Simply put, a social media strategy is a plan that outlines your social media goals, tactics for achieving them, and metrics for measuring performance.
Your strategy does not have to be difficult. What you need is a straightforward strategy with measurable objectives. This will assist you in determining which channels and tactics are successful and which are not.
Finally, your social media strategy should increase brand awareness and engagement for your target audience/s across social media channels.
What steps are involved in developing a successful social media strategy?
Now that you understand the fundamentals of a social media strategy, let’s get into the specific steps required to develop one. We’ll also discuss how to incorporate your content strategy and engagement strategy into your overall social media activities to ensure you’re covering all bases.
Here are some steps to developing a successful social media strategy:
1) Establish business objectives.
Spending time on this stage is worthwhile because understanding and defining your social media goals will determine the rest of your strategy.
Consider what your company hopes to achieve through social media marketing, and keep in mind that digital marketing and business goals are not the same. Is it to raise brand awareness in the marketplace, learn more about your target audience, grow your fan base, or generate more leads? You may want to achieve all of these objectives, but it is critical to note that each one will require different social media tactics.
2) Conduct audience research.
To create personalised messaging and content, you must first understand your audience and what they desire. The best way to accomplish this is to conduct market research via online surveys, customer interviews, or a focus group.
Social listening is another way to learn more about your customers and community. Many tools, such as BuzzSumo and Followerwonk, can assist you with this across social networks.
3) Conduct research on your competitors.
Competitor research is an essential component of any social media marketing strategy. It assists you in understanding what your competitors are doing in the social space, such as which platforms they are using and what campaigns they are running.
You can also see their messaging, the content they produce, and the frequency with which they post for digital marketing. Understanding how they engage with customers and the success of that engagement allows you to either emulate it or go in a different direction to capture the attention of customers.
4) Select your social media platforms
The question isn’t whether you should be active on social media, but rather how to select the best channels for your company. It can be overwhelming at first because there are so many options. However, don’t make the mistake of being present on all of them just to be present; some will be inappropriate for your business or content.
5) Oversee and involve your community
The wonderful thing about social media is that it creates connections, and these connections can grow into communities. Communities are fantastic for increasing engagement and brand awareness.
An active community is a wonderful thing because it can generate brand advocates and attract new customers. However, a community requires nurturing, so you must first build it and then nurture it.
6) Increase your fan base.
It’s pointless to have a social media channel if you don’t get new followers. Increasing your audience is an important part of any social media strategy, and you must employ tactics to do so.
You can grow your audience in two ways: organically or through paid advertising. For the first, content is critical because it attracts users and drives engagement. You could, for example, hold a competition or provide behind-the-scenes footage of what it’s like to work for your brand.