Monday 30 November 2015

How To Create A Social Media Marketing Plan

So now you need to create a social media marketing plan. No easy task, right? Many of us struggle to iron out exactly what that is, let alone how to build one from scratch. atlanta social media marketing Put simply, every action you take on social networks should be a part of a larger social media marketing strategy. That means every Tweet, reply, like and comment should all be guided by a plan and driving towards pre-determined goals. It might sound complicated, but if you take the time to create a comprehensive social media plan, the rest of your social efforts should follow naturally. Everyone can do this if they approach it correctly. A social media marketing plan is the summary of everything you plan to do and hope to achieve for your business using social networks. This plan should comprise an audit of where your accounts are today, goals for where you want them to be in the near future, and all the tools you want to use to get there. In general, the more specific you can get with your plan, the more effective you’ll be in its implementation. Try and keep it concise and don’t make your social media marketing strategy so lofty and broad that it’s unattainable. This plan will guide your actions, but it will also be a measure by which you determine whether you’re succeeding or failing at social media. You don’t want to set yourself up for failure from the outset. Goal setting is a staple of all marketing and business strategies. Social media is no exception. Of course, with a range of social capabilities, it can be difficult to determine exactly what your objectives should be. For guidance, look to the challenges before you.
Social media was often seen as the wild child of the marketing department—the place where interns started their careers and brands could say random things with little to no repercussions. how to do social media marketing But times have changed, and the industry has matured.Yes, social media is still a wonderful place for brands to have a little fun, but it also has a real and measurable impact on a business’ bottom line. Thus, social media can no longer live in a silo; it must be work in tandem with the rest of your business strategy.To ensure that your social media marketing campaigns contribute to your brand’s greater business objectives, we’ve put together a 7-step guide to coach you through the process. We’ve also incorporated a checklist you can use to make sure you’ve done it all right. Click here to jump right to it. A smart social media marketing campaign can answer each of these questions. Prove your team’s worth by tackling them head on. To get you started, we pulled together a few common business obstacles and social objectives that can help brands overcome them. The world is online. A brand’s website, therefore, is one of its most important marketing tools. Low website traffic can mean fewer customers and lower profits. To combat this challenge, your social team should focus its goals on creating links directly to the website (whether they’re from your own social posts or influencers’). Link to useful content, subpages and company images to position your website and your brand as a resource rather than just another cog in the corporate wheel. This traffic should increase leads and, in the long run, revenues.

Create social media objectives and goals

The first step to any social media marketing strategy is to establish objectives and goals that you hope to achieve. social media marketing trends Having these objectives also allows you to quickly react when social media campaigns are not meeting your expectations. Without these goals, you have no means of gauging your success and no means of proving your return on investment.These goals should be aligned with your broader marketing strategy, so that your social media efforts all drive towards business objectives. If your social media marketing strategy is shown to drive business goals forward, you’re more likely to get executive buy-in and investment. They should also go beyond vanity metrics like retweets or Likes, in favour of more advanced metrics like leads generated, sentiment or website traffic referred. Strive to approach these goals using the SMART approach, meaning they should all be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound.A simple way to start your social media marketing plan is by writing down at least three social media goals. Make sure to ask yourself what the goal will look like when completed, and use that to determine how you will track it. It doesn’t matter how large your following is, your message sometimes can fall through the cracks. With increasing numbers of brands utilizing social channels, you have to find better ways to get your message to stand out from the noise.Jay Baer of Convince and Convert shares Why It Might Be Time to Completely Change Your Social Media Strategy.The gist is this. Unless you call, email or otherwise send your content to your audience, you have no idea if it’s going to reach them. Even if you have a huge fan base on your social networks, you never know if your people will see your message.
Jay’s solution is to have a shotgun approach for your social media strategy, as opposed to a rifle approach, which is how most people distribute their content. social media marketing new york Jay went into detail on this at the Social Fresh conference. Jay Baer explained the shotgun approach to social media strategy.According to Jay, the rifle approach represents best practices for social media: create quality content, approach each channel in a unique way and build a large following.The shotgun approach, Jay says, is based on the mathematical realities of this wave of social media. Increase the amount of content and post in more places to increase the chances it will be seen.When you post more content in more places, the possibility of connecting with your fans increases substantially. Perhaps the most important research for your social strategy is an analysis of your competition. Discover what works for your competitors and then determine how to use that information to improve your social media strategy.On Jeff Bullas‘ blog, Vibhu Satpaul shares The Simple 6 Step Checklist for Analyzing Your Competition on the Web.To effectively analyze your competitors, Vibhu says to look at their keyword prioritization patterns, break down their rankings and monitor their online visibility, especially on search engines. Produce content with your (whole) audience in mind (who your customers are and what they have in common), and you’re more likely to inspire consistent, shareworthy content.So said Brand Savant’s Tom Webster, when he spoke about Why You Don’t Need a Content Strategy at the Marketo Marketing Nation Summit. His recommendation: create an audience strategy instead.

Conduct a social media audit

Prior to creating your social media marketing plan, you need to assess your current social media use and how it is working for you. social media marketing pdf This requires figuring out who is currently connecting to you via social media, which social media sites your target market uses and how your social media presence compares to your competitors’. An important part of your social media marketing plan will be to create mission statements for each social network profile. These one-sentence statements will help you focus your attention on a very specific goal you want to accomplish using Facebook, Twitter or any other social network. They will guide your actions and help steer you back on track when these profiles become less effective. They also force you to realize that not every social network is good for the right thing. Instagram might be great for selling a clothing brand, but for construction supplies Facebook might be a better medium. Take the time you need to determine the purpose of every social profile you have. If you can’t figure out its purpose, you should probably delete that profile.To help with creating these mission statements, learn about your audience on each profile by using Forrester’s Social Technology Profile Tool. This will provide you with data that classifies consumers into seven levels of how they engage with technology. By profiling your customers’ habits on technology, you’ll be able to gain a clear perspective on where each of your social media profile stands with your customers.Once you’ve audited your accounts, it’s time to hone your online presence. Choose what networks best meet your social media goals. If you don’t already have social media profiles on each network you focus on, build them from the ground up with your broader goals and audience in mind.
Social allows you to reach a broad audience. But honing and perfecting that message takes brain power and time. social marketing media To create authentic and lasting brand awareness, avoid a slew of promotional messages; instead, focus on creating meaningful content and a strong brand personality through your social channels. Determine relevant hashtags and industry influencers you can engage with, and tap into those resources to extend your brand’s overall awareness.People turn to social to engage with businesses. Therefore, it is important for your brand to be ready to help customers on any channel they can contact you through. Arm your social media team with the materials, education and authority to respond to customer questions and issues. When you do so, you’ll be equipped to respond to your customers in a timely and accurate way, regardless of how they reach out to you.According to The Chartered Institute of Marketing, it costs 4 to 10 times more to acquire a customer than to retain one. To keep your customers around, use social as a tool to support, communicate and engage. A good social relationship with your customers should translate into a better perception and offline relationship with your brand. By developing a strong social bond, customers will be more likely to stick with your brand time and time again.The world is online. A brand’s website, therefore, is one of its most important marketing tools. Low website traffic can mean fewer customers and lower profits.To combat this challenge, your social team should focus its goals on creating links directly to the website (whether they’re from your own social posts or influencers’). Link to useful content, subpages and company images to position your website and your brand as a resource rather than just another cog in the corporate wheel. This traffic should increase leads and, in the long run, revenues.

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