A social media strategy? What’s all that about?
Well customers simply expect to find what they are looking for online. Being found online can be a massive boon for businesses. If they can;t find you online, then they will fins a competitor instead.
Social media makes it easy to improve brand awareness, build your identity and give your business personality that people can relate to.
Purchasing decisions are made online now so if you are in the business of selling, you need to be online.
Most business owners use social media in their personal life so many will take the plunge and set up their business on social media. Easy peasy. Do a few posts. Jobs a good ‘un, yes?
So, why do you need a social media strategy?
If you invest in a social presence without a clear strategy, you won’t know whether or not your campaigns are successful. For example, if you simply post content to appear active, how do you know that content is contributing to the business positively?
What if it’s actually putting people off your brand?
Here are our top 5 reasons you need a social media strategy
1 Are you using the right channels where your customers hang out?
This is a very common mistake for many businesses. There is a tendency to use whichever social media channel you are the most comfortable with. It’s usually the one you like to use in your personal life.
But are your target customer using that platform?
Creating user personas for your target audience is part of developing your social media strategy. Understanding what makes your audience tick and their interests is key. If we understand who the customers are, then we can use channel demographics to work out which are the appropriate channels
Deciding how to connect with a customer is not a tactical decision, it requires strategic thinking.
2 Are you using the right content?
Understanding your customers will help you to understand what their interests are. This will help to drive the content your share. No-one wants bombardment with sell, sell, sell messages. Tap into their interests and plan content that they will find engaging. Your content strategy should include an events calendar that you can tap into.
Being strategy about the social media platforms will drive your posting schedule. This makes sure you are posting just enough content for the platform. It also allows you to plan the amount of created vs curated content. Some type of content, for example video, work better on some platforms, so be strategic about it.
3 Does your content align with your business goals?
Ensuring that your social media strategy aligns with your business goal just makes common sense.
Having a social media strategy in place will ensure that your social media efforts are more fruitful, and are working to support your broader business goals.
Set goals and KPIs for your social media that build towards your business goals. Use your platform analytics to track your goals and see how social media is performing for your business
4 Are you being consistent?
A good social media strategy will understand your brand story and help to share it with your customers online. Your personality can shine through with your tone of voice. You need to be consistent with your tone and it needs to match your brand.
Your posting schedule will also need to be consistent. The posting frequency and the type of posts will all be defined and can be planned in advance. Tactical posting where you posts 5 posts in one day and then nothing for a week just doesn’t work. Your followers will start to get used to your posting times too and expect your next ‘installment’!
5. Are you wasting your time?
Messing around on social media is a bit like plunging down a rabbit hole.
You start out by looking for a spot of inspiration for today’s Facebook post and before you know it, lunchtime is looming and you’ve watched 3 YouTube videos about funny tortoises, got involved in a Twitter spat, drooled over Instagram food pics, and still not decided on what to post.
Having a social medai strategy will actually save you time. You will know which social media platforms to focus on. It allows you to concentrate on the subjects your audience is interested in (and set up some automated feeds to highlight the right content). You will know the best times to post and have things scheduled in advance. Your content calendar will highlight when industry related events are coming up.
So, where do you start?
Taking a step back from tactical social media can be enlightening. There are a lot of templates online that can guide you though the basics of creating a DIY social media strategy.
A social media audit is a very good starting point. It will look at which platforms are being used and what is working well. It usually includes a competitor analysis and some top tips for your business.
Getting in a expert will cost more in money than a DIY job but it will free up your time. Getting in expert help will make all the difference in the quality of the social medai strategy and it will let you concentrate on your buisness.
Contact Plumb.Digital for your social media audit or your social media strategy. Get in touch for a no obligation chat about how we can help your business.