Hello! Today, I have a guest post from Gemma Reeves over at FindMyWorkspace ! Enjoy. 

Any business nowadays would be missing out on leads and prospects without a Social Media strategy. Your Social Media strategy should not just be about making more sales, but it should also aim to establish a larger presence among consumers or your target market.

 

Setting up a page on Social Media is free, but advertising and boosting your presence requires fees. It could be costly, but not as expensive as advertising your business on traditional media channels such as television, radios and newspapers/magazines.

 

Since it is easier and more affordable to advertise businesses on Social Media, competition is quite stiff. You might have noticed it yourself – there are lots of businesses that are competing for attention and sales on your feed. And they are not just competing with other businesses, but with other types of Social Media entertainment as well. That includes memes, funny cat videos, viral posts, juicy stories from friends, and so much more.

 

To be successful in Social Media, your strategy should beat out all the rest. It should be effective enough to cancel out all that noise from your target market’s feed. Before you finalize a Social Media plan, below are 5 elements that should be present to ensure its effectivity and success:

 

1. A Strong Brand

 

To build a strong marketing campaign, you have to start with a strong brand identity. This is your edge against all your competitors – it sets you apart, and it may be the only thing why customers should go for your products/services instead.

The first on your marketing strategy should be your unique selling point. Why should customers choose you over all the others? Is it because you offer cheaper price points? Free delivery? Better customer support, or higher quality products?

You should list down all possible brand features that you can use to position yourself at an advantage.

 

2. A Defined Target Market

To be successful in Social Media marketing, you have to know who your target audience is. Target audience or target markets could vary depending on the product or service that you are offering. This means that you have to define them in terms of gender, age, locality, buying habits, profession, income, Social Media preferences and other factors.

 

When you have an idea who your target market is, it will be easier for you to choose certain Social Media platforms, create effective and compelling content, and localize your marketing plan to ensure maximum exposure of your brand. If you’re targeting residents from Australia for example, writing in American English won’t cut it – you have to adapt to their own variety of English and tweak your content to suit Australian English.

3. A Content Plan

 

In any marketing platform, you really need to create some compelling content (or a good copy). You have to create and maintain a voice or tone in every copy. You may also assume a persona that talks directly to customers on a more personal level.

 

Your content plan should be tailored according to your brand and target market. If you’re targeting millennials for example – you can use terms such as “woke,” “shookt” and “yaaas.” These words however, wouldn’t do well if you are targeting an older generation (or older professionals).

 

Your content plan should also include a post schedule. You should at least schedule posts ahead of time (at least one to two months), to make your updates and stories more coherent and relevant to certain occasions (such as the Holidays) and events.

 

Don’t also forget to insert content that are geared towards your existing customer base. You don’t always have to do a hard sell on Social Media – you can try to engage and entertain with stories, viral posts and memes that are relevant to your business.

 

4. Success Metrics

You wouldn’t know if your Social Media marketing campaign is truly effective without setting some goals and using some tools that can help you see which posts and stories gained the most engagement and conversions.

 

First, you have to set a goal – it could be increasing sales by 200% after the 2nd week of the campaign, or something more conservative like simply increasing page likes after the first week of the campaign.

 

You can also use tools such as Klout and Keyhole to help you measure the extent of your influence on Social Media. It can track the hashtags you use, keywords and engagement of every post across different campaigns. Such tools can help you determine which type of posts were effective and should be replicated all throughout the campaign.

 

5. Choice of Channels

 

Sure, almost everyone is on Social Media – but which platform are they on, to be exact? Facebook and Twitter might be great places to start with. But there are other platforms, such as LinkedIn and Pinterest, which are also great for certain niches.

 

LinkedIn for one is a great channel if you’re targeting people in the business to business (B2B) and networking niche. Pinterest on the other hand is great if you are in the arts and crafts, design and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) niche.

 

Each Social Media platform also has a preferred content type. You should know how to tweak your posts to suit every platform of choice. In Instagram for example, your content should be more visual (through graphics, short videos and stories).

 

On Facebook, you can post a lengthier update and be more informative because the platform’s design is suited even for long texts. On Twitter, this isn’t the case. You need to tweak your content to make it short and sweet. It is also not necessary for your brand to be on every Social Media platform – it is enough to choose 2 to 3 types, as long as they are the ones that are most likely used by your target market.

 

Conclusion

All these elements should be present before you implement a Social Media strategy. You have to go through everything with a solid plan. Marketing your brand on Social Media is not always making more sales, it should also be about creating a community.

 

Your target customers don’t have to buy your products right there and then, it is enough that they get to see and consider your brand when they do decide to purchase at a different time. Basically, it’s also about exposure and engagement. Make this as an opportunity to connect with your market more – or even provide support for existing customers whenever necessary.

 

I’ve handpicked a few guides for you to read next:

How to Choose the Best Social Media Platform for your Business

7 Tips to get started with social media for your small business

Social media marketing on Facebook is as tough as SEO!

Top 5 free tools to manage Twitter accounts (free Tips included)

How to schedule Instagram Posts like a boss

How to create Instagram Stories Images for your business

 

Guest Blogger

Gemma Reeves is a seasoned writer who enjoys creating helpful articles and interesting stories. She has worked with several clients across different industries such as advertising, online marketing, technology, healthcare, family matters, and more. She is also an aspiring entrepreneur who is engaged in assisting other aspiring entrepreneurs in finding the best office space for their business.