For every business, establishment or even, independent Schools, a well planned and executed social media strategy could be the difference between a successful or a flopped marketing campaign. We appreciate they every brand is unique with different value propositions, however, every brand still have some very basic steps to consider when strategising. Below are some of them. Take a look and see how you can up your game.
Goals.
Before you begin, it only makes sense that you first, define your goals and objectives. This will help keep you focused and attentive. Ask relevant questions that will get you thinking of your reasons for running this campaign via this channel in the first place. For example; What’s your main reason for being on social media? Are you looking to encourage more visits to your website? Are you looking to create awareness for your brand or a new product? Do you want to build up follower-ship or drive up sales? Whatever your answers, make sure your goals and objectives are SMART. That is to say that your goals are; Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound (SMART)!! This thumb rule will help you keep things in perspective.
Research:
Research and Identify your target audience. Who are you selling or pitching to? Where are they? Are you reaching them? Remember that your brand does not have to everywhere, just because other brands are. Your business is likely to make a greater impact if you promote it on the appropriate social media platforms where your target audience spend most of their time. Find and engage them on their favorite platforms to begin generating interest.
Don’t forget to also look into what your competitors are doing. Find out their reasons for being on social media and how well they are using it. Always keep an eye out for great ideas from other brands and learn from their past experiences.
Strategy:
Create a diary of articles that are appropriate to your brand, successful stories to share, engaging questions for your followers as well as event updates, and as you list your content, remember to create a space for real-time news of events from other sources, including images and videos to make more impact for your audience. Always strive to keep your content interesting, varied and up to date!
Another great strategy, is to use live chats on Facebook and Twitter, introduce games, invite people to Google Hangout and YouTube webinars to create awareness. Or how about a monthly give-away contests? Customers love that and will always remember to check for the winning name or for more opportunities to win. Creating a great drive to your website.
Whatever you decide to go for, make sure that strategy is audience driven and very creative.
Measuring Success by Return On Investment (ROI);
The last part of your carefully planned strategy should be how to measure your success. There are loads of digital tools, such as; Google Analytics, TwitterCounter, Hootsuite Analytics and Facebook Insights, that can help you collect information or data for analysing the outcome of your campaign across your social media platforms. With these data, you can change and plan a better campaign for the future. If you have an on-going social media campaign, then consider measuring your performance monthly, to help you get a better defined view of how well your campaign is working.
Remember to use the results gathered to improve and empower your social media platform engagements and awareness to your audiences.
So now you know. Social media marketing is the way to go for boosting your sales target and aiding your branding and networking efforts. Isn’t it time you strategised?!
Written by Gayle Thompson @SwoopStudios
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