The most common misconception when it comes to social media marketing is that “All you have to do is set up a few social networks and the results will start rolling in”.
If you’re smarter enough, you’ll know it takes a lot more.
Focus, organisation, determination and consistency are just a few qualities you must have.
To amplify your message through social media, you need more than a wish and a dream. You need a plan, the good news is that it doesn’t have to be hard work.
Here is how you can do it.
Point 1: Align Your Content Strategy With Your Goals
Do you know how social media is supporting your business goals? If not, now is the time to take find out and align it.
Running your business without clearly defined goals & objectives is scary, dangerous and ill-advised.
Introducing SMART goals into your planning is a simple way to create actionable and tactical social media goals.
Not familiar with the term? SMART goals are:
Specific Have you been specific in what you want to achieve?
Measurable How will you know if you’ve achieved your goal?
Achievable Is this a goal that you can achieve?
Relevant Is this goal aligned with your mission, vision and values?
Time Specific When do you want to achieve this goal by?
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Here’s an example of what your initial goals and objectives might look like.
Your mission:
“To become the industry destination for all entrepreneurs and business leaders seeking social media tips, tools and strategies that support and encourage growth within their business.”
Your goals:
Increase Sales
Drive Traffic
Improve Customer Experience
Heighten Brand Awareness
Your objectives:
Increase Sales - Create 5 specific pieces of content for Facebook and Twitter each week - Design a Pinterest image for each new blog post
Drive Traffic - Tweet 1-2 evergreen blog posts to Twitter every day - Use a CTA (call to action) for blog
Improve Customer Experience - Shorten normal response time - Allow for easier access to support
Heighten Brand Visibility - Use live streaming to build a stockpile of brand content ready to repurpose - Create new interview series
Your daily content strategy:
Once you’ve defined your mission, goals and objectives, now it’s time to get into your daily tactical approach.
You’ll need to decide what’s type of content you will share and how easily you can post that content without feeling overwhelmed?
One easy way is to create a daily theme across your social networks. For example,
MONDAY: This will be your BIG content day. A special piece of content you’ve created that makes it your pillar post of the week. This could be an:
Ebook
Chart / Graph
Study / Analytics
Case Study
Slideshare
Template (Download)
Guide
Original Research
Opinion Post
TUESDAY: Q&A that takes client or customer questions and provides a solution. You could use graphics, video or text to get your point across.
WEDNESDAY:
Fun/Entertaining
Quotes
Polls
Quizzes
Infographics
THURSDAY: Social Media Best Practices
FRIDAY: Roundup of the week that will set your fans/followers up for a productive week. Share:
Social media skills
Best practices
Productivity tips
Strategy ideas
Success stories
How-to’s
Point 2: Create Your Daily Social Media Workflow
Now it’s time to figure out the steps you’ll take to increase engagement, traffic and ultimately sales.
This is where your daily social media checklist comes into play. An easy to follow list of steps to take each day.
IMPORTANT: The steps below shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes at the the end of your day. If you don’t have that kind of time, then plan on giving the responsibility to someone else if you can’t fit it in yourself.
This checklist is critical to building your social media presence.
Social Media Checklists
Monitor mentions via keywords and respond to any questions, needs, concerns
Respond to influencers, make new connections and schedule posts to share
Thank RT’s
Thank a few new followers
Go through contributors list and schedule retweets and interact with at least 5
Schedule new blog post 3 times throughout the day with a unique CTA
Respond to any support questions
Reply to all comments
Thank anyone that’s shared your content
Like where appropriate
Comment on five relevant Page posts
Google+
Reply to all comments
Thank anyone that’s shared your content
+1 where appropriate
Share relevant content in specific groups
Interact within groups
+1 anyone that has shared your content
LinkedIn (personal and groups)
Approve new contacts and group members
Approve group submitted content
Drop into other groups and see if you can volunteer answers
Update group status at least once a day – this should be a mix of questions, links and how-to’s
Manage spam
Post 1-2 times per day – a mix of blog posts, roundup tips, top tips, funny/inspirational postsLike one post from everyone that’s liked your contentSearch popular hashtags to find new people to followComment on other people’s postsThank those that have shared our contentSend direct messages to new followers with a video and CTA
Pin 5 images per day – a mix of your content and others
Like 5 posts per day
Repin 5 images per day
Check notifications and thank anyone who’s repinned
Choose evergreen posts to repin to new boards
Pin to group boards for added exposure
Update and boards or titles that need optimised
Now put this into play for your business!
Create an easy checklist that will breakdown each step you’ll take on a daily basis.
Part 3: Track, Measure and Adjust
Numbers don’t lie and will always give you the guidance and direction you need. Measure your conversations, interaction, engagement, and shares through tools like:
Google Analytics
Post Planner
Buffer
Stats for Twitter and Instagram
Iconosquare
Sprout Social
Whether you’re looking at Twitter engagement or Facebook growth, tracking and measuring your efforts should be the backbone of your social media strategy.
Social media is fluid, making analytics all that more important. Your strategy must remain flexible and agile.
Make adjustments and tweaks throughout your strategy depending on what’s happening across each of your social networks.
Final thoughts
The biggest thing to remember is that social media presence is actually being “present” and consistent.
No matter what approach you decide to implement, make sure it’s manageable and realistic. Setting big goals are great, but you’ll never get met if you’re not 100% onboard.
Start your strategy with what time commitment you’re willing to give and how much time it will take before you start working like crazy to make your social media strategy work. If you’re not sure where to start, then start testing to see how long things take, engagement rates and finding the right social media platforms.
Finally, don’t forget. Be inquisitive, be open minded and be flexible in your your approach and strategy.