Social media is a key marketing channel for many businesses of all sizes. The common question many business owners have is, “why should I use social media for my business”.
As social media marketers, this makes us very excited. What doesn’t get us excited is how many businesses are still trying to market on social media without a strategy in plan. In this blog post, you will learn the seven steps your business needs in order to have an effective social media strategy.
Step 1. Audit your existing social media presence
Before you strategize about where you are headed, take a quick look at where you are at today. A few areas to consider when auditing your business’s social media presence are the following:
- Which networks are you currently active.
- Are your networks properly optimized.
- Which networks are currently bringing you the most value.
- How do your profiles compare to your competitors.
Step 2. Figure out who your ideal client is
You will want to get as specific as you can here. For example, if you identified your target market as parents it would be ok. However, if you identify your ideal customer as a parent that lives in the USA, is between the ages of 40 and 50 years of age, earns over 50,000, primarily uses Instagram and has an interest in outdoor activities you will have a lot more success.
Even the best marketers will fail if they are marketing to the wrong type of audience.
Step 3. Create a social media mission right away
Your social media mission statement will drive your future actions, so make sure you put a lot of time into it. This statement will make it clear exactly what you plan to use your social media account for and should reflect your brand. Keep in mind your ideal customer when trying to come up with the statement.
An example mission statement might be “to use social media to educate current and potential customer.” Once you have this statement documented, it will make it simple for you to decide what you want to share and post on your social media accounts.
Step 4. Identify key success metrics
How will you determine if your social media marketing efforts are successful? I am not talking about getting more followers or likes, I am talking about making money. After all, it is hard to rationalize spending time, effort and money on something that isn’t improving the bottom line.
A few metric to consider include: Conversion rate – time spent on website – reach – brand mentions – sentiment – total shares.
A great social media strategy is never set in stone. It is a constant work in progress that changes when it needs to. So get out there, create the right strategy and start optimizing it as you continue to grow and learn more about your brand and your target audience.