The 80/20 Rule of Social Media Marketing

There is no magic formula for mastering social media marketing, but there are a few best practices for getting it right. The 80/20 rule is one of them.

What is the 80/20 Rule?

According to the 80/20 rule, 80% of your business's social media content should cater to your audience’s interests and needs. This includes content that is informative, educational, engaging and/or entertaining. The remaining 20% should then be used to promote your business’s products and/or services. 

Why follow the 80/20 Rule?

Social media experts have touted the 80/20 rule for years, and for good reason. Social media strategies designed exclusively to push products to customers may result in short term sales but they won’t do much to foster continued support and customer loyalty. The importance of building genuine, long-term relationships cannot be overemphasized. In fact, a recent report by Sprout Social found that 64% of today’s consumers want brands to connect with them, while 76% are more likely to buy from a brand they feel connected to on social media.

Social media therefore gives businesses the perfect opportunity to connect with their customers. Although customers may depend on the business’s products or services, this is not enough to establish that lasting connection. Customers also want to see how the business’s values align with their own and whether their interests and needs are truly understood. In short, the 80/20 rule ensures that businesses deliver valuable content that attracts and retains customer interest and support on a continued basis.

How to implement the 80/20 Rule?

The 80/20 rule is all about maintaining a good mix of promotional and non-promotional content. For the 80% of content that is non-promotional, you could include links to interesting blog articles, share inspirational quotes, post tips and tricks, provide how-to guides, ask engaging questions, etc.

For example, if you own a hair salon, you could share celebrity hairstyle inspiration, updo hairstyle tutorials, hair care tips or advice on how to choose the right hairstyle, cut or colour. The rest of your content can then comprise of ‘before and after’ client photos, client reviews, new products, upcoming promotions, etc. When working on the 20% of content that promotes your business, remember to include information on the features of your products or services and how they benefit your audience.

Though the 80/20 rule is a great point of departure for businesses, it’s important to monitor and evaluate whether it works for your particular business and industry. Because audiences differ widely in their interests and preferences, a fair amount of testing should be done to ascertain a ratio of content that works best.