Creating a Social Media Strategy

Is it time to review your current social media strategy?

Maybe you’re yet to create one?

If your business is failing to see results from social media marketing, it’s likely due to the lack of an effective social media strategy.

Don’t get me wrong, this takes time and effort, but creating strategies and generating results is what we do best, so we have put together our definitive seven-step guide for developing the perfect strategy for your business!

Before we move on, I wanted to demonstrate just how powerful an effective social media strategy can be. Just two weeks after implementing our strategy, one of the clients we recently trained achieved:

• 67% increase in New Page Likes
• 510% in Post Reach
• 889% Increase in Post Engagement

The company was so impressed they immediately hired us to manage their social media daily activity!

If you’d like to achieve results like those depicted above, here’s how to get started:

STEP 1: Run a Social Media Audit

A social media audit may sound fancy and complex, but it is simply an evaluation of your social media profiles and strategies, primarily focusing on:

• The networks you are active on
• If each network is optimised (E.g. profile photo and cover images, bio, website URL, contact details, etc.)
• Which networks you are performing best on
• How your competitors’ profiles compare

This will help you identify which of your current marketing techniques are successfully hitting established goals and which ones need to be revised, assisting you throughout the later steps of creating your strategy.

STEP 2: Identify your Ideal Customer

When it comes to identifying your ideal customer, you want to be as specific as possible. You can do this by identifying their key characteristics, such as:

• Age
• Location
• Job Title
• Income
• Most Used Social Network

For example, while identifying ‘parents’ as your ideal customer is useful, identifying ‘parents’ in a specific area with a specific job title, specific income and children of a certain age will be more beneficial in the long run.

STEP 3: Create a Mission Statement

Most businesses have a mission statement, but have you ever heard of a social media mission statement?

Put simply, a social media mission statement is used to convey why you’re on social media and what you hope to accomplish there. It should reflect your brand identity and, if done right, will also help you identify the channels that won’t work for your brand – so it’s important that you always keep your ideal customer in mind while creating it.

An example mission statement might be, ‘We will use Facebook to educate current and potential customers about the importance of social media marketing.’

Having this statement in place will make it easier for you to decide what type of content to share – if a post doesn’t align with your mission statement, it shouldn’t be used.

STEP 4: Identify Key Success Indicators

Determining your social media success isn’t as simple as tracking your follower growth. While this is a good indicator that the content you’re sharing and the ways you’re engaging your audience are enticing, it doesn’t necessarily show your R.O.I.

Good key success indicators include:

• Conversion Rate
• Time Spent on Website
• Reach
• Brand Mentions
• Sentiment
• Total Shares

STEP 5: Create Engaging Content

Businesses that jump straight to the ‘creating content’ step tend to be the ones that fail – and this is sadly something we see all too often!

It is vital that you identify your ideal customer and create your social media mission statement first as this will enable you to create and curate the most engaging and enticing content for your customers and platforms.

From images to videos, blog posts to infographics, the list of content is endless, but it is important that you only focus on the forms that align with your mission statement and are engaging for your audience. Social media is fueled by content, so it is crucial that you view creating high-quality, engaging content as a top priority!

STEP 6: Invest in Social Media Management Software

Trying to organise, manage and publish social media content is no easy task – and that’s where social media management software comes in!

One of the main benefits of social media management software is the ability to schedule posts ahead of time, giving you more time to experiment with new and exciting content ideas, keep on top of industry trends and, most importantly, engage with your audience.

STEP 7: Track, Analyse, Optimise

Even the best social media marketers rely on trial and error – and that’s why it’s super important to continually track your results, analyse the data and make tweaks accordingly! This means constantly re-evaluating each of the seven steps we have discussed. For example, if the data tells you that Facebook or Twitter is your most effective channel, consider doubling down.

It’s important to remember that a great social media strategy is a constant work in progress that changes as and when necessary!

Summary

If you’re ready to start growing your business online, now is the perfect time to focus on your business’ marketing goals and start developing the perfect social media strategy. As social media specialists, we focus all of our time on our clients’ social media accounts, delivering constant growth, results and, most importantly, R.O.I.

So, if you want to branch into the world of social media marketing but are still struggling to get started, give us a buzz on Leeds: 0113 3206266 or Harrogate: 01423 297009 or click here to contact us.