A lot of companies just have no idea what they are doing when it comes to building an effective social media marketing strategy when online via the various social media platforms available, so it’s wise to get ahead of the game and plan ahead in order to get your name and brand out there. There are six key steps involved in building this strategy, which is all covered here.
1. Where do I start with social media marketing?
First choice, Facebook or Twitter? Okay, so they aren’t the only two options but they are among the biggest. Other platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest may also be of interest to you so it’s worth looking at all of them to decide which is right for you.
Factors for making your decision should include your audience (who you are trying to target); time (how much time can you devote to social media); and resources (do you have post-worthy images and videos).
2. #Aesthetics
Once you have chosen one or more platforms, it’s important to make it look the part. Upload as many details as you can, from your official name, profile and cover photo, and contact information to your bio and link to your main website.
Make sure that if you have more than one social media platform, that all of them are recognisable as the same brand. All pictures/cover photos and information should match across all sites.
3. How many puns are too many puns…
Is your brand a bit witty and full of fun posts, or would you rather convey a more professional and serious tone? This is good to know before you start attempting social media marketing, as you want to set the right tone from the very start, giving your brand a personality and helping potential customers get to know you and your products or services.
4. Am I annoying everyone?
Probably not! But it’s good to have a plan of how many times a day or week you are going to post, and what time of the day you are going to do it at. Do some research into the optimum times of day for posting as these vary across different platforms and will affect how many impressions your post is going to gain.
5. Let’s try that again, but better.
If at first, you don’t succeed, try again! An obvious statement, but it’s important to review and update your style and method of posting regularly in order to make sure you are posting the best content to the right people. There are various scheduling tools such as Buffer and Hootsuite that let you track the progress of your posts, allowing you to see past and future side by side and track the development of your success online.
6. Plan ahead and communicate!
In order to save time in the future, and ensure you have a regular and consistent level of posting, try using a scheduling tool like those mentioned above. This will mean you can develop a pattern and set posts for months in advance, for example for major holidays or national events.
Once you have done this, you can’t just sit back and bask in the social media marketing glory. You need to continue engaging and listening to your audience. Like some posts, reply to queries and keep up to date with any trends that appear.
Hopefully, with the help of these steps, and those tools, you will be a social media whiz in no time. Check out this article for more detail on the steps involved.
