The utilization of social media channels in marketing and branding is essential in modern society. Treated as a means of self-expression, a platform to share news and other posts amongst family and friends, and for companies, a means to connect with their customer base and attract new audiences, social media permeates nearly every aspect of our society.
To tackle digital advertising campaigns to successfully reach audiences, companies must create a smart social media plan that engages with customers, both existing and new. Here are Marketing Maven’s 10 steps to creating a successful and smart social media plan:
1. Identify your social media marketing goals and objectives – set S.M.A.R.T. goals
Whether it’s to increase your online following or increase traffic to your website and drive sales in the process, it is important to outline the goals and objectives that you want to want to achieve in order to maintain a clear road ahead to where and how you want your brand to grow. Small goals like achieving 25 followers to big goals like reinventing your product image online, everything is achievable with careful planning and strategy.
Try using the SMART criteria to make sure your goals are clear. Each goal should be:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-bound
2. Research your industry or brand category trends – research your competitors
It can be difficult breaking into a market as a start-up company, especially for a small niche that you and your product are trying to fill. To reach an audience, it is important to look at your competitors in the industry and get an idea of what they are doing effectively with their social media accounts. Pay attention to brands that present an image that you like as a consumer and make note of what they could do better. Put your own unique spin on discovered strategies and make your product category your own.
3. Audit your current social media presence
There are so many platforms for your brand to reach new audiences, so it is best to take note of which ones are most beneficial for achieving your goals and what is working most effectively for your brand. For example, if you want to reach a younger demographic from teens to early 20s, it is best to plan on platforms that are relevant to their age group such as TikTok and Instagram. Take record of your stats and engagements based on platform and plan accordingly for the future.
4. Research/identify your ideal target audience
Before planning any content for social media, it is important to know your ideal target audience so you can market directly to them. Although changing marketing angles to reach expand your reach or reach a different niche is not unheard of, it is best to know simple criteria of your desired audience to build your brand image from the start. Asking yourself “What age, location, and lifestyle type would be interested in this product or service?” is key to audience targeting.
5. Establish your online brand persona/mission
Make your social media profiles unique so that your followers can easily identify your posts with your brand. If your brand has a mission statement, make it clear in your account biography. Everything from the wording and diction of your posts makes your brand a living thing. It is best to make content to be seen and identified as part of your brand. Aesthetics can go a long way for establishing your online image.
6. Identify your social media KPIs – engagements, impressions, brand mentions, conversions, etc.
Monitor your brands key performance indicators to help plan future content. If a Facebook post gives better audience engagement returns than an Instagram post, take note of it when planning future content for each platform. Know where your brand is attracting new customers from and why then capitalize on those opportunities.
7. Create and curate engaging content
Customers want to feel loyal to a brand. They want to be able to identify with a brand’s image and be able to tell their family and friends about “their brand,” and what they stand for. If you make your brand feel like a community to your customers through the creation of engaging content, you will gain their loyalty and trust. Turn your brand’s social media accounts into a place where customers can come together and bond over topics that surround your industry. Know your audience and engage with them regularly to humanize your brand and share content that they want to engage and identify with.
8. Identify social media advertising opportunities and tactics
Brands new and old have adapted to the social media way of doing things. They understand that current events and even internet memes help drive masses of people to one page or post. To successfully grow your social media presence, there must be some importance placed in trying to “go viral,” and take advantage of internet trends to get your brand noticed. Using hashtags, clever humor, and ultimately timely posting are key tactics to using social media for your advertising benefit.
9. Invest in social media listening and management tools
There are numerous social media tools to help you spruce up your brand’s social media game. Apps such as Sprout Social and HootSuite host publishing options to help schedule your posts in advance along with analytics and monitoring tools to help you gauge your page, post, and ad performance along with other metrics. Investing in tools like these can help you gain leverage for better understanding of social media platforms.
10. Track, analyze, and optimize
The most important thing to know about social media is that it is always changing. Trends that can be extremely popular in one instance can be gone in just the blink of an eye, just as an audience can similarly come and go if they lose interest. It is important to track social media trends as well as your brand’s individual performance to know how to plan for the future. Analyze what is working for you and your competitors, track what’s trending and being discussed by the public and optimize and capitalize to find the best way to continue brand social media growth at any given moment. A new audience is out there waiting for you, you just need to learn how to reach them.
Do you need your social media strategy reviewed by a third-party? We’d love to help! Contact us at info@marketingmaven.com.