You can achieve anything you want by leveraging social media; but you will need an excellent social media marketing strategy to make sure you don’t fail. The strategy has to be clear, concise, and very specific so that the results can be easily measured. Here are a few steps you can follow if you want to come up with a winning social media plan:
Make sure your social media marketing goals align with your business objectives
Setting your goals is the first step you need to take if you want to create a winning social media strategy. Make sure each of your goals is specific, relevant, attainable, time-bound, and measurable. The number of likes or retweets that your posts get might be easy to track; but to provide real value you will have to focus on metrics such as lead generation, conversion rates, and web referral that are actually meaningful. Write down at least 3 social media goals to start with.
Get to know your audience
If you want to publish posts that appeal to your audience, you must first understand who they are and what they are looking for. So start by creating buyer personas, analyze their problems, and see what you can offer to satisfy their needs and wants. Use social media analytics to gather information.
Research your competitors
If not all, at least some of your competitors have to be there on social media. Find out who they are and what they are doing to engage with their audience. Such analysis can help you spot opportunities that you may have missed out on. The number of likes or retweets that your posts get might be easy to track; but to provide real value you will have to focus on metrics such as lead generation, conversion rates, and web referral that are actually meaningful. Write down at least 3 social media goals to start with.
Conduct a social media audit
If you have already been using the various tools of social media, find out what and how much you have accomplished. Analyze your social media presence and compare it with that of your competitors. This should tell you if your social accounts are serving the purpose they were supposed to.
See what you can do to improve your existing profiles
Once you are aware of the networks that your audience is using, you will have to come up with an effective strategy for each of these networks.Make sure your existing social media profiles are in perfect alignment with your goals. Fill out all the profile fields and make sure you include all the keywords that people use to look for your business.
Creating social proof is one of the most crucial things you need to keep in mind while formulating a social media marketing strategy. This is one thing that will make your customers develop trust for your brand, which is vital for the success of any business.