How to Develop Social Media Strategy That Works For Your Business
Do you know how to develop a social media strategy that works for your business? If not, don't worry – you're not alone! A lot of business owners struggle with this question. It's difficult to create a strategy that covers all the different social media platforms and caters to your specific goals. In this blog post, we will discuss how to develop social media strategy that works for your business. We will also provide a social media strategic plan template that you can use as a guide.
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A social media marketing strategy is a plan of action that businesses used to create and implement their social media marketing campaigns.
The goal of a social media marketing strategy is to help businesses achieve their desired outcomes through the use of social media.
Why Do You Need a Social Media Strategy?
There are many benefits to having a social media strategy. It can help you:
– Save time by knowing what to post and when to post it
– Increase reach by understanding which platforms your target audience is using
– Drive traffic to your website
– Generate leads and sales
– Boost brand awareness and recognition
I have also elaborated extensively on the importance of social media for business in the following blog post: What Is the Importance of Social Media Marketing for your business?
How to Develop Social Media Strategy
Now that we've discussed the benefits of having a strategy, let's talk about how to develop one. There are seven steps you need to take to create an effective strategy:
1. Set your goals and objectives
What do you want to achieve with your social media marketing? Do you want to increase brand awareness? Drive traffic to your website? Generate leads or sales? Once you know your goals, you can develop objectives that will help you achieve those goals.
Some common objectives for social media campaigns include:
– Increasing website traffic by X%
– Generating X leads
– Selling X products
– Growing social media following by X%
– Engaging with X number of customers
It's important to make sure that your goals line up with your marketing objectives. If your goal is to sell products, but your marketing objective is to increase brand awareness, you may want to reconsider your strategy. Your goals and objectives should be closely aligned to be effective.
Set SMART goals
Smart goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time bound. When setting goals, make sure they are SMART. This will ensure that your goals are achievable and relevant to your business.
Track relevant metrics
Once you have set your goals, it's important to track the relevant metrics. This will help you determine whether you are achieving your desired outcomes. Track both engagement metrics (likes, comments, shares) and reach metrics (impressions, reach).
Some common social media metrics include:
– Engagement rate
– Click-through rate
– reach
– impressions
– Sales or leads generated
Once you have your goals and objectives, it's time to move on to the next step: audience research.
2. Research and analyze your target audience
To decide which platforms should you use, you need to first research and analyze your target audience and your business goals. Who is your target audience and ideal customer?
Different Social Media Platform Has Different Audiences
Your target audience may vary depending on the platform you're using. For example, the target audience for Facebook differs from the target audience for LinkedIn.
Thus, understanding your target audience is essential when creating a social media strategy. Do some research and find out which platforms your target audience is using, what content they're interested in, and how you can reach them. Then, use those platforms and create content that resonates with those platforms.
Don't try to be on every platform. You'll quickly become overwhelmed and won't be able to produce quality content. Instead, focus on a couple of platforms that fit your business and target audience best.
3. Know your competition
Once you know your target audience, it's time to do some research on your competition. What are they doing on social media? How are they reaching their target audience? What kind of content are they creating?
By understanding what your competition is doing, you can try to be unique and offer something that your competition isn't. This will help you stand out from the crowd and attract more attention to your business.
Conduct a competitive analysis
Competitive analysis can be done through several methods, including:
– Checking out their social accounts
– Searching for them on social media platforms
– Reading their blog posts
– Watching their videos
– Checking out their website
Besides conducting a competitive analysis, you can also use listening tools. These tools will help you track what's being said about your competition on social media. This is valuable information that can be used to improve your own strategy.
Some social media listening tools include:
– Hootsuite
– Sprout Social
– BuzzSumo
– Google Alerts
If you are already using some social media platforms, your next step is to audit your social media strategy and tactics to identify your starting point. Start by asking yourself some key questions about what works and what doesn't work.
For example, are you reaching your target audience? Are people engaging with your posts? Do your followers trust you? These are just a few examples of things to consider. Once you've identified areas where you could improve, take steps to fix those problems.
If you're already using social networks, audit your channels and how you use them. Ask yourself questions like:
• What's working?
• What's not working?
• Is your ideal client or market using the social networks you want to reach?
• How do you know whether your ideal clients or customers are using these networks?
• How can you find out?
You'll probably notice trends across platforms. You might see that Twitter is great for generating leads, while Facebook is better for nurturing relationships. Or maybe LinkedIn is best for connecting with potential employees.
By taking stock of your current situation, you'll gain insight into what's working and what isn't. This information will help guide future decisions about your social media marketing plan.
