Social media marketing is a necessary tool in this digital age, so it’s more important than ever to truly understand the medium. It’s not just simply creating an account and posting once in a blue moon, nor is social media just a company update broadcasting systems. True social media marketing is all about strategy, and it requires plenty of planning.
All good strategic approaches start with asking questions, and that’s what we’re here to do! Make sure to ask yourself these 6 questions before you start up your social media accounts. You’ll get the most out of your business by doing so.
What do I Want?
No matter what, your business will always be in one of these stages: creating brand awareness, providing product information, answering questions, giving comparisons, or selling the product or service. Each of these stages is extremely detailed, so it’s important to clearly define what you want to achieve. What are your objectives and what is your desired result?
This first step is all about focusing on your goals. Do you want to build brand awareness, attract new leads, or create an engaging community with your existing customers? Do you want to create an easy way to solve problems, increase your customer loyalty, or generate sales with a new medium? The sky is truly the limit when it comes to deciding what you want to get out of social media. Just make sure to figure out exactly what it is that your goals entail.
Few marketing efforts ever succeed without having their goals defined. Defining your short-term and long-term goals before starting any marketing effort yields more success, and social media is no different.
Who am I Trying to Attract?
There is no social media without social interaction, which is why it is important to ask yourself who you want your audience to be. Try and define your target audience, these are the people who want to buy your product or service. They’re also the people who will make up your social media follower base.
Business depends on the customers, and social media is the same way. You won’t succeed on your platforms if you aren’t able to meet the needs of your audience. You should focus on customer service, but you should also take the time to understand the people in your audience. What are their demographics and typical behaviors? You should strive to create an experience that encourages your audiences to come back for more.
What Platforms Should I Use?
An age-old HR ideology can be applied to this question; “find a person suitable for the job rather than adjusting the job to fit the available candidate.” You might not be dealing with actual people, but each social media has its own strengths and weaknesses.
Right now, you’ve already figured out what type of people you want to attract, so you can use that information to guide you in picking what social media platforms you want to use. If your targets mostly hang out on Twitter and LinkedIn, then it’s a sign that you should make an account for those platforms.
What is my Brand Persona?
People like interacting with people, not faceless and emotionless ‘robots.’ Because of this, it’s extremely important that you develop a brand persona – the personification of your brand. A persona will encompass your goals, how you want your brand to be presented to customers, and everything you’ll be offering your customers. Your brand persona will also reflect your target market. Is your audience ok with gritty language, or would they prefer a more simple, professional sound? Take these into account when designing your brand persona.
Of course, you need to keep in mind that people other than your target market will see and possibly interact with your brand persona. Everything is public on the internet, and your brand persona is an important part of how your brand will be perceived by others.
The most important thing to do is to keep your brand persona consistent. You don’t act different in every conversation you have, and your brand persona should be no different. You should keep your copy writing styles consistent across all branding channels: social media, your website, emails, and other advertising. Keep your tone of voice consistent, but don’t be afraid to be a bit more casual on social media. Keeping things consistent will make your customers feel like they’re talking to an actual person, which encourages trust.
How am I Measuring my Progress?
You’re not running a social media account just for the sake of running a social media account. You’re doing it to encourage business, and you need a way to track if what you’re doing is working. The first step is to decide what metrics to measure. Sure, having tons of likes feels good, but are they doing anything for you in the long run? Take the time to delve into what the metrics mean and figure out which ones will be the most beneficial to your brand.
The best thing about metrics is that they’re quite easy to find! Every major social media network has a metrics tab where you can see exactly how you’re doing. Check out the shared metrics to see how you’re doing on one social media compared to another and look at the platform specific metrics to gain insights into your performance!
Your social media should be driving traffic to your website, so don’t forget to check out your Google Analytics. It will show you exactly where all of your traffic is coming from, which will let you know if your social media efforts are working as they should.
Who is Managing my Social Media?
The final question you should be asking yourself is who will be managing your social media. You should appoint a dedicated community or social media manager to the role, but they’ll still need help from the rest of your organization. Just make sure that responsibilities are clearly defined and delegated correctly.
You can also hire outside help to run your social media for you! Social Eyes Marketing’s content team will use our expertise to increase your client engagement, expand your reach, and boost your website traffic. We’ll take care of running your social media so all you have to do is enjoy the incoming traffic!
Contact us today if you’re interested in social media marketing! We’re here to answer all of your questions and point you in the right direction!