Without a strategy, business operations in social networks are a lottery and wandering in the dark. After all, a good plan is the first step to success. So let’s find out what it should consist of and how to create an effective business strategy.
There are several reasons why you should create a marketing strategy for SM activities. The most important of these are:
Social media business strategy will answer not only the question “What to do?”, but also “How to do it?”.
Goals like “Many subscribers” or “Increase sales” are not goals in the sense relevant to SM strategy. You need specifics and details, e.g. “I want my social network page to bring in 20 leads per week” or “I plan to increase sales by 10% over last year.” So goals should be measurable, specific and realistic. Divide the big ones into smaller tasks and break down what needs to be done to achieve them.
Include in your strategy all the tools you will use to achieve your goals, starting with a list of sites – specific social networks where groups and accounts will be created.
Working with your audience is an essential part of your SM strategy. A standard target audience analysis includes:
Plus additional characteristics if you are working with representatives of specific narrow groups. Also, data on buying behavior can be included in the target group analysis.
If your company already has a presence on social networks, it is important to analyze its pages and groups. Collect a complete set of statistical information about activities on the page and under posts – number of subscribers, number of likes on the page and each post, number of views, reach, comments, reposts.
Depending on the focus of your business, your social network competitor groups can number in the hundreds. It makes sense to focus on the top 3-5 competitors. Analyze their content, audiences, and ways of communicating with them. Also pay attention to the visual aspect of the content presented.
This section deals with recommendations for headlines and social media content formats. Determine exactly what type of content you will publish – informational, sales, expert, entertainment – and set their proportions. This is necessary to avoid alienating your audience with incessant sales content or overfeeding them with frivolous entertainment. Alternating types of SM content protects against monotony, which can cause viewers to unsubscribe.
It is also important to include in the strategy such issues as the company’s positioning, communication style and methods, advertising strategies, running contests, KPIs and possible interactions with competitors.
A business strategy in SM is essential to understand what the result should be and how to achieve it. Without a strategy, marketing efforts are unlikely to succeed, and the lack of a plan can destroy any idea.
main photo: unsplash.com/Jeremy Bezanger
