Last week, we highlighted the importance of having a social media strategy. The question then becomes, what makes a social strategy solid? While every strategy is different and should be unique to the needs of your organization, there are five must-dos that should be included in every strategy:
1. Define your objectives.
What’s your goal in stepping into the social media landscape? Do you want to sell more product? Attain more clients? Whatever your objective may be, it’s crucial to establish it early on, as this will not only help determine how you utilize social media but will also be an ongoing reference point for maintaining a consistent brand voice as you grow.
2. Identify your audience.
This step becomes much easier to complete after defining the objective. For example, if you are an orthodontist who wants to use social media to attain more clients, you may have a few audience categories: kids and adolescents who need braces and parents who are researching orthodontists for their children. Or, perhaps, your audience is much broader. Maybe you are a new author who has written a fiction book for women, and you hope to target all females through your social media marketing.
If you aren’t sure where to begin in identifying your audience, start by asking questions about the types of people you’re trying to target. What is their age, gender, socio-economic status, geographic location, etc.? This step is vital because different audiences resonate with different messages and prefer different social media platforms.
To draw from our examples, an orthodontist and a writer of fiction for females have different audiences that will need distinct strategies for effective outreach - a kid is not best targeted through LinkedIn, for instance, but that might be a good means for reaching their parents.
3. Set SMART goals.
Following the first step of defining one’s objective sets broad goals into place. But social media is, in many ways, a matter of numbers, which means goals need to be specific. It’s highly advisable to follow Peter Drucker’s “SMART Goal” setting method and make measurable outcomes.
Success is defined differently in every situation, so think about what numbers achieved and in which time frames would be a win in your circumstance. Whether that’s getting 600 followers in six months, making three posts per week or getting 10-20 comments every week, having specific goals like these in place will ensure that you stay on track with a plan in mind. Setting these goals is also a helpful guide for re-assessing your strategy should your social grow or stagnate.
4. Analyze your competition.
It’s not advisable to copy your competitors, but it can be helpful to assess the landscape of existing social media accounts that are similar to what you would like your social to represent. For example, if you are a ministry hoping to use social media to raise awareness about your work, seeing how other social accounts run by ministries do things can help you clarify your voice.
5. Curate a month of content before posting.
Can you see why we left this step for last?
After defining your objectives and audience, setting goals and analyzing competition, it may seem like the perfect time to start posting. However, curating at least a month of content before beginning is among the most crucial steps to implementing a social strategy effectively.
Don’t panic - it’s not common that most organizations can plan out 30-31 days of specific posts, including images, captions, videos, etc. Rather than focusing on having a whole month planned out perfectly, commit to creating a month’s worth of content ideas. Start with a spreadsheet or blank calendar that at least has a post concept prepared for each posting day. This is the most effective means of ensuring that posting remains steady, engaging and current.
Social media platforms reward engagement, so the more you consistently post, the better chance you have of spurring organic growth. This can also be a good time to experiment with what aesthetic elements will help to define your brand. For example, will you use the same filters, colors and fonts on every post? Utilize the first calendar as an opportunity to play around with different elements and determine your social voice.
The social media landscape is ever-changing, which means one must always be on the lookout for the newest trends and changes to keep their strategies current. These five steps, however, are time-tested tactics to begin an effective strategy than transcend algorithm alterations and apply to social media platforms old and new. Throughout February, we will continue to talk about how to make social media work for you.