8 Steps Social Media Marketing Strategy
List down what you plan to do on social media to achieve greater results
SET 3 S.M.A.R.T. GOALS
S.M.A.R.T. Goals are Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Relevant and Time-bound goals. For example Cain 100 new customers via Social Media in 30 days. It is important to track meaningful metrics. and not vanity metrics.
LEARN YOUR AUDIENCE
Know who your audience is by gathering real-world data (not assumptions), then creating audience personas. You need to find out what kind of content they’ll like, share, want. and need.
RESEARCH THE COMPETITION
Conduct a competitive analysis to understand who the competition is and spot opportunities. Replicate their strengths. and dominate their weakness.
CONDUCT A SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT
If you’re already on social media. evaluate your current efforts and ask yourself ‘What’s working, and what’s not?”. Who is engaging with me?’. Which social media sites do my target market user. “How does my social media presence compare to that of my competitors?”.
SET UP ACCOUNTS AND IMPROVE EXISTING PROFILES
Determine which platforms you’re going to use and how you’ll be using them (e.g. Twitter for customer relationship). Set up (and optimize) your accounts. Fill out all profile fields using your keywords and use images that are correctly sized for each network.
FIND INSPIRATION
Draw inspiration from other businesses that are great on social media. Take note of the type of content they publish and how they engage with their followers. You can even ask your followers what they will like to see!
CREATE A SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT CALENDAR
Create a posting schedule that lists down the date and time at which you will publish those types of content on each channel.
TEST, EVALUATE, ADJUST
Track your data using tools like Hootsuite. With the data. re-evaluate your strategy and test it again. Repeat this process until you reach your goal.
Source: Hootsuite
Social Media Which Platform is Right for You
PROs
– largest social network in the world
– popular posts that are liked and shared can reach thousands
– easy to get started, add links, calls to action, and events.
Cons
– Algorithm changes can reduce reach overnight
– 40% of users don’t ‘like’ any brand pages so paid promotion can be the only way to reach them.
– posts from friends and families are prioritized so you need likes and shares to get seen
10.86%
The average number of page followers who see a posts
73%
of 30-49-year-olds use Facebook
1.71 billion
users a month and most popular social network to over 50s
Pros
– useful for networking with bloggers or press, and finding content to share
– tweets are indexed by Google so can boost your SEO
– taking part in Twitter chats is a great way to meet other shop owners and get advice
Cons
– character limits restrict how much you can say
– it’s very fast-moving so posts quickly get buried
– many users find it confusing and don’t stick around
24.6%
of all verified users are journalists
18%
of tweets with images get 18% more clicks
320 million
users a month but 44% of accounts have never sent a tweet
Pros
– visual platforms suit designers and makers
– lots of creatives use Instagram so it’s easy to find your tribe
– using hashtags enables posts to reach beyond your own followers
Cons
– no clickable links in captions means you have to work hard to encourage click-through – posts can get hidden in the non-chronological timeline
– introduction of Instagram stories appears to have reduced engagement on normal posts
58x
more engagement followers than Facebook
53%
of users are aged 18-29
400 million
users a month
Pros
– as part of a vast search engine, pins have a longer shelf life than tweets or Facebook posts
– average spend from referrals is twice as high as Facebook
– pins link to their source and the average pin is repinned 10 times
Cons
– you need to pin frequently to be most effective
– Pinterest has a big US biased, with 55% of users from the USA
– less interaction with customers
15-30
is the ideal number you need to pin a day for best results
85%
of users are female
100 million
users a month
Source: Folksy
Which Social Media Platform is Right for Your Business
FACEBOOK
• Facebook is still, far and away. the most popular social media platform
• It boasts 1.79 billion worldwide users
• 73% of the US adult population
• The most evenly-distributed demographics of any platform
• 1.66 billion mobile active users
TWITTER
• Despite being arguably the second-most recognized cc platform out there. Twitter is fourth in usage
• 230 million monthly active users
• Delivers 1 billion unique visitors to websites via embedded links
INSTAGRAM
• 400 million active users a month
• Instagram user base is skewed towards a younger demographic
• Instagram has a user engagement rate of 4.21% – far exceeding Facebook and Twitter
• 40 million photos are shared on Instagram every day from a user base that is 75% outside the U.S.
GOOGLE+
• Google+ users are 67% male 111
• The majority are in technical and engineering fields. …1 U
• The average age, somewhat surprisingly, is 28.
• Although the platform boasts 2.2 billion profiles. only 4 million or so are active
PINTEREST
• Pinterest has. in the past year vaulted its way to the #3 spot as the most popular social media platform
• 21% of all US adults using it.
• 84% of those users are female-which makes it the second most popular site by far for this demographic.
LINKEDIN
• 414 million users
• 38% of internet users with an income of more than 575k are on the platform
• 79% of Linkedin, users are aged 35 or older, making it the oldest platform in this list.
• The three dominant sectors on the platform are high
SNAPCHAT
• 50% of new users are over the age of 25
• 85% of monthly U.S, users are between 13 and 34
• 307.. of teens rank Snapchat as the most important social network
• 7 of 10 users are millennials
• 60% of college students say they’d purchase from a brand if sent a coupon on Snapchat
Source: On the Maps
How to Manage Negative Social Media Comments
Your company has been tagged in a message written by an angry customer. How do you proceed?
MESSAGE RECEIVED
Read the message carefully. What is the root of the problem? How can you help?
TAKE A SCREENSHOT
It’s a good idea to document the message. It can be used for training or to share with a co-worker who might want to follow up.
DON’T DELETE
Remain transparent with your audience. Deleting messages rather than addressing them head-on conveys you might have something to hide.
PRO TIP
Sometimes, inappropriate comments need to be deleted. If you find a comment to be derogatory, exercise your own judgment or refer to your organization’s code of conduct.
DON’T DELAY
Timeliness is key here. Most social users expect to see a response within 1 hour. If necessary, follow up with the relevant departments to give your customer a satisfactory answer.
KEEP YOUR COOL
Draft your response. Remember the basics of good customer service. Your response will be judged not only by the user you’re conversing with but also by your followers.
Source: Digital Giants
Facebook Best Practices
Before you post
DO’s
Update FB cover photo monthly.
Consider whether the Facebook Events feature could be used for this post.
Look for news, trends, and relevant hashtags to incorporate into post content.
Decide whether this post should be “pinned” to the top of the FB page.
Ensure FB profile image and cover photo are clearly visible on mobile devices.
Ensure this post’s content aligns with your overall content strategy.
Dont’s
Don’t use content, images, or video that don’t comply with your company’s social media policy.
When you post
DO’s
Post 1-3x daily.
Use at least one image in each post.
Use a friendly tone of voice that connects with your audience.
Use a poll, survey, or quiz to engage your audience.
Check post grammar and spelling.
Upload a relevant video to Facebook for the post.
Include a call to action.
Signposts when possible. Use a first and/or last initial e.g. -R or -RA.
Keep posts brief – less than 10 words if possible.
Use 1-2 hashtags in each post.
Ask a question.
Include a URL or link to more information.
@mention other people or PO pages.
Dont’s
Don’t use acronyms or abbreviations unless necessary.
Don’t share or ask for personally identifiable information.
Don’t post images or videos of real people without their written consent.
After you post
Boost posts that get lots of shares and likes (more than usual).
Respond to reviews, comments, and questions quickly.
Test scheduling and posting for optimal engagement times of day and week.
Take complaints offline.
Monitor your page and posts for comments. questions or reviews.
Measure post results.
Dont’s
Don’t engage in an argument online.
Don’t deal with complaints publicly.
Source: PRYME GROUP