Here are seven steps to creating a successful social media strategy which includes:
1) Set goals for your business
It is important to spend time on this stage, as understanding and defining your social media goals will determine the rest of your strategy.
Consider what your business wants to accomplish through social media, and keep in mind that marketing goals are different from business goals. Do you want to increase brand awareness in the marketplace, learn more about your audience, expand your following or generate more leads? All of these goals may be important to you, but it's important to note they will involve different tactics on social media.
Set your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) when setting your goals to understand what social media metrics to focus on.
Metrics should be set for each channel you use to be successful. On Facebook, for example, reach, engagement, and impressions are important, whereas on Instagram, interaction and discovery are essential.
Apart from the basic metrics, you can also track the growth rate of your audience, the amplification rate of your content, or the virality of it. There are many metrics you can use to track success, so choose the ones that are important to your business.
2) Know who your audience is
It is crucial to understand your audience and what they want before you create personalized messages and content. A good way to do that is to conduct market research via online surveys, customer interviews, or by setting up a focus group.
Social listening is another way to learn more about your customers and community.
The two methods will help you formulate buyer personas that combine your buyer profile and buyer insights to paint a picture of your ideal customer. Personas can be created to capture different insights, demographics, and pain points.
3) Research your competitors
A strategic approach to social marketing must include competitor research. Knowing what platforms your competitors use and what campaigns they run will help you understand what they are doing in the social space.
It is also possible to see their message, the content they produce, and the frequency of their posts. Understanding their approach to customer engagement and the success of their engagement can either help you emulate it or suggest a different direction to capture customers' attention.
Selecting the right social media platform is essential to the campaign's success.
4) Select your social media platforms
The question is not whether you should be active on social media, but how to choose the best channels for your business.
There are a lot of options, so it can be confusing at first. Nevertheless, don't be tempted to be present on them all for the sake of it. Some may not suit your business or content. Which social networks should you target and how do you optimize your content for each?
Facebook:
Facebook, one of the largest and oldest social media platforms, provides a targeted way to reach prospects and customers. This platform works for many types of content, and Facebook Live allows you to connect with customers through video.
Instagram:
Instagram has grown rapidly over the past few years and continues to be a hit among younger audiences. It's a great platform for showcasing products and connecting with influencers to gain new customers. In addition, Instagram will offer in-app shopping via shoppable posts soon, enabling customers to make purchases on the platform.
LinkedIn:
LinkedIn is the place to be for B2B businesses and also provides opportunities for B2C businesses. Both organically and through paid advertising, it allows businesses to connect with each other. The best types of content for this platform are blogs, whitepapers, eBooks, and industry-related content.
YouTube:
YouTube video is being viewed somewhere right now. It's that popular! The internet provides marketers with a way to connect with customers in a way that offers information, but can also be entertaining. This platform could be ideal for brands that produce a lot of videos, especially how-tos or tutorials.
5) Plan your content
After you've done your research and determined the right social media platforms, it's time to plan your content and approach.
Let’s go into planning your content in simple steps:
Set a tone for your pages. The tone of your brand is how you want the world to perceive it. Are you formal or casual? Is your business more serious or humorous? Do you want to showcase your brand's personality differently on each platform and speak differently on each?
Create themes for your content. Take a look at what your USP is and determine which content themes or buckets you can create. Imagine that you're a travel resort or hotel and you want to share your spa and healthy recipes. You can create a content bucket around wellness. A content bucket could be about your location, what makes that location unique and interesting? Is it the wildlife, the scenery, etc.? There are some great tools available if you need help with content creation.
Set up a content calendar. A social media posting calendar can help keep your posting on track especially if you're posting on multiple channels. Posting regularly on social networks is crucial. There are optimum days and times for networks as well, so keep that in mind.
Create a content plan. Maintaining a schedule is important for consistency if you post regularly on social media.
There is no magic formula for creating good content. It's all about putting out content, analyzing it, optimizing it, and trying new things.
6) Manage and engage your community
As a result of social media, you can build connections and create communities. Communities help to build brand awareness and build engagement.
It is incredible how an active community can create brand advocates and attract new customers. A community needs to be nurtured, so you need to take time to build and then grow it.
The key to managing and engaging a social media community is to be responsive. Customer queries or comments should be answered quickly and helpfully. As social media becomes more popular as a way for customers to communicate, there will inevitably be complaints. If you want to avoid a social media crisis, respond positively and ask how you can improve their experience.
Conduct polls or surveys to engage your community. It makes them feel like part of the community, but may also help you learn more about your customer base.
7) Get more followers
It is pointless to have a social media channel if you do not gain new followers. Growing your audience is an important part of any social media strategy, and you need to employ tactics to do so.
Growing your audience can be achieved organically or through paid advertising. First, content is crucial since it will help to drive engagement and attract users. Consider offering a competition or a glimpse behind-the-scenes of working for your brand.
Don't forget to cross-promote from one platform to another. If you have an Instagram account, your Facebook fans may be interested. Share a post to see the impact across channels.
Paid advertising allows you to set a budget and target a group of users.
You can keep track of all your campaigns by using a paid media campaign tracker. If you have a product that you want to promote, you can work with influencers. Micro-influencers can be helpful, especially if you're a local bar or restaurant looking to get customers in the door. Press releases and articles in relevant publications are also effective methods of driving people to your social media channels.
Learn more about how to have a holistic social media marketing strategies by joining our globally recognised certificate course today - taught by the industry experts!
Source: Digital Marketing Institute