Social media marketing strategy, one of the fundamental aspects of social media marketing. There is no doubt that if you are using social media to market your business, then you need one. We are helping businesses to grow on social media in Tanzania. Let us help you too.
If you are posting on social media without a clear strategy then there is no doubt you are just posting for the sake of posting and not to grow. Without clearly identifying what your audience is, what your goal is and how to achieve them. You will face difficulties in achieving the results you want in social media.
Whether your goal is to grow your brand on social media or to become a better social media marketing expert, creating a social media marketing strategy is crucial.
Today I will walk you through the steps on how to create one
How to create a social media marketing strategy.
If you already have a social media marketing plan, You will probably
y be wondering why you need a social media marketing strategy then? Right? Well, though these two terms are sometimes confused. Today let's see what keeps these two apart.
What is a social media strategy?
A social media strategy is more of where you're going. What you should really focus on to get the best results. On the other hand, a social media marketing plan is how you will reach where you are going. It's more of a roadmap to your success.
Are you looking for social media marketing plan examples? Contact us here. Our team of experts will walk you through how to create a social media plan for your business.
So how do I create a social media marketing strategy? Here are simple steps to begin developing a perfect social media strategy for your business.
Why are you joining social media?
Who is your target audience?
What content are you going to share?
Where are you going to share?
When are you going to share?
After asking yourself these questions. Pick a pen and a paper and note down the answers.
You are seconds away from developing effective social media strategies.
Why are you joining social media?
You can simply answer this question by focusing on your business goals. Are you joining for the sake of promoting your business? Your product ? or just to interact with your buyers and drive traffic to your website? When answering this question, ask yourself how many businesses use social media? And how will you set yours as an example to your competitors? Joining social media without clear goals will make you look like “just another business ” on social media. Set goals for your brand.
With social media marketing, you can achieve several goals. Here are some of the goals you can achieve
Increase brand awareness
Drive traffic to your website
Generate new leads
Grow revenue
Boost brand engagement
Build a community around your business
Provide social customer service
Increase mentions in the press
Listen to conversations about your brand
I believe you may have more than one goal. But I suggest you focus on one goal at a time. This way you can maximize your efforts and get better results. After identifying your goal, this brings us to the next step.
Who is your target audience?
Knowing who your target audience is, is the next step after identifying your goals. Understanding your audience will help you come up with content that will greatly speak to your audience. This way it will be easier to communicate with them.
For example, if you're a smartphone seller. Try to find out what type of people are more interested to know about your page. By using different types of content about smartphones, test and see which one they prefer or like the most.
The best way to know your audience well is to create a marketing persona. Your persona should answer the following questions
Who are they? (E.g. job title, age, gender, salary, location, etc.)
What are they interested in that you can provide? (E.g. entertainment, educational content, case studies, information on new products, etc.)
Where do they usually hang out online? (E.g. Facebook, Instagram, etc. or niche platforms)
When do they look for the type of content you can provide? (E.g. weekends, during their daily commute, etc.)
Why do they consume the content? (E.g. to get better at their job, to become healthy, to stay up to date with something, etc.)
How do they consume the content? (E.g. read social media posts, watch videos, etc.)
What will you share?
It's very important to know what you are sharing before you post it. Different social media platforms have different ways in how content is shared and consumed by the audience. While some prefer more informative articles. Others prefer pictures and videos with little captions. Always remember, the goal is to know what type of content your audience prefers.
For example, if you are a cosmetic or beauty shop. You can share tips on how to keep your skin soft and smooth. By answering to skin challenges that people face, you place yourself as the best solution to their nightmares.
What I always suggest is to have at least two types of content themes and use them to test your audience. Mixing different content will give you a bigger picture of where to focus more. Another way to find what content to share is by checking what your competitors are sharing.
Where are you sharing?
Remember when I said understanding your audience is crucial? Here is another place where you really need to have a clear understanding of your audience. Why? There are plenty of social media networks. Choosing which ones to join can be challenging. That's why knowing your audience can make it a little bit easier.
For example, Knowing which platform your audience likes to visit most and what makes them visit, will give you a hint on where to focus so that you get seen more.
When will you share?
The Last but not least question you should ask yourself when developing a social media strategy is when you will be sharing your content. Again, understanding when to post is crucial if you really want to get a bigger reach. Without social media promotions, reaching a bigger audience organically can be challenging. Many posts are stuck on zero engagement due to a lack of understanding of when to post. Don't make the same mistake.
Finally
Congratulations. Now you know how to create social media marketing strategies. But this is not yet enough. There is still more to be done. Remember your strategies are just where you decided to go. How to get there is important as well. Here is where we need a social media plan. Interested in learning how to create a social media marketing plan? Sign up so that you don't miss our next post on creating a social media plan.