Having a strategy to ensure the success of your social media campaigns is the foundation of everything else that follows. In this blog, we go over the steps you can take to develop a killer social media strategy that knocks your competition out of the park.
How to create a social media strategy
1. Set clear goals around your company’s needs
Identify your company’s needs, then set your social media goals accordingly. Just make sure your goals are realistic, achievable, and measurable. However, don’t include so many goals that they become a distraction.
You’ll also want to define and allocate specific parameters for your goals. Having clearly defined goals not only means that you have something tangible to work towards but that you’ll be able to accurately calculate your ROI. For example, ask yourself how many leads or sales do you need for your strategy to be a success?
2. Conduct target market research
No marketing strategy is complete without an analysis of your target market. Conduct target market research to find out their likes, dislikes, wants, needs. Then, ask yourself if there are there any gaps or unique aspects your company could fill? You will also need to know your target market’s average age, occupation, income, pain points, habits, obstacles, motivations, and any common objections they have.
3. Analyze your competitors
Thoroughly research your top five competitors to analyze their social media strategy and find out:
- What types of engagement are they seeing and why?
- What kinds of content are they posting?
- How frequently are they posting?
- How are they interacting with their customers?
- What is the tone of voice they utilize, and does it differ on different platforms?
This will give you an idea of how you compare and identify any gaps. You’ll also want to figure out if there are elements of the strategies you are seeing that you could incorporate into your own, and more importantly, make better.
4. Audit your brand’s current social media presence
To create an effective social media strategy, you first need to understand how your social media platforms are currently performing. Conduct a thorough audit of your social media profiles to find out:
- Is your target market engaging with your content? Why or why not?
- What kinds of posts have been the most or least successful?
- Is your brand voice consistent?
- Is there more you could be doing?
5. Choose your social media platforms wisely
More is not always better. Especially if you have limited marketing resources. We recommend sticking to platforms that you know will bring you the highest return. How do you find that out? Your self-audit, competitor research, and target market research should help you identify the social platforms that are worth your time. Be present on platforms you know your customers are already using.
6. Create a social media strategy document
After gathering all of your data and choosing your platforms, it’s time to put a robust strategy together. Create a document that outlines the following:
- KPIs
- Target market
- Budget
- Tools, tactics, and platforms
- Campaigns (how long you plan to run them and what kinds of content you’ll be posting)
- Team roles (decide who is in charge of writing copy, creating visuals, and managing your platforms)
Documenting your social media strategy ensures that everyone on your marketing team has a point of reference on the goals of your company’s social media campaigns.
7. Monitor performance and adjust your strategy when needed
To ensure the success of your social media strategy, you’ll need to monitor its performance on a regular basis. That way, if something isn’t working, you can adjust your strategy to focus on elements that do work. Being agile is extremely important when it comes to social media, so don’t fixate on a set strategy or you’ll risk wasting your business’s time and money.
To keep track of your strategy’s performance, there are many free and paid tools you can use that report on engagement metrics for your social media profiles and posts (ex. Hootsuite, SproutSocial, etc.). We also recommend using UTM parameters to track which posts receive the most engagement and whether those visits generate leads or sales.
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