Drafting a plan, are you? We feel your pain! Coming up with an effective social media marketing plan isn’t an easy task. But, do we turn a blind eye towards it just because it seems difficult? Social media has become a vital marketing channel today and ignoring it is no more an option. With the right strategies falling into the right boxes, social media marketing will shoot your business to the zenith of success or maybe, at least get you closer to it.
What is commonly observed though, by our oh-so-sharp brain is that many brands jump into without any solid plan. Remember the age-old saying, ‘when one fails to plan, one is planning to fail’? Without planning, there is no way your business can survive the giant called social media. A plan will give you direction to strategize, implement and succeed. If you want to walk the path of mastering then following are a few check-posts you need to stop it.
1. Set your Goal
What do you want to achieve using social networking sites? If you have a mission statement that answers this question, then it means you have narrowed down your objectives and your goal. Your goal will let you know whether your marketing strategies are yielding the right results. In case your aim is to expand your network then actively participating in discussions on forums and connecting with the right people will help you achieve it.
2. Determine your social media sites
While ignoring social media is not an option, being active on every other social media channel can also be very taxing. So, it is necessary to narrow down your options. You need to find out which social platforms can prove to be beneficial for your business. Quick notes- Facebook is by far the most loved platform, best to spread awareness about your brand. Twitter and Instagram are channels that will help you gain more followers and increase your customer base. While Pinterest is beneficial for ecommerce businesses, Google+ is advantageous for tech companies and marketing individuals.
3. Know Thy Target Audience
You cannot aim for the bullseye without knowing the target. Similarly, you have to identify the right audience and then set your marketing strategies. Additionally knowing the buyer persona will help you draw highly focused marketing strategies. A few parameters to know about audience are- age, location, most used social networking sites, etc.
4. Identify Opportunities
It isn’t very difficult if you quit playing the blind game. Social media presents loads of opportunities. All you need to do is pick the ones that can turn into the golden egg-giving geese. An opportunity can be nothing less than an opening to online success. Draft eye-grabbing campaigns and engage your audience on social media sites. One such opportunity that currently allows large-scale engagement on social media is live streaming that is being openly welcomed by many businesses.
5. Create fresh, relevant content
Today, every other human being is on the run and want quick answers to their queries. One must understand, that social media user is on a lookout for content that is compact, precise. While curating such to-the-point content, it must also be fresh because no one likes to read repetitive content. Also, don’t forget to give a touch up of engaging visuals to the content. Relevant images, videos, infographics have the power of making users take your notice.
6. Utilize social media management tools
Social media management tools are truly a blessing. Schedule your posts on social networking sites using these tools and be free to put your time to better use. By automating the workflow, these tools increase the productivity of marketing. A few of these tools not only help you in organizing your posts but also provides you with analytics and keeps a track of messages, mentions on social media sites. Isn’t that the perfect example of ‘life-made-easy’?
7. Track & analyze success metrics
You don’t essentially have to turn into Sherlock Holmes and start an investigation. Here too, tech-savvy tools are present to your rescue. They collect all the necessary data which you have to analyze and use to the fullest for optimizing your social media strategies. Conversion rate, time spent by the user on your posts, brand mentions, user reactions to posts, total shares – these are just a few parameters that will help you determine your ROI. Audit your data, check if your marketing techniques are yielding the right results, and modify your strategies if need be.
8. Connect with influencers
You can take your social media marketing strategy a notch higher by approaching an influencer to endorse your brand across social media channels. These influencers have large follower base who are driven to follow you when they advocate your brand name. Influencer marketing makes your brand reach many and develops trust in people. Authoritative figures in a way push your customers to give your products and services a chance. Increase your fan base, raise brand awareness and gain higher ROI by approaching an influencer.
Being a master of social media isn’t every other person’s cup of tea. But these 8 steps can definitely pave the way to social media success. So follow these steps and see your hard work bear sweet fruits.