Creating Your Social Media Strategy – An Overview
So, you’re thinking of creating a social media strategy? Well, before you even get started there are a couple of things you need to know.
Firstly, no matter w hat anybody promises you, it’s highly unlikely a social media campaign will be successful overnight. This is a strictly mid-to-long-term prospect that requires forward-thinking, on-going nurturing and a watchful eye. If you don’t have the time for this, stop right now.
Secondly, for a small number of companies, a social media campaign will not be successful at all. If the audience you’re targeting isn’t internet savvy, you’ll be up against it from the off. That’s the very reason companies selling those remote controlled armchairs that rise and lower stick to infomercials and newspaper ads.
That being said, a much larger number of companies stand to benefit from social media, providing they have a viable social media strategy to fall back on.
Here then is a guide to those things you must keep in mind going forward.
Understanding the Road Ahead
Whilst you might be excited to get your social media campaign underway as soon as possible, don’t! First, you need to be prepared. Always be prepared.
What Do You Do?
This might seem like a silly question but you’re social media strategy revolves around this one question. Do you sell goods? Do you provide a service? Are you looking to help others? Whatever it is that you do, you need to be completely aware of it, and so do your customers. Write a simple description of what your company does and then we’re good to go.
Pro Tip: Always remember the KISS principle. Keep it simple, stupid. If you can’t sum up what you do in two or fewer (short) sentences you need to try again.
What Do You Hope To Achieve?
Now we know what you do, what is it you’re looking to achieve? This is actually a two-pronged question. First, what do you want to achieve in the bigger picture? Secondly, what do you want to achieve from your social media campaign? Are you looking to increase brand awareness? Are you attempting to increase sales? Are you hoping to improve customer loyalty? The answer to this question will act as the engine behind your campaign.
Pro Tip: A clear and defined objective will make any social media campaign that much easier to implement. However, it’s possible to be too clear and defined. Try to focus on one specific goal first. Once your campaign is up and running, it can be tweaked to attend to the next objective(s).
Who Are You Looking To Reach Out To?
All businesses need to know their target audience. In terms of social media, are you looking to reach out to existing customers or are you looking to introduce yourself to newcomers? Are you looking to open up channels of communication or just promoting yourself? Gaining a huge audience is good but not as good as earning a smaller but more relevant audience.
Pro Tip: If your target audience spans a number of demographics, target just one at a time. Trying to appeal to different groups in one fell swoop is likely to be counterproductive.
Where Is Your Potential Customer?
Now you know who you’re trying to reach it’s time to find out where they are. This will require research. With so many social media platforms available, you need to discover which will work best for you. Perhaps your audience is hooked on YouTube. Maybe they ‘hang out’ at Google+. It’s even possible that they belong to an internet community page devoted to the market you work in. Find out where your audience is first and save a lot of wasted effort later.
Pro Tip: The internet is a fickle place. Always remember this. Your potential customer is apt to up and change their favoured site, so be prepared to alter your social media strategy accordingly.
Planning Your Successful Campaign
Now that you’ve identified what you’re look to achieve and whom your campaign is targeted at, it’s time to think about how you’ll get your message across.
What Channels/Platforms Will You Use?
Knowing where your customer spends their time online means that you can pick and choose which platforms to work with. We mentioned using YouTube, Google+ and online communities, but you can also make use of any social media site as well as sites using RSS streams and PR distribution companies. Picking the right platforms for your company is essential.
Pro Tip: Research as many social media platforms as possible. Whilst everybody has heard of Facebook and Twitter, is it where you need to be?
What Content Do You Need?
Almost any social media strategy will involve posting content that is relevant to the customer. This might be something as simple as a Facebook status update or a Twitter comment. Alternatively, it could be a series of blogs, an informational video or something complete abstract. Decide what works best with your audience. If they spend most of their time on YouTube, a video will work better. If they’re part of an online community, a conversational discussion would work. Remember not to get out of your depth; if you’re not a budding Spielberg, a good video may be beyond you, and could cost a pretty penny.
Pro Tip: If you’re considering utilising blogs, create a library of finished articles before you even start publishing. This will aid a steady publication schedule. ‘Breaking’ content should be given precedence when necessary.
How Will You Interact?
Getting content out there is just one part of the puzzle. Consider it the bait. If you really want to reel in a potential customer you’re going to need to work a little harder. Enabling comments on blogs, videos and updates creates a two-way forum in which you can link directly to the customer. Use this to respond to queries and criticism (good and bad) and generally to paint your company in a good light. Establish how often you want to post new content and how much time you can spend discussing it with the World Wide Web..
Pro Tip: Responding to every message, comment or link will work wonders for your customer relations but make sure it doesn’t hinder the day-to-day running of your business. Great customer services mean squat if you no longer have a business.
How Will You Know If Your Campaign Is Working?
Finally, your social media strategy needs to include some kind of evaluation mechanism. Have you reached the number of ‘likes’ you were hoping for? Have sales increased? Are you connecting with the right kind of customer? Questions like these need to be answered on a regular basis. The same is true of establishing if the goals you set out at the start of the project are being met. Make sure you schedule in evaluation time, as well as additional time for any changes required. Scheduling it at the beginning will stop you procrastinating later on.
Pro Tip: Patience is a virtue but it can also be lethal. Social media campaigns rarely make a huge impact quickly but it’s important not to wait forever for success. Avoid the head-in-the-sand routine. If your campaign isn’t succeeding, it’s time for change.
Now that you have a social media strategy in place, all that’s left is to go out there and get the job done.
Before you do though, remember; no two campaigns are the same so what works for one company may not work for you. Make sure that you’re adaptable – it will be a requirement – while ensuring that you’re ready, willing and able to keep a close eye on every aspect of the campaign.