When your business creates social media accounts, every post, comment, and like should be a component of the greater social media strategy. Your strategy should help drive your business goals. We’ve put together the following steps which will help you create a successful and effective social media marketing plan.
- Identify Social Media Marketing Goals and Targets
When creating social media strategies the very first step is to list the goals and objectives you want to achieve – start with 3-5 goals. If you conduct a campaign without goals, you have no way of measuring your success, or identifying areas of change for future campaigns. An essential component of generating effective goals is to measure your efforts. For an example, how many of your followers are interacting with your social media posts? Your website? And/or downloading your content? Continuously evaluating your efforts will ensure your social media efforts are paying off!
- Conduct a Social Media Audit/Analysis
A social media audit is an analysis of your current social media accounts prior to launching a new campaign. Your audit should answer the following questions: Who are you currently connecting with on your social channels? How does your social media content compare to your competitors? Pay attention to what social media platforms your customers use daily – you’re likely to have an assortment of customers which you can categorize into groups…These groups are generally called “personas”. For each persona, determine where they engage on social media.
- Create Engaging, Interesting Content
When you first start out, it can be difficult to consistently create enough content. There is nothing wrong with looking at other companies who serve similar audiences for inspiration. In every industry, there are “thought leaders” or “influencers” in social media world, view their content as a learning opportunity for your small business. Additionally, make sure you’re including interesting visuals along with each post (videos/GIFs are always a big hit). A good guideline to follow is the 60-40 rule. 60 percent of what you post should be sourced from a third party account with a higher following and engagement. 40 percent of your content should be completely original. This method can increase viewership from potential consumers.
- Develop a Social Media Calendar
A social media calendar should include the specific dates you intend to post content on your various social media channels. A great free simple platform is Hootsuite, which allows you to connect up to three social media platforms/profiles. This is the perfect opportunity to organize the theme or message you want to communicate. If you need assistance with organizing your content, there are thousands of templates to reference. FMA Tip: Focus on strategies to increase consumer engagement.
- Test and Evaluate your Social Media Marketing Plan
Constant testing is the key to evaluating what social media tactics are working, and which need to be changed. Use your network for feedback on your campaigns. Organize focus groups, and surveys to gather your opinions.
If you need help creating a social media strategy plan, we’re happy to help – just send us an email!
Danielle Foley, President
Foley Marketing Advisors
dfoley@foleymarketingadvisors.com