Throughout this semester in Social Media Strategies we completed rounds of a social media marketing simulation called Mimic.
During this simulation I was able to use the resources provided to me to determine what types of social media content I should create, what channels to post it to, and when to post it. Throughout the simulation I was able to play around to see what channels and what types of content worked the best.
Buyer Persona
I realized that it was important to review each of the buyer personas so that I could find the one that best fit my target market. I was able to cater my content to ultimately target that specific persona. The persona I selected through all of my rounds was Daypacker Tom. I created content that was relevant to his interests of camping and outdoor gear.
After each round I was able to review how well each post did to identify what was working and what was not. I was able to see a full report showing the total number of impressions, engagements, and conversions in total and for each specific post. By seeing which posts had the most impressions, engagements, and conversions, I was able to figure out which kinds of content to continue posting and what channels to post on. This helped me to make my content successful with my target persona.
What Worked
Platforms: Instagram and Pinterest
I started out using Facebook and TikTok in addition to Instagram. Most of my posts originally were on Facebook, but after a while I realized that Facebook was not performing as well as I had hoped. From there I switched my focus entirely to Instagram and was more successful. On the last round of the simulation I decided to try Pinterest and found that to be a successful platform.
Time and Day
On Facebook I found the most successful times to post were on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 9am and 1 pm. On Instagram I found the most successful times to post were Monday and Thursday at 2am and 8am.
Content
Overall, I found that user generated content performed the best, especially on Instagram. User generated videos were among my top posts on Instagram in addition to high-quality images.
Final Thoughts
If I had another round in the simulation I would continue my focus on Instagram and create a content calendar to ensure that I am posting consistently and varying my content. Since I had some success with Pinterest in the last round I would continue to explore that channel until I narrowed down what types of content performed the best.
Going back to my first social media audit, I realized how much this simulation helped me to understand social media marketing. I was able to really narrow down what posts and platforms worked the best to increase my reach and conversions.