The Importance of Having a Social Media Marketing Strategy
Marketing through social media is an important way to engage with consumers, and when done properly, it allows consumers to know that the brand is active, and focused on communicating with them. This leads to more traffic, engagement, and conversions.
This is particularly critical to understand, because in the past decade, consumers have undergone a revolutionary change in the way they gather information about products and services they are interested in. In addition to the way they make decisions about current or future purchases, and the manner in which they provide feedback about those purchases, notably in online settings. Ergo, all organizations aim to gain value and create mutually beneficial relationships with their internal and external customers, as well as other stakeholders.
To this end, having a social media presence without an active social media marketing strategy can be equally, if not more catastrophic for your business than having no plan at all.
Creating a Social Media Strategy in 7 Easy Steps
A strong digital marketing plan considers where a business currently stands, and identifies opportunities for exponential success.
1) Ensure the Right Goals Are Set
The introduction of social media networks has proven to be a powerful tool that can share pieces of content all over the world in seconds. However, with a variety of platforms at our disposable, it’s crucial to know how to effectively utilize each platform to ensure maximum business success. If you’re new to the concept of social media, you might consider using the mnemonic acronym developed by Peter Drucker and G.T. Doran, S.M.A.R.T. The idea of this framework helps organizations and businesses alike, to set objectives in an effective and productive manner.
- Specific –target a specific area for improvement
- Measurable – quantify and stipulate an indicator of progress
- Achievable– ensure goals are achievable given available resources
- Realistic – design objectives that are challenging but reachable
- Time-Related– have a deadline by which results need to be achieved.
Often times, when a social media marketing strategy fails to produce tangible results, it’s because there is a lack of consensus on the definition of success, combined with vague social media platform strategy goals. Each campaign will have a different objective, such as obtaining more followers, promoting a new product, or a change in company policy, and therefore this is where S.M.A.R.T comes into play.
2) Determine and Research Your Target Audience
You’ve probably heard of the phrase, “know your audience.” These wise words serve as the foundation for a successful social media strategy. Since it is impossible to reach everyone at once, it is essential to be able to pinpoint and define a target audience, as it will help streamline social media efforts.
Small businesses today compete with large businesses by marketing to defined audience groups. Focusing on your current consumer’s needs, such as how and what platform they use, will inevitably help your business to develop an effective social media marketing strategy.
Although targeting a specific audience may seem exclusive, it does not mean that you are excluding people who don’t fit your criteria, but rather it allows you to concentrate your marketing efforts and dollars on the groups that are most likely to buy from you. Leading to you generating leads in an efficient and affordable manner.
3) Don’t Let the Wrong Social Media Management Tools and Platforms Hold You Back
Having the right tools can help you optimize your time, and maximize your social media strategy efforts. However, with so many to choose from, finding the ones that work for you can be difficult.
With the growth of social media, a multitude of productivity apps and assists have emerged, each offering a different set of benefits and features. Which is why it’s important to always be aware of your target audience and where they are. For instance, Facebook audiences won’t see your posts or social media advertising on Twitter or TikTok. There is no need to select a single platform to boost brand awareness, but most of your target audiences will use a few. The challenge is identifying and knowing how to utilize each one to your advantage, so you can gain the most from your social media strategy.
As far as management tools are concerned, these can prove helpful to optimize, maximize, and execute your social media strategy. Particularly analytics tools, as well as automated publishing and a social media content calendar. In addition, when choosing tools, you might also want to consider:
- Your overall social media and online business goals
- The frequency of your scheduling and engagement
- Platform user experience
- Which social channels the tool supports
- How it measures ROI and aggregates data
4) Know and Research Your Competition
An effective social media strategy doesn’t have to come from scratch. Instead, the smartest way to get a leg up on the competition, and understand why consumers choose to buy from them is to review their social media/marketing strategy. Not for the purpose of copying, but rather to help distinguish your company from the social presence of your competitor’s. The results of a competitive analysis will reveal your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as areas of improvement for your own growth. Developing an effective social media strategy requires research, and the best place to start is with those who have done it before. A competitive analysis can:
- Identify who your competitors are on different social networks
- Which social media accounts are the most popular
- How well their strategies are working
- Provide a benchmark for your results
- Find gaps in your social media strategy template
5) Understand How to Best Utilize Social Media Platforms
Social media is important because it enables businesses to reach, nurture, and engage with their target audience no matter where they are located. Businesses can further use social media to generate brand awareness, leads, sales, and revenue. Therefore, making sure your campaign is relevant to the social media channel and your target audience is the first step to a great social media strategy. Your S.M.A.R.T goals relate back to this. For instance, when it comes to platform utilization, two broad points must be considered; 1) content format, and 2) paid promotion.
In the end, it’s important to make the most of the platform you have at your disposal, and use it to the fullest extent for maximum results.
6) Consistency is Key
User generated content is vital to social media’s existence, and campaigns succeed when consistent content is published and targeted at the right audience. All content serves a fundamental purpose, and hence should carry the same brand tone or voice. Otherwise, inconsistent content quality, quantity, or scheduling will confuse consumers. On the other hand, consistent quality will lead to building credibility, and creating brand trust.
In addition, it is important to be precise and calculated in what you share. The goal is to be as relevant and authentic as possible, so that your audience can relate to your content in the hopes that they will positively share it with others. Not only that, but visual consistency is also crucial so that your brand stays recognizable across all channels. Generally speaking, the more you post, the higher your engagement will be, while keeping all of the points above in mind.
7) Stand Back, Evaluate, and Don’t Repeat the Same Mistakes
Social media marketing and digital marketing are an ever-evolving thing. Every social media strategy template must be adapted based on data and valuable insights gleaned from analytics tools, but there are more core principles and best practices that professional marketers follow.
If you want to reach your social media goals, you must embrace experimentation, and be comfortable modifying campaigns until you see the results you want. That way you will not only make informed business decisions, but you will also know that the time and money invested in creating high quality content will have been well worth it. If you aren’t finding new ways to stay ahead and improve your social media, your competition certainly is.
