It is no longer a secret that social media has an ever-growing influence on us. Information and news spread quickly; good content goes viral, and social media influencers: inside take over the marketing for small and large companies. The reason is simple: almost everyone uses social media every day, likes pictures, and shares videos – you too?
So it’s no wonder that more and more companies want to use social media channels to increase their reach, develop new target groups, or market products. But the range of options is extensive, and the question of which channel is promising is not easy to answer. Before companies and agencies venture into the social media jungle, they need a well-thought-out social media strategy as a compass.
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8 Tips For A Successful Social Media Strategy
At the beginning of every journey, there is the question: where should we go? Those who start aimlessly take tedious detours, lose energy or fall down the next cliff out of carelessness – to put it somewhat dramatically.
But a clear goal and careful planning will give you the security you need to master your social media presence. We give you 8 tips to create an optimal social media strategy for you, your needs, and your goals.
Always Keep The Goal In Mind
Defining goals beforehand is the premise of any social media plan. When you know what you expect for your company, you plan your next steps effectively and then measure your success against the set goals.
Realistic goals can be defined, for example, with the SMART method.
SMART stands for:
- Specific: Define goals as precisely as possible
- Measurable: Determine qualitative and quantitative metrics
- Attainable: Planned goals should be realizable
- Relevant: Goals have a recognizable benefit
- Time-based: Goals must be planned in a binding manner
Here is an example of a SMART goal:
“We will use Instagram stories twice a week to increase our reach and thus generate 1,000 more followers by the next month.”
Define Your Target Audience
To create compelling content, you first have to determine the optimal target group and what interests them in social networks. To do this, develop a buyer persona by working out the following demographic characteristics, for example:
- old
- gender
- generation
- training
- residence
- Interests
- Problems and their solutions
This concretization helps you to play out exactly the content that is tailored to the needs of your intended target group.
Clear Messages, Sympathetic Communication
It’s pretty logical: if users like your social media presence, they will also find the agency or company behind it good. Therefore, your content should be widely accessible and easy to digest. Users: inside posts often scroll through on the side. The attention span is relatively tiny. Therefore, you should package your content crisply. The so-called “Snackable Content” is perfect for social media: Short video clips, images, infographics, and short summaries bring content and messages to the point. On top of that, such compact snacks are more likely to be shared than long posts.
Tell (d) A Story
Events, experiences, emotions: people show what moves them in social networks, which makes social media platforms so successful. In this respect, you should also plan clever storytelling into your social media strategy and use it for content marketing. An individual story gives the account a personal touch and appeals to the community emotