Social media is a powerful tool for brands, and unless there is a massive shift in users’ habits and attitudes, its value will only continue to increase in the coming years. But social media platforms are intrinsically unpredictable and can make algorithm changes at any time that can significantly affect organic reach.

While getting to the top of a search page on a social network is considerably easier than trying to get to the top of Google’s search page, there’s still a lot of competition. 87% of B2B businesses use social media to meet their business goals. The trick to executing an exceptional social media marketing campaign is by using keywords. Social media posts, coupled with smart keyword choices and placement, are an excellent recipe for increased user engagement. Here are some tips on how you can use keywords to boost your social media marketing.

1. Use the Right Keywords for Your Social Media Accounts

Social media keyword usage works similarly to using keywords on your site. Your keywords should be highly specific to your business; for example, if you’re in the plumbing business, your keywords should include words like a plumber. Here are a few things to consider when choosing the right keywords:

  • Use lay terms: Optimize for common search terms that people use to describe your company or products. So be sure to avoid overly complicated terms.
  • Check your competition: If you think you’ve found your ideal keywords, type it into the search bar to see how many other relevant companies are associated with that keyword. If there are many relevant businesses, look for a more specific keyword.

2. Use Different Keywords for Different Social Accounts

User behavior varies in different social accounts, so you need to use separate keywords for your social accounts.

  • Facebook: This social media platform offers granular segmentation that you can use to leverage highly-specific keywords to target your audiences’ priorities and interests.
  • Twitter: Things change quickly on Twitter. A tweet has an average lifespan of 18 minutes, so you need to regularly update your keyword database to discover which hashtags and search terms resonate more with your audience.
  • Pinterest: Take advantage of Pinterest’s search bar to search for trending topics and determine which user-generated topics are related to your brand. But remember, trends change fast on Pinterest, just like Twitter.
  • YouTube: You can search your audience’s phrases and search terms into YouTube’s search bar. Use the user-generated topics to create content.
  • Linkedin: This is a great platform to create conversations about what is happening in your world with people who appreciate it most. You can search for trending conversations for keyword ideas. Linkedin recommends using keywords in your ‘About’ section.

3. Have Separate B2B and B2C Social Media Keyword Strategy

The goals, content, and strategies for B2B differ significantly from that of B2C companies. These differences have a considerable impact on your social media marketing. As a B2B business, you can use keywords to drive lead generation and boost your brand profile.

The best social media channels for B2B brands are Facebook and Linkedin. Over 80% of B2B marketers use Linkedin and 90% use Facebook as their primary social media channels. 93% of B2B marketers also believe that Linkedin is the best place to generate leads, and 64% of corporate website traffic originates from Linkedin, and 80% of B2B social leads are generated on Linkedin.

You can find search phrases based on trending topics on Facebook and Linkedin but choose your keywords based on conversion probability, not search volume. In B2B, services and products are usually more expensive than consumer products, and this is why relevancy is more important than volume. Embrace long-tail keywords and don’t just focus on high volume keywords.

B2C businesses communicate to a more extensive set of prospects; that’s why most B2C social media marketing strategies have mixed goals with sales, engagement, lead generation, and brand awareness. End customers tend to have a short attention span; that’s why you should use casual and comparatively simple social media platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and even TikTok. Do your keyword research on these platforms and optimize them for your business and the social platform in question.

Conclusion

Social media is a highly effective marketing tool, but you can take your marketing to greater heights by using the right keywords. You can use the tips we have covered in this article to help you generate relevant keywords for your business and audience on every social media platform. But remember that keywords can only yield success if you create valuable, relevant, and high-quality content.