Having a social media presence for your business is a necessary element of doing business these days. If you want to be successful, you must utilize social media to market business.
However, the technique in which you market online can have an equal impact on your organization. Indeed, make the incorrect decisions and your web marketing efforts may have a negative effect on your bottom line! As a result, it is critical to design – and then adhere to – a social media marketing strategy. The following are the eight stages you should take to develop that approach.
Define Your Objectives
What are you hoping to accomplish with your social media presence? To increase public awareness? Increase the number of visitors to your website? How can I increase conversion rates? You cannot design a useful game plan unless you understand what you are attempting to accomplish - merely posting random information on a blog or Twitter feed without a clear objective will not yield results.
Identify Your Target Audience
What type of customer are you looking for? Defining your audience is critical to the success of your online marketing campaign. If you're targeting women between the ages of 18 and 29, it's prudent to devote the majority of your attention to Facebook. If, on the other hand, you're marketing to guys with graduate degrees, you'd be wise to use LinkedIn. Not only does your audience dictate where you spend your marketing time, but also the type of information you provide.
Recognize Your Resources Available
Maintain realism. If you're implementing this marketing campaign independently, plan accordingly. If, on the other hand, you have a complete marketing staff at your disposal, utilize it to the fullest!
Conduct a Competitor Analysis
Before you dive in headfirst, spend some time researching your competitors' online marketing strategies. Analyze their strengths and shortcomings, and then utilize that information to develop your own unique plan that closes the gaps they've left.
Establish a Tone and a Frequency
You cannot simply write a blog "every now and then," because it will never be completed. Prepare ahead of time to create two blog entries per week, on Monday and Wednesday... or to post three times a week on Facebook... or to participate in two weekly LinkedIn chats. Additionally, you'll need to decide on your official voice or tone for all of these posts. Funny? Conversational? Are you formal and businesslike in your demeanor? Choose an audience-pleasing tone.
Identify Key Topics
Decide in advance what you'll write or post about, so you're not faced with the daily difficulty of coming up with new stuff. You can even create an editorial calendar to assist in idea generation.
Make An Effort to Engage Your Audience
After completing the first six stages, you're ready to begin. Share the material you've created, but don't stop there. Engage your audience in dialogue in order to develop such relationships.
Make Use of Analytics
Finally, monitor your analytics periodically to determine what is and is not working. Analyze your performance in relation to the goals you established in Step One and make required adjustments.
If you follow these steps, you'll be well on your way to maximizing the business potential of social media. If you'd rather not go it alone, 42 Interactive is always available to assist you! Simply contact us to learn more about what we can do for your business.