Step 1: Audit Your Current Social Presence
“Know thyself. Know the customer. Innovate.”
Before you strategize about where you are headed, take a quick
look at where you are. A few areas to consider when auditing your business’s
social media presence are:
·
Which networks are you
currently active on
·
Are your networks optimized
(photo and cover images, bio, URL, etc.)
·
Which networks are currently
bringing you the most value
·
How do your profiles compare to
your competitors’ profiles
Step 2: Document Who Your Ideal Customer Is
“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so
well the product or service fits him and sells itself.”
You will want to get as specific as possible with this part. For
example, if you identified your target market as parents it would be ok.
However, if you identify your ideal customer as a parent that lives in the
United States, is between 30 and 50 years of age, earns over $70,000, primarily
uses Facebook and has an interest in outdoors activities you will have much
more success.
Even the best marketers will fail if they are marketing to the
wrong audience. Answer the following questions to help you come up with a
highly focused buyer persona:
·
Age
·
Location
·
Job Title
·
Income
·
Pain Points (that your business
can solve)
·
Most Used Social Network
Step 3: Create A Social Media Mission
Statement
“What makes you weird, makes you unique and therefore makes you
stand out.”
Your social media mission statement will drive your future
actions, so make sure you put some thought into it. This statement will make it
clear exactly what you plan to use your social media presence for and should
reflect your brand identity. Keep in mind your ideal customer when trying to
create this statement.
An example mission statement might be “to use social media to
educate current and potential customers about digital marketing, with a focus
on social media marketing.” Once you have this statement documented, it will
make it simple for you to decide what to share and create.
If it doesn’t align with your mission statement, forget about it.
Businesses that post randomly without a guiding mission will fail. People
follow experts, not generalists.
Step 4: Identify Key Success Metrics
“If you cannot measure it you cannot improve it.”
How will you determine if your social media marketing efforts are
successful? I am not just talking about gaining more followers, I am talking
about making money. After all, it is hard to rationalize spending time and
money on something that isn’t improving the bottom line.
A few metrics to consider measuring are:
·
Conversion Rate
·
Time Spent on Website
·
Reach
·
Brand Mentions
·
Sentiment
·
Total Shares
Step 5: Create and Curate Engaging Content
“Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on
the Internet.” – Bill Gates
Sadly, many businesses jump straight to this step. Hopefully this
post has made it clear that there are several vital steps that you must take
before you start creating and curating engaging content to share on your social
media channels.
Let’s now discuss the fun part, posting to social media. You know
who your ideal customer is and you used that information to create your social
media mission statement. Armed with this information it should be easy for you
to begin creating and curating content. So, what exactly is considered content?
Here are a few examples of content you could create:
·
Images
·
Videos
·
Blog Posts
·
Company News
·
Infographics
·
eBooks
·
Interviews
The list of content
ideas goes on and on, but make sure you focus only on forms of content that
align with your mission statement, as well as your skill set. Content is what
fuels social media, so it is crucial that you consider creating high quality,
engaging content as a top priority.
I strongly recommend that you create a content calendar that
outlines how often you will post to each network, which topics you will share
and when you will share them.
Step 6: Invest In a Social Media Management
Tool
“We live in times in which ordinary people can do amazing things
using the right tools”
Most marketers have a secret, they leverage tools to boost their
productivity. Ok, maybe it isn’t a secret, but without tools marketers would
face constant burnout (many do even with tools). When it comes to social media,
having a social media management tool allows you to scale your efforts with
ease.
One of the main benefits of a social media management tool is the
ability to schedule posts ahead of time. Remember that content calendar you
created? Make sure your scheduled posts in your social media management tool
align with your content calendar.
Step 7: Track, Analyze, Optimize
“If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to
anything.” – Ronald Coase
This may be the most important step when it comes to succeeding on
social media. Even the best social media marketers rely on trial and error. It
might seem basic, but tracking your results, analyzing the data and then making
tweaks to optimize them is crucial.
Each previous step should be re-evaluated after you have had time
to analyze the results of your marketing efforts. Let the data drive you. If it
is telling you Facebook or Twitter is your most effective channel, consider
doubling down.
A great social media strategy is never set in stone. It is a
constant work in progress that changes when necessary. So get out there, create
a strategy and start optimizing it as you continue to grow and learn more about
your business and your audience.
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