we started by filming our products and just putting content out there. This worked well for us because we were early to these platforms, and there wasn't much competition then. Over time, we figured out what works best and based our strategy on these findings. We soon realized that the average playback time was a crucial KPI. Platforms want users to stay on for as long as possible to maximize ad revenue, so they reward longer viewing times. We optimized our videos to keep the average playback time high.
Markus: How do you adapt your content for different platforms? Are there any specific triggers or levers that you adjust depending on the platform?
Max: Although the audiences on different platforms vary slightly, such as TikTok having a younger demographic compared to Facebook, our content generally performs well across all channels. We might adjust a video slightly; for example, videos on TikTok can be longer, but YouTube shorts need to be under one minute. We might split a longer video into two parts for YouTube but otherwise, we use the same video across all platforms.
Markus: How do you coordinate content production and publication across different channels?
Max: Initially, I handled everything myself. The most important thing is to just start and then maintain consistency, as all platforms reward this. As we grew, we structured our process more formally. We now have a team that handles camera work, someone else who does editing, and we plan our videos in advance, scripting some while improvising others. We film, edit, and then schedule posts.
Markus: What are the biggest challenges you've faced in scaling your content strategy?
Max: The biggest challenge is psychological. It's tough to maintain consistency, especially when some videos don't perform as well. Social media can be like a drug; it’s easy to get discouraged when you don’t see immediate results. It's crucial to stick to your plan and not get disheartened by fluctuations in views.
Markus: It sounds like a very comprehensive approach. Thanks for sharing these insights, Max. It’s been great having you on the show.
Max: Thank you, Markus. I enjoyed discussing these strategies and hope your listeners find them helpful. Looking forward to catching up again soon.
The essence of organic social media marketing
Organic social media marketing involves using free tools provided by social media platforms to build a community, engage directly with customers, and grow brand awareness without paying for advertisement placements. It's about cultivating an authentic connection with your audience, leading to increased loyalty and customer lifetime value.
Why organic growth matters for DTC brands
Direct-to-consumer brands often operate with tight marketing budgets, making cost-effective strategies crucial. Organic social media marketing offers a sustainable avenue for growth by leveraging human-centric communication and genuine engagement. It's not just about selling; it's about creating a narrative that customers want to be part of.
Effective strategies for organic social media marketing
- Know your audience: Understanding who your customers are and what they care about is the first step. Use analytics tools to monitor demographics, engagement rates, and content preferences. Tailoring your content to meet their interests and needs boosts relevance and engagement.
- Content is king: Deliver value through high-quality, diverse content. Educational posts, behind-the-scenes insights, and user-generated content (UGC) resonate well with audiences. Each piece should add value, whether it's through information, entertainment, or inspiration.
- Engagement is queen: Respond to comments, messages, and posts. Create interactive content like polls, quizzes, and challenges to encourage participation. Engagement increases visibility due to social media algorithms favoring active interactions.
- Leverage storytelling: Craft stories that connect your brand to everyday life scenarios of your target demographic. Storytelling isn’t just effective; it’s memorable. Use narratives to highlight customer experiences, the journey of your products, or how your brand is making a difference.
- Consistency and frequency: Consistent posting keeps your brand top of mind. Determine the optimal posting frequency based on your team's capacity and the preferences of your audience to keep your feed active without overwhelming your followers.
- Use influencers wisely: Collaborate with micro-influencers who share your brand values and have an engaged, loyal following. Influencers can amplify your reach organically and lend credibility to your brand. Here's how to track your influencer marketing.
- Monitor, analyze, and adapt: Use tools to track what works and what doesn’t. Social media platforms provide robust analytics that can guide your content strategy. Regularly reviewing these metrics allows you to pivot as necessary, enhancing your overall strategy.
As platforms evolve and new ones emerge, staying adaptable is key. Keep an eye on trends like the rise of short-form video content on TikTok and Instagram Reels. Embrace new features and platforms early, testing them to see if they resonate with your audience.
How to track organic and paid social media results with Admetrics
For Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) brands looking to track and optimize their social media campaigns, Admetrics offers a robust solution designed to enhance marketing effectiveness through detailed analytics and flexible attribution models. By using Admetrics, DTC brands can precisely measure the impact of both paid and organic social media efforts.
Here’s how DTC brands can leverage Admetrics to track their social media results:
- Set custom attribution windows: Admetrics allows users to customize attribution windows tailored to the specific nature of their campaigns. This means you can set shorter windows for quick promotions or longer ones for extended campaigns, ensuring that each interaction is accurately attributed to the right campaign.
- Integrate first-party data: Combine your first-party data with Admetrics' powerful analytics to get a clearer picture of customer journeys and conversion paths. This integration helps in understanding which social media efforts are driving actual sales and customer engagement, allowing for more targeted marketing strategies.
- Use advanced analytics: With Admetrics’ advanced analytics capabilities, DTC brands can dive deep into the data, analyzing patterns and trends that inform strategic decisions. This can include determining which social media platforms are most effective, which types of content resonate best with your audience, and how changes in your approach can improve results.
- Optimize campaigns in real-time: Admetrics’ real-time data processing enables brands to make quick adjustments to their campaigns. If a particular tactic is not performing as expected, immediate insights provided by Admetrics can guide necessary adjustments, maximizing campaign effectiveness and ROI.
- Leverage machine learning: Use Admetrics’ machine learning tools to predict future trends and customer behaviors based on historical data. This predictive analysis can help in crafting more compelling and customer-centric social media campaigns that are likely to yield better results.
By following these steps with Admetrics, DTC brands can not only track but also amplify their social media marketing effectiveness, driving better engagement and conversions. This strategic approach to data and analytics ensures that every marketing dollar spent is an investment towards measurable growth. For further details on setting up and using Admetrics effectively, visit their official website or resource section.
Start tracking your social media results with Admetrics now and transform data into actionable insights! Get started with Admetrics.
