Does your business have a documented social media strategy? If not, don’t worry. You’re not the only one.
In today’s world, one of the most common mistakes that businesses make is diving into the world of social media on an ad-hoc basis. Everyone knows social media is important, but only a few understand how to leverage it for your business’ success.
If you’ve come here, the chances are that you’re either new to social media or have been in the game for quite some time but are still not as successful as you should’ve been by now.
Don’t worry; whatever the case may be, we’re here to help you out.
We’ve prepared this comprehensive guide to help you create a social media strategy that’ll help you meet your business goals.
But first, let’s take a look at what exactly is a social media strategy.
What Is A Social Media Strategy?
Social media has come a long way, and it has become quite saturated with high-quality and engaging content. As a result, many business owners and marketers thinking, “What should we do differently to stand out?”
While the answer to that may vary from one business to another, developing a consistent flow of content that offers variety and a sense of relatability for your target audience is something every business needs to do.
This is where your social media strategy comes in.
A social media strategy is a guide that defines your business’s overall purpose and intentions. It’s like a roadmap that drives everything you put out there on different social media platforms. From planning, decision-making, creativity, production, and publishing, your social media strategy covers it all.
According to a study conducted by CoSchedule, marketers with a documented plan or strategy are 313% more likely to report success in their marketing campaigns. This statistic alone should convince you to create a proper social media strategy for your business!
See: Social Media Marketing Companies
Tips for Designing an Effective Social Media Strategy
Understand your target audience
Several different types of people use social media, but not all of them will be interested in your product, service, or idea.
So, the first thing you should do when drafting a plan for your business’s social media is to know your customer base, and you can do this through research. Once you gather enough data, create customer profiles, so you have a clear understanding of your target audience.
The content you post on social media should resonate with the audience you want to attract; otherwise, you might end up attracting the wrong audience. This might be good for increasing your following, but it won’t offer any benefit in terms of brand building and revenue.
Set SMART goals
One of the biggest mistakes that businesses make, when they step in the world of social media, is not setting specific and realistic goals. They know they need a social media presence, but are clueless about what they want to achieve.
Of course, your social media goals are going to differ from others, depending on your business model. They might also evolve or change as your business progresses. But generally, you should set S.M.A.R.T goals, i.e.
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Attainable
R – Relevant
T – Time-Bound
Examples of S.M.A.R.T goals include:
- Increasing brand awareness
- Growing your fan following
- Improving your ROI
- Increasing quantity of sales
Segment your content for different platforms
Sure, Facebook continues to be the most popular social media platform even today, but that doesn’t mean you ignore the others. There’s Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and others too.
A common mistake that many businesses make is using the same content for all platforms. This isn’t a fruitful approach. Here’s why:
You either have the same followers across all platforms, and they certainly wouldn’t want to see repetitive content. Or, you have a different following on each platform with a different kind of interest, and what appeals to one part of your audience might not appeal to another.
So, make sure you post relevant content on the right platform. Also, don’t waste time and resources on a platform that your audience doesn’t use.
Set a realistic social media marketing budget
Let’s be realistic: social media is a useful marketing tool, and if you want to achieve success here, you should be willing to allocate a proper budget to social media.
When setting a budget for social media, you should take into account the return on investment (ROI). It’s also a good idea to start by setting a total digital marketing budget first, and then asking yourself how much of that you’d like to – or logically should – spend on social media.
But as a general rule of thumb, you shouldn’t go overboard as spending more doesn’t always result in increased sales or brand building. What you should focus on is spending wisely on different social media platforms to maximize your reach.
Study your competitors’ social media
Whether you have a small business or a large one, you probably have one or more competitors. After all, there are hardly any businesses that run in isolation.
An important part of planning your social media strategy is analyzing what your competitors are doing. You will need to know what they are doing, what is their focus, and who they are targeting if you want to become a key player in the same industry.
Conducting a competitor analysis can help you understand your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, and also find out what customers expect from businesses in your industry. All this information is crucial for developing an effective social media plan.
Plan, plan, plan everything!
We cannot emphasize enough the importance of this. No matter how strong your strategy is, it won’t be of any good if you implement it properly – and one of the key components of implementation is planning.
Before the start of every month, sit down with your marketing team – even if it’s just one individual – and plan what you’re going to do next.
Make sure you have a content calendar ready, so you can schedule all your posts beforehand. Also, have some backups ready so in case your team is unable to meet a deadline, you have something ready to post.
RELATED: The Value of Content Planning (+5 Unique Content Ideas) for Social Media
Create An Effective Social Media Strategy With Digitorm
Want to revamp your social media strategy, or design a new one that drives growth and results? Let Digitorm help!
We have a team of social media experts who can curate a strategy that doesn’t just sit well with your business, but also drives quick results.
Ready to take your social media up a notch? Give us a call today!
.png)