Most businesses know they have to embrace social media but many are overwhelmed. So, instead of getting started, a lot do nothing.
So here’s 5-step plan from marketing consultant Robert Bly that might just help improve your social media marketing.
Step 1 – Establish the goals you want to achieve
Having goals is essential so that you can measure how effective your social media campaigns are. Based on your goals, you’ll be able to choose the social networking sites to be active on.
Bly’s advice don’t have too many. Stick to one or two primary goals (eg: increasing customer sales inquiries) and one or two secondary goals (eg: getting more people to subscribe to your e-news).
Step 2 – Conduct a social media audit
Assess how your current social media activity is working for you so you’ll know what to be active on and what to abandon.
Look at things like:
- who is connecting with you via social media
- what social media your target market uses (Is it LinkedIn, Instragram, Pinterest?)
what your competitors are doing on social media and how you compare
Step 3 – Refine your online presence
Make sure you’re using your presence as effectively as possible. Bly says, “Update and/or fill out all profiles completely, with your goals and audience in mind.” This will help your target market can find you and know what you’re about.
Step 4 – Set your tone of voice
What is the right voice and tone for your market, your brand and the social media platform you’re using? Establishing yourself as a thought leader for your industry will need a different approach to trying to promote a community event to visitors to your town.
Look for inspiration – What are your competitors and your customers doing? What’s getting the most engagement?
Step 5 – It’s all about good content
You should create a plan and calendar for your content pieces so your content is not ad hoc or diluting your message.
The plan can cover:
- the type(s) of content you will post and promote via social media
- how often will you post
- how you can target a specific audience(s)
- who will create the content
- how you will promote the content
