How to Create a Social Media Strategy for Your Business in 10 Steps

How to Create a Social Media Strategy for Your Business in 10 Steps

The executive chairman of Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos, has rightly said, ““If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.”

Bang on! What is a business going to do without a proper social media strategy? As an omnichannel data powerhouse, V12 says that 90% of the customers try to get associated with a brand or want to purchase its products or services through social media. Further, an effective marketing plan, including a powerful content strategy for social media, helps a business to:

  1. Achieve a sense of purpose
  2. Determine your business goal
  3. Define your target audience
  4. Achieve clarity regarding the key targets on a short-term basis

Yes, we know that the planning part is extensive. However, by following an easy step-by-step guide, and setting up some short-term measurable goals, you can propel your business towards success. So, read on as we discuss how to create a social media strategy or the document outlining the social media goals for your business in 10 steps.

1. Have you heard of S.M.A.R.T goals?

So, let’s start with the first step, and that is setting S.M.A.R.T social media goals that agree with the objectives of your business. How else are you going to measure the success/failure of your business and the return on investment?

Why you will use the S.M.A.R.T Goal Framework:

 By S.M.A.R.T goals, we refer to goals that are:

  1. Specific
  2. Measurable
  3. Attainable
  4. Relevant
  5. Time-bound

S.M.A.R.T goals will help you channelize your actions and yield visible business results. For example, many businesses collaborate with influencers and content creators on Instagram as a part of their social media content plan. Thus, they interact with the niche audience and attract the traffic they want.

2. Tracking Value Metrics:

 You can easily find and assess the quantitative metrics, such as the number of followers on social media. However, it is important to get an idea about the real values. These real values include engagement, click-through, and conversion rates. However, it is important to know which metrics are important for which network. For example, In the case of LinkedIn, one should go for click-through. On the other hand, you can use Instagram for brand awareness, and measure the success of a campaign on Facebook through cost-per-click.

3. Know Your Audience:

Do you know who your real audiences are? Unless you know them and have an idea about what they want to see, you will not be able to create an effective content plan for social media. In other words, if you know your audience, you can easily turn them into your customers. By knowing your customers, we mean having an idea about the following.

  1. Age
  2. Location/Geography
  3. Average income
  4. Job
  5. Interests and others

4. Gather Essential Data:

Social media marketing and social media content strategy cannot be based on assumptions. Those should be data-driven. You can use social media analytics and tools to find the relevant information you want. For, it is not wise to guess that users of a particular age group (say 18-35) are using a particular platform frequently. If you are planning to target that particular age group, you should have the data to focus on a definite social media platform.

5. Know who your competitors are and keep track of their social media activities:

It’s time for some competitive analysis. Well, this analysis can be performed using advanced tools to know who your competitors are. Besides, it will help you know where they are winning over you and where they are lagging behind. Further, it will help you explore various opportunities. For example, if your competitor has made its presence felt on Instagram, but absent on Facebook or Twitter, you can easily capitalize those channels to reach out to more consumers.

6. Go for Social Media Audit:

Have you been using social media for quite some time now? It’s time you measure and monitor your strategies/endeavors so far. You can ask yourself the questions, mentioned below.

  1. Which strategy is working, and which one is unable to yield any result?
  2. Are people engaging with you, and who are they?
  3. Which particular network is being used by your target audience?
  4. How is your social media presence doing in comparison to your competitors?

Once you have these required pieces of information, you can plan a further roadmap.

7. Find Inspiration:

We are not denying the fact that your brand is unique, and it needs to STAND OUT. However, it is also important to find inspirations, especially for creating copies for social media. In other words, you can always find ideas from other businesses that are doing great on social media. You can refer to case studies (easily found in Facebook), and the marketing strategies of your favorite brands on social media for your valuable insights.

8. Make a Social Media Content Calendar and Set Your Posting Schedule:

Create a social media calendar, mentioning the type of content and the date you will be posting it on any social medium. You can include all the content plans in your calendar, including blog posts, videos, links, images, and others. Along with your day-to-day posting plans, it should also include the social media campaigns of your business. Remember to space out the posts properly using a calendar to yield the maximum benefit.

9. Use the Right Content Mix:

While creating the social media content strategy, you should create the perfect mix of content you post on social media. There is a popular rule of thirds for creating the right content mix for your business. It says:

  1. 1/3rd of the content should inform and educate by sharing thoughts and ideas from industry experts and leaders
  2. 1/3rd of the content should promote your business
  3. And the remaining 1/3rd should be used for personal interactions.

10. Evaluate and Bring Changes if Needed:

However powerful your social media strategy may be, you cannot undermine the importance of evaluation. Be smart! Track the results and introduce changes in the areas that need improvement.

Conclusion:

In this article, we have discussed how to create a social media strategy for your business in 10 easy steps.  It’s time you explore those and see how you can devise the most effective social media marketing plan. It’s a wrap until we come back with some other cool ideas for making your business a success in social media.

Order Now

This Christmas & New Year get discount up to 50%

on our Logo, Print and Web Designing services!

To avail the discount click here
15% discount. Code - DREAM09102017