Build A Smart Social Media Marketing Plan

Useful Tips to Make Your Social Campaign a Runaway Success

No matter which industry you belong to, there is hardly a chance that you can ignore social selling, or the use of social media for the growth or sustenance of your business. In fact, the last couple of years have seen social media channels going through an evolution of their own. From live video content and chatbots, to augmented reality and influencer marketing, social networks have introduced a plethora of new avenues for engaging with customers and prospects. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have rolled out a whole slew of business features, while also breaking records on the number of active users. Keep on reading if you want to perfect your own social media marketing plan!

It is quite likely that you may find this vast sea of social selling opportunities to be overwhelming or confusing. This is where building a smart social media marketing plan will come in handy. Instead of an expensive, trial and error approach to see what works best for your business, why not create a systematic plan that gives you a solid return on investment for your social media campaign?

8 Steps to Build a Successful Social Media Campaign

A well-constructed social media marketing strategy is a plan for everything you hope to achieve through your social media efforts. The idea is to make every post, like, comment or reply, count. Here are the steps to optimize your social media campaign.

1. Set SMART goals Aligned to Business Objectives: What are you seeking from your social media strategy? Is it a short-term campaign for promoting an event or partnering with a non-profit partner? Or is it a long-term campaign for expanding your brand presence and customer retention? Set Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound (S.M.A.R.T.) goals based on your business objectives and marketing objectives.

2. Track Meaningful Metrics: Instead of drowning yourself in tons of useless data, look for metrics that are relevant to your social media campaign goals. For example, if the objective is to enhance your brand following, measuring followers or shares may be the most relevant metrics. On the other hand, if you are trying to improve your lead generation or revenue, measure the website clicks, or email signups, and other such meaningful parameters.

3. Know Your Target Audience: Research everything, including their likes, preferences and social media behaviour. Social media analytics tools offer plenty of valuable information and demographics about your current and potential customers.

4. Research the Competition: Know what your competitors are doing. This will help you set more appropriate social media targets for your business. Engaging in social listening will not only allow you to keep an eye on your competition, but also help you grasp relevant industry keywords, or changes in user behaviours across various social media platforms.

5. Choose Your Social Platforms Wisely: The rules, opportunities, value propositions and audiences for social media may vary from one channel to another. Study how each network works in the context of your social campaign objectives and choose your channels wisely. That way you can optimize your marketing budget and ensure that your efforts are distributed across the most appropriate platforms.

6. Create or Curate Platform-Specific Content: Avoid a broad-brush approach when dealing with content. Pay special attention to user preferences, keywords and other aspects that make your content not just consumable, but also likeable and shareable. While a short video may work better for Facebook, you may need specially created images for Twitter, and ephemeral content (short-lived content that lasts up to 24 hours) for Snapchat or Instagram stories. User generated content is also becoming an increasingly effective aspect of social media campaigns across various platforms.

7. Make Scheduling a Priority: Social selling is all about a here-and-now approach. In addition to creating a content bank and scheduling your posts or activities, make ‘timeliness’ a top priority. Not only do social users expect speedy responses, but you also want your brand to be ‘available’ to interact, chat and connect with your audience, and take advantage of potential engagement opportunities. 

8. Conduct a Social Media Audit: Assess your campaign results through a systematic social media audit. Who’s connecting with you? Which is your top-performing channel? Which type of content is most appreciated by your target audience? Getting timely answers to such questions will help you modify your social media strategy on a more continuous basis. Speed and agility are must-haves for a successful social strategy.

Originally Published on WSI eStrategies Ottawa Read More Social Media Marketing Plan