A lot has changed in the world of digital marketing over the past decade; new SEO and PPC strategies came and went, new backlinking strategies were developed, and the way we create content has changed drastically, but one area remained the same; Social Media.
There currently is no other medium that helps companies and entrepreneurs effectively connect with their target demographic, engage with them and give a personality to their brand.
The Importance of Quality
By now it’s no secret that that in order to remain competitive, you need to post high quality content. Gone are the days of simple click-bait titles, and “fluff” posts. Today your audience desires quality; something that will be of value to them.
Good quality professional videos, images, infographics, interesting contests, quizzes, daily tips, and blog posts are some of the ways to get attention of the prospective audience on various social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. The content should be built in a prudent manner keeping the readership in mind. Finding a good way to connect with the audience is the key to a great social media business strategy.
Against popular belief, good social media strategy is not hard to build. Below we’ve listed five important steps that can help you devise a good social strategy for your business.
How to Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy
- Establish Business Goals and Objectives
Before you venture out, you must sit and define a goal for your social media strategy, it all starts from here. Simply posting content in a mindless fashion does not attract the type of audience you may be seeking, and thus does no good to your business. Your customer’s needs and preferences should govern your marketing strategy. If you build something that does not address their interests, your time and investment will ultimately go down the drain.
- Conduct a Social Media Audit
Don’t simply create a strategy and be rigid about it. Be flexible in your approach. Initially, experiment to understand what your audience is looking for. Do your research well and check out the trends in your niche. Analyze what is finding favor with the audience and what is not. Watch what your competition is posting and the reaction they are getting. While the audit may be a singular event, the process of refining your approach is ongoing.
Bonus: If you already have an audience (no matter its size,) see what it is they crave, the types of posts they like the most, and the times they like to visit your channels and consume your content. This will help you create the content they want the most, and have them keep returning for more.
- Develop a Concrete Content Strategy
As noted above, simply posting for the sake of posting doesn’t offer many benefits. Structure your approach to posting for each month. Split this out into the sites you are going to post on, the audiences you are trying to reach, the content you are going to share – original, curated and engaging – and then project your expectations. Be flexible with this. Observe what is working and what needs to be refined. The goal is to find the right ingredients and then build upon those.
- Understand Analytics
Carefully assess the analytics once you make posts on your social channels. See what is popular with your target audience and what it does not appreciate much. Here, engagement is the key to success. The analytics give a clear picture about how well-received a particular post is through graphs and figures on the outreach of a particular post. Use this information to refine your posts.
Use free built in tools such as:
- Facebook Analytics
- Twitter Analytics
- Instagram Insights
If you want something a little more sophisticated you can always opt for paid tools such as:
- AgoraPulse
- Build on Success
Once you have a winning formula and a clear idea of what works with your target audience, build on it. Diversify from time to time, but at the same time, keep your readers hooked by giving them the stuff they like to read.
Final Point
In a world connected by the Internet, customers feel the need to connect with a business on a personal level, which leads to a relationship and ultimately the formation of trust. Who do we tend to do business with? Those we trust! With this in mind, you are now ready to kickstart your social media marketing strategy!
Do you have any questions? Is there anything you would like us to expand upon? Let us know in the comments below!
Nicholas Dimitriadis is a digital marketing strategist and writer for The Social Fusion Group and The Side Hustle Profit. He is part of a team that brings 25+ years of experience to the digital marketing space; staying on the cutting edge of the ever changing digital marketing world.
Social media stock photo by Sammby/Shutterstock