If you are not yet on those platforms your target audience is on, you need to set up your social media profiles. This is how you will reach your target audience and how they will find you.
When setting up your profile, make sure to:
– Use keywords in your profile description or bio so that people can find you easily: You can use a keyword research tool such as Google AdWords to find out what words your target audience uses to find your products.
– Use a professional photo or logo as your profile picture: Use the correct size for your logo and profile pictures
– Write an interesting bio that tells people who you are and what you do
– Fill out all profile fields
– Include a link to your website
– Post high-quality content on a regular basis
If you already have social media profiles, take some time to optimize them properly. Make sure they are up-to-date and accurately reflect your brand. If not, make the changes.
It's also important to make sure your profiles are consistent with each other.
This means using the same name, bio, profile picture, and cover photo across all platforms. This will help people easily recognize your business, no matter which social media platform they're on. Consistent branding also helps build trust between you and your audience.
5. Plan your content
Now that you've done your research and audit, it's time to move on to the next step: creating a content strategy. Content is the bread and butter of social media.
Without quality content, you won't be able to reach your target audience or achieve your desired outcomes.
What type of content will you produce and post? Will you blog, create videos, or use images? How often will you post? Planning your content ahead of time will make it easier to stay consistent and on-brand.
Again, this depends on your target audience and business goals. However, there are some general tips for creating social media content:
– Be consistent with your branding
– Produce high-quality content that applies to your audience
– Tailor your content to fit the social media platform you're using
– Use images and videos to capture attention
– Engage with your followers by asking questions and responding to comments
Be Realistic About What You Can Produce
It's important to be realistic about how much content you can produce. If you try to do too much, you will quickly get burnt out and your quality will suffer. It's better to focus on quality over quantity.
Once you know what content type you will post and how often you can realistically create new content, it's time to create a posting schedule around that. This will help you stay organized and ensure that you are posting on a regular basis.
Once you have a schedule and social media content calendar, stick to it as much as possible. Consistency is key with social media.
Balance your posting frequency
When creating your posting schedule, balance how often you post on each social media platform. You don't want to bombard your followers with content, but you also don't want to leave them hanging for too long between posts.
Find the right balance for each platform and adjust as needed. The most important thing is to be intentional about your social media strategy and to create content that is valuable to your target audience.
Below is a table showing the key social media platforms and their optimal posting times from SocialBee for reference:
Optimize Posting Schedule for Your Social Media Platforms
To get the most out of social media, you need to post when your target audience is online. This means different things for different businesses and platforms.
Here are a few general tips:
– Post during the week and during business hours
– Experiment with different times and days to see when you get the most engagement
– Use social media analytics to find out when your followers are online
– Take advantage of scheduling tool like SocialBee to help you find the best times to post
Create the right content mix
Now that you have a general idea of how often to post, it's time to create your content. This is where things can get overwhelming. To make it easier, break your content down into categories. For example:
– Educational
– Inspirational
– Asking for feedback
– Showcasing your product or service
– Sharing customer stories
– Highlighting company news
– Promotions and discounts
By categorizing your content, you can easily see what topics you need to create more or less of. This will also help you come up with new content ideas when you're feeling stuck.
For example, if you use SocialBee to manage your social media marketing, you can set up different categories for your content as shown in the picture below:
Some types of content include:
Blog
Stories
Short-form video
Bring out your authenticity
Stories and time-sensitive posts
Posts that show off your human side
User-generated content
Shots of your product being used
High-quality videos
Livestreams
Customize Your Content for Each Social Network
Different social networks have different demographics, and each platform has a different culture. What works on Facebook might not work on Twitter, and what flies on LinkedIn could bomb on Instagram. It all depends on the context.
To make sure your content is effective, you need to customize it for each social network. That means creating content that is relevant to the platform you're using, and that appeals to the people who use that platform.
For example, if you're trying to reach teenagers on Snapchat, you'll need to create content that is visually appealing and easy to consume quickly. On LinkedIn you'll want to focus on creating long-form content that is thought-provoking and informative.
When planning your content, also consider how you will repurpose or reuse that content. For example, if you write a blog post, can you turn it into a video? Or if you create an infographic, can you break it down into a series of tweets? Planning for multiple uses of your content will help you get the most out of the time and effort you put into creating it.
Don't Mix Your Personal Tastes with Those of Your Target Audience
Just because you like a certain type of content doesn't mean your target audience will. When creating content, always put your target audience first. This is the only way to ensure that you're creating content that is actually valuable to them.
