Social Media Strategy That Works
Developing a Social Media Strategy that Works
Now more than ever, social media is the place to be. Whether you are an individual trying to connect with friends or a business trying to engage with customers or gain new ones; you need to master social media.
To maximize social media’s potential, you need a kick ass social media strategy. A social media strategy is a detailed account of your objectives and the action plans to achieve them. It helps you make decisions and evaluate whether or not your actions are doing what they are meant to do. The more specific the strategy is, the more effective it will be. Follow these simple steps if you want to improve your business and grow your brand on social media.
How to Develop a Social Media Strategy that Works
- Ask the right questions.
The first step in developing a strategy is to ask yourself a series of questions and answering them honestly. Some of the most crucial questions include:
- What are you trying to achieve on social media?
Discuss your goals. Is it to promote products, drive traffic to your site, or serve and engage with customers?
- Who are you targeting?
Consider your target audience. Who are they? What are they interested in? Which platform do they use most often? What type of content do they consume? Understanding what makes your target audience tick will help you answer the next three questions more easily and effectively.
- What content will you share?
If you know your target audience, then you understand the type of content they need and want. You need to know their goals and the challenges they face so you can provide them solutions in a way they prefer (I.e. blog posts, videos, photos, etc.)
- Where will you share this?
While it’s advisable to be active on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn; you don’t necessarily need to be in all social media platforms all the time. Find out which platform your audience uses because that’s where you need to be.
- When will you share?
Again, an understanding of your audience’s behaviors is crucial. You have to know when they usually go on social media. For instance, people who like to travel are usually active on social media on weekends or during work breaks. Teenagers are online after school or on the weekends. Sports fans are active before and after sports events.
- Understand the competition.
To do this, you must do a competitive analysis to see who your competitors are and what they are doing. Not only will get an idea of what people expect from your industry, you’ll also find out what techniques work and what doesn’t work. You’ll find out what type of content they are posting and what people think of them. This will help you craft a better strategy than your competitors.
- Improve your profiles.
Create profiles on the appropriate social media platforms or improve existing profiles. You want to make sure all your profiles across all platforms are aligned with your newly developed strategy. Here are some tips:
- Fill out all the information necessary.
- Use keywords that your target audience use to search for your brand.
- Make sure your branding (logos and other visual elements) consistent.
- Do a periodic social media audit.
Analyze and evaluate your efforts. Find out what works and what doesn’t? Who is engaging with your brand and where are they engaging with you? How are you doing compared to competitors? Once you get the results, tweak your strategy accordingly.
Without a proper social media strategy, you might be doing more harm than good on social media platforms. A social media strategy is absolutely vital to ensure your success in the world’s biggest meeting place.
