How to create a Social Media Marketing Strategy

Social Media is an ever growing aspect for marketers in businesses to get on top of. 30% of millennials’ say they engage with a brand on social media at least once a month. Therefore it is crucial to not only have an online presence but to make sure your social media strategy is as strong as it can possibly be. Keep reading as we run through the steps you need to create or improve your social media.

Align your digital marketing strategy with your business goals

It is important to make sure that your digital strategy goals match the goals of your business. Ultimately Social media marketing is part of a wider marketing system which is aimed with the business goals in mind. A good way to align these objectives is to make your goals SMART. That’s Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based. Determine what you want to accomplish, for example is it increased brand awareness or an increase in sales?

Learn everything you can about your audience

To be able to perfect your social media strategy you need to know your online market. You can do this by asking yourself the following questions.

1. What are their preferred channels of communication / social platforms?
2. Where do they look for solutions to their problems online?
3. How do your customers like to view online content? Do they read, watch or listen?

One of the best ways to learn the most about your audience is to create audience personas. Creating a persona allows you to get inside different customers your business has and truly understand their wants and needs. When creating campaigns or content you can go back to the relevant persona and think about whether they would respond. Another way is to complete Ethnographic research if relevant to your business and its needs. If you don’t know what Ethnographic research is, we have written a handy blog (click here) which tells you all about it.

Competitors

You want to make sure you keep on top of what your competitors are doing. By doing so it will help you to see where you can stand out with your own digital strategy, as well as making sure you aren’t missing any key ideas! Look at competitors for the type of content they are posting – what is the focus and in what areas are they getting results? Chances are if it’s working for them it will work for you too.

Audit your content

Before you can improve your social media strategy you need to audit your current social profiles. Know which content that you are currently putting out is resonating and engaging with your audience, and what isn’t working. This is key to figuring out which direction to take your strategy. From your research you should now know where to target the correct audience and set up any accounts you need but don’t currently have. Improve existing profiles to make them the best they can be. Check the information is correct? Does it match? Are you using the same images and copy across all platforms?

Create a social media content calendar

Social media content calendars are essential for saving you time in the long run. Plan out what content you are going to post, where and when – days, time, how often etc. Take advantage of automation tools such as Buffer and Hootsuite to schedule your posts days in advance. In terms of what to post use the Rule of thirds as a guide – ⅓ of content of your own work/products, ⅓ of relevant industry related news, ⅓ behind the scenes. You can download some great calendar templates online to help you get started.

Track, measure and adjust

Finally, keep reviewing your strategy to make sure you are constantly striving to improve. Listen to what your audience are telling you, use their engagement as a scale of what is and isn’t working. All social media platforms have some level of analytics which will help your to understand what elements to keep pushing and alternatively which to give up on. Try not to get too caught up in the amount of likes or retweets as this isn’t really beneficial to you at all. However, do look at metrics such as the reach and number of shares.

So by now you should understand just how important it is to have a social media strategy.  However if you want hear about how we’ve helped our clients or simply want more information get in touch. We would love to help you!