6 Steps For Creating A Social Media Marketing Strategy

You could be running a big company or a small local shop, and you will still need to establish a presence on social media. That’s an undeniable fact in a world where social media has transformed from a mere “socializing” tool to an indispensable one for marketing a business.

No one needs a strategy to get into social media for personal use, but marketing a business on any of the available platforms requires a strategy. Your social media marketing strategy will serve as your guide for every move you make, from engaging in Instagram marketing to dealing with influencers.

So if you’re planning to step into the social media jungle to serve your business goals, you must create a social media marketing strategy before doing so. Here are six necessary steps that should help you get around that task.

Step 1: Think of the reasons why you’re going on social media.

Why do you want to make a splash on social media platforms in the first place? Is it because you want to connect with customers? Boost awareness of your brand? Drive more traffic to your website? Generate leads and increase your sales to further revenue growth?

In all likelihood, you’re going for all of the above, which would be great. However, we recommend that you focus on achieving about two of your undoubtedly many goals at first, especially when you’re doing all the social media work by your lonesome. It’s a more realistic way of approaching social media marketing.

Step 2: Identify your customers and know them better.

The one thing that will get your social media activity going is the content you’re going to post and share there, but how do you know which types of content would you provide your audience? Identify your customers first to get to know them better, and then you’ll know which types of content to offer.

You might find it easier to identify your ideal customers by creating audience or buyer personas. These are generalized, semi-fictional, and detailed descriptions of your ideal customers that you can create by conducting actual research on real people.

To create buyer personas, you have to come up with questions that cover a lot of ground, from interests, customer demographics, motivations, behavior patterns, goals, and location. Then ask these questions during interviews of actual customers, although your colleagues within your own company, especially those who deal with customers regularly, would also be good subjects. The answers you get will then form much of the data you will use to craft these buyer personas, which will give you a better grasp of who your customers are and what they want.

Step 3: Pick the right social media platform.

Your goals, ideal customer, and your style play a huge role in choosing the right social media platform for your business.

Let’s say that your primary goal is to build a community. Then Facebook, with its more than two billion monthly active users, should be among your considerations.

Are your products and services geared towards women aged 18-29? Then Instagram would be a great place to open an account to begin instagram marketing, as 68% of its demographic are females within that age bracket.

If you’re targeting B2B consumers, then give LinkedIn a try.

There are also many other rising social media platforms such as the iOS and Android video app TikTok that might suit your style better. TikTok is quickly becoming the most popular social media platform and will soon surpass even Instagram!

Step 4: Post relevant, high-quality content.

With your now-identified customers and chosen platforms, you can now start posting relevant, useful, and engaging content. You can share both original and curated content. You can put up blogs, stunning images, informative and entertaining videos, and easily-digestible infographics.  You can also share company news as well as interviews with people who are known in your industry.

Step 5: Monitor and measure your results.

With all the effort you put into your social media channel, you are going to need to see what works and what doesn’t. Fortunately, there are a number of social media metrics that you can track and measure, including engagement, shares, time spent on website, reach, and volume.

Doing both would be easier with an excellent social media analytics tool. There are free and paid ones, so take your pick and see what suits you best.

Step 6: Make adjustments to your strategy.

With your social media growth results in, you now have an idea what works and what doesn’t. That would be the time for you to decide which tactics to continue, which ones to give a little more time to improve, and which ones to altogether drop. This process, by the way, is a never-ending one, so expect to do this for some time.

It would be great if every aspect of your social media strategy works perfectly at the onset, but don’t despair when it doesn’t. There’s always room for adjustment since the whole thing will always be a work in progress.

If you would like to begin the planning process with Thought Media, please reach out to discuss! Toll Free 1 (800) 916 3864. Thank you for reading, and we hope that your business will grow rapidly!