Ask your followers
If you're not sure what type of content your target audience wants, ask them! You can use surveys, social media polls, or even just start a conversation in the comments section of your posts. Asking your audience directly is the best way to find out what they want from you.
And finally, don't forget to have fun with it! Creating content should be enjoyable, not a chore. If you're not enjoying it, your audience will tell. So find what you love about social media and let that shine through in your content.
Plan Your Social Media Campaigns
Now that you have a general idea of how to develop social media strategy, it's time to plan your social media campaigns. A social media campaign is a series of posts or videos that are all related to a specific topic or theme.
For example, if you're launching a new product, you might create a social media campaign around that product. Your campaign might include a series of posts about the product, how it works, and why people need it in their lives.
Or if you're trying to increase brand awareness, you might create a campaign that showcases your company's unique story. This type of campaign would include posts that highlight your company culture, your mission and values, and the people who work for you.
Planning a social media campaign will help you create a cohesive series of content that tells a story and achieves your desired goal. To get started, answer the following questions:
– What is the goal of my social media campaign?
– Who is my target audience?
– What type of content will appeal to my target audience?
– What social media platforms will my target audience be using?
– When should I launch my social media campaign?
– How long should my social media campaign run for?
– What kind of budget do I need for my social media campaign?
– How will I measure the success of my social media campaign?
Answering these questions will help you develop a social media campaign that is tailored to your specific goals and audience. And remember, don't be afraid to experiment! Social media is all about trying new things and seeing what works best for you and your business.
6. Grow your following
Once you have a few social media channels up and running, it's time to grow your following. The best way to do this is to create great content that your target audience will love. Remember, quality over quantity! It's better to have a smaller following of engaged users than a large following of people who don't care about your content.
Promote Your Social Channels
You should also promote your social channels. The first step is to add social media buttons to your website and blog. This will make it easy for people to find and follow your social channels.
You can also grow your following by running social media ads and promoting your channels on other websites. For example, you can add a “Follow us on social media” badge to your email signature or include social media links in your blog posts.
You can also promote your social channels by emailing your list or even just mentioning them in conversation. The important thing is to get the word out about your social channels and make it easy for people to find and follow you.
Build a Community for Your Audience
Another great way to grow your social media following is to build a community for your audience. This can be done in several ways, but one of the best ways is to create and host events.
For example, you could host an online event like a webinar or live chat. This would give your audience a chance to interact with you and ask questions in real-time. You could also host an in-person event, like a meetup or workshop. This would give your audience a chance to meet you in person and connect with you on a deeper level.
Building a community for your audience is a great way to engage them and grow your social media following.
Manage and engage your community
Don't forget to engage with your audience! Responding to comments, questions and shout-outs and messages promptly shows that you care about your customers and are interested in hearing what they have to say.
You should also share your customers' content on your social media channels. This helps to build a sense of community and shows that you value your customers' voices and you are present on social media.
The more you interact with your followers, the more engaged they will be, and the more likely they are to stick around. And when you create loyalty, you create long-term customers.
The important thing is to be creative and think outside the box. There are lots of ways to promote your social channels, so get creative and experiment until you find what works best for you and your business.
7. Set up metrics tracking – analyze and adapt
The last step in developing your social media strategy is to set up metrics for tracking. This will help you track the progress of your social media campaign and see how it's performing. You can use social media management tool such as SocialBee for this. Check out my earlier post SocialBee Review: Is It The Best Social Media Manager Software? for more details.
There are several metrics you can track, but some of the most important ones include:
– reach, which is the number of people who see your content;
– engagement, which is the number of people who interact with your content; and
– conversion rate, which is the number of people who take the desired action after seeing your content.
Once you track these metrics, you can analyze how your social media campaign is performing and make changes accordingly. This is how you can ensure that your social media strategy is effective and that it's working for your business.
Social media strategic plan template
Download our social media strategic plan template to get started planning your own social media strategy. This template includes everything you need to create a successful social media campaign, including how to set goals and objectives and how to develop your content strategy.
Get the template below:
Conclusion
Creating a social media strategy that works for your business takes time, effort, and a lot of trial and error. But if you're willing to put in the work, you'll be rewarded with an engaged audience that loves your content. So get out there and start planning your next social media campaign!
Now that you know how to develop social media strategy for your business, it's time to put it into action. Use the tips above to create a strategy that works for your business.
Thanks for reading! We hope this post has given you a better understanding of how to develop a social media strategy that works for your business. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below.
