Social media is one of the best tools for free advertising the world has ever seen.
With the potential to connect to millions of people around the world for free, a good social media strategy is vital for any business looking to expand their reach.
Load your own articles into theMarketingblog https://t.co/yRruqUv3LO
— Will Corry (@slievemore) March 25, 2020
In this article, we are going to walk you through the steps in creating an effective social media plan. If you have decided you do not want to hire creative staffing agencies to do the work for you, this is going to be crucial for your business.
S.M.A.R.T
First and foremost, you need to figure out your objectives and your long term goals. Without knowing these, it is going to be much harder to launch a successful social media campaign.
S.M.A.R.T stands for:
-
Specific
-
Measurable
-
Attainable
-
Relevant
-
Time-bound
If you need help working these out, we suggest you follow the framework found here.
Track Results
Tracking the right results is the next important step. Make sure you focus on what counts. Retweets and likes may be impressive to look at, but figuring out their value to your business can be tricky. Instead of focusing on these, look at leads generated, conversions, and referrals.
Tracking different goals for different social media platforms can be effective too. Instagram posts generally receive completely different reactions to LinkedIn, for example.
Learn Your Audience
Figuring out who your ideal client is and what they want to see on their social media feeds is critical if you want to convert them from viewer to client.
You should start to implement split tests. Create different ads and posts targeted at different personas and personalities. Figure out which ones are receiving the best feedback and reactions and use that information to help tailor your next posts
Research The Competition
There is a high chance that your biggest competitors already have social media accounts. This is great for you, as you can use their hard work to your advantage. Do some competitive analysis on what they are doing and who they are targeting, and you should get a good sense of what your particular industry expects.
As well as figuring out what works in your particular industry, this research will also allow you to spot opportunities. If you see a gap in a competitor’s strategy, something you think they have missed or you could do better, do it!
Do Regular Social Media Audits
After you have started your campaign and it has been running for a good period of time, it is time to conduct some audits.
During these audits you should be looking at:
-
What strategies are working/not working
-
Who is engaging with your posts or ads?
-
What platform are you gaining the most from?
-
How do you compare to your competitors?
In the social media game, things change extremely quickly, it’s a volatile world. As new networks come to the forefront and others change in terms of their demographics, you really have to view your social media strategy as a constantly changing entity. By doing this, you should be able to adapt to change much quicker.
Improve your ABM results: Free White Paper – Click the graphic
