It’s basically essential to have a strong social media presence in today’s digital world.
Social media is Millennials and Generation Z’s one-stop shop for deciding where to eat, what clothes to buy, where to go on vacation, and much more.
Additionally, with older generations joining the social media trend, a lack of social media presence can be detrimental to your business.
Effective social media platforms must be developed thoughtfully and strategically. Social media marketing has to be intentional to obtain the results that you desire for your business.
Whether you are using social media to drive traffic to your website, prompt sales, or simply create awareness of your brand, a social media strategy is key to your success.
If this worries you, stop! Having a social media strategy can sound intimidating, but with some careful thought and planning, you can develop a social media marketing campaign that you and your business will be proud of.
Identify Your Intent
First of all, you need to identify your reason for posting on social media. And, no, “because everyone else is,” is not a good enough answer.
Do you want to:
- Generate new sales?
- Continue to steward your existing customer base?
- Earn the attention of the media?
- Increase your sales?
- Engage and interact with your clientele?
Your answer may include all of the above, only a handful of these goals, or completely different ambitions altogether. Each answer is valid, but to create a strong social media strategy you must first identify what your desired outcome is.
Once you’ve identified the intent behind your social media presence, you have to think about who you want to see and interact with your platforms.
Know Who You’re Talking To
Hopefully, you have thought about your target audience before, but if you haven’t, now is the time to start.
It can be helpful to consider some of the following questions when determining your target audience:
- How old are they?
- Where do they live?
- What language, dialect, and tone do they understand?
- Do they have purchasing power?
- What are they interested in?
The answers to these questions will help you create a buyer persona. Once you have this persona, it can be easier to craft your content to target the preferences of your audience.
Plan Your Content
Content is more than just written copy. A successful social media marketing campaign considers the images, videos, audio, and copy of its content.
Additionally, you must keep in mind your post intent and target audience when creating your social media content. After all, the content has to be relevant to your clientele while simultaneously promoting your business goals.
It can be helpful to plan out your social media content in a spreadsheet or with a social media planning tool like Hootsuite, Sendible, and Crowdfire.
This practice can help you create alignment across your various social media platforms and also create cohesiveness among your posts.
Images and Videos
Some social media platforms like Instagram and Tik Tok don’t give you an option to post without a photo or video. However, platforms like Facebook and Twitter leave that choice up to you.
The best social media strategies use a variety of photos and videos across all their platforms. It is important to note that posts with images tend to rank higher in Facebook’s algorithm. That means that posts with images and videos are more likely to be seen by your intended audience.
Additionally, it is important to keep branding in mind when selecting and posting images. Having a cohesive element like a filter or brightness among your brand’s images will make a strong impression on your customers.
Audio
Audio can be a fun way to engage your audience. By using a catchy or popular song in the background of your videos, you can solidify your brand as being “in the know” to your audience.
Copy
Finally, although it’s not the flashiest part of your content, the written copy is where the meat of your message is. Written copy contains all the information your audience needs.
The written caption and post usually contain the call to action that you want your audience to take. Ensuring that your written content is clear and concise is paramount to a successful social media strategy.
Create Content
Once you’ve put a substantial amount of time into planning your social media content, it is time to pull it all together. A well-created social media marketing strategy is well-balanced among all the elements to consider when planning.
A great way to create your content is within a social media management tool so that all of your strategies are housed in one place.
Post Your Content!
When you are ready to post your content, it is important to return to your client persona. How often does this person get on social media? Is it when they drink their coffee in the morning or when they are on their lunch break?
Studies show that the three best days to post on social media are:
- Tuesday,
- Wednesday, and
- Friday.
Additionally, 9:00 AM to about 3:00 PM are highlighted as the best times to post. The worst days for social media engagement are Saturday and Sunday.
A great way to ensure your social media strategy is successful is to schedule your posts so that you know your posts are hitting at the best times. Social media management tools can send scheduled posts for you.
Evaluate Your Work
A common acronym among communications professionals is RPIE. This stands for:
- Research,
- Planning,
- Implementation, and
- Evaluation.
You did the research when you identified your intent and target audience. You planned your social media marketing campaign when you considered your content. You implemented the strategy when you hit “post.”
But now, it’s time for the most important part.
Now you must evaluate. What worked? What didn’t? Reflecting on these questions can help you refine your social media approach and create even more resonate content.
All these steps will ensure you create the best social media strategy for your business. So be intentional about each of these social media marketing tips and you are likely to see great results!
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