How do you develop and implement a social media strategy?

As a business you will know how important it is to be active on social media to reap the opportunities that these channels present.  However, to get the most rewards you will need to put a plan in place. Here is a quick overview of how to develop a social media strategy in 7 steps.

Step 1 – Research your target audience

Not everybody is your customer!  Decide who your ideal customer is and find out as much as you can about them.  Things like their age, location, interests, challenges and behaviour are important.  The more you know about your customer the easier it is for you to create the right messages for them to encourage them to want to know more about your brand.

Step 2 – Set some goals

What do you want to achieve?  Be specific here and set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely).  Goals can be linked not only to sales but to short or long-term ambitions.

Step 3- Establish metrics

Measure for success but decide what is worth measuring.  Website visits may be more important to you than more followers.  Newsletter signups could be your gold dust, enabling you to have direct contact to lifetime high value clients.  Enquiries and sales are also obvious measurable results.

Step 4 – Look at your competitors

We want to learn from our competitors so that we can improve what we are doing.  The more we know about our industry and how we fit in the better we can hone our message and discuss the benefits in choosing us.

Step 5 – Create great content

Once we know our audience, we have figured out our message and we know what we want to achieve then it is time to start creating great content.  A mix of engaging content will include video, articles, graphics, photos and perhaps podcasts.  Just start creating and see where you end up.

Step 6 – Plan activity that is consistent

If you are going to reap the rewards of social media you need to be present there.  Your followers want to hear from you so be consistent in your efforts, whether that be daily or weekly – just be consistent.  Write down the dates, commit to being active.  If you don’t write it down in a plan then it’s just a wish.

Step 7 – Optimise, measure, improve

Optimise your profiles, optimise your website, optimise your online presence – look your best.  Always be learning!  And measure as you go so you can make improvements in real time and never miss an opportunity.

These are your 7 steps to develop and implement a social media strategy that works for you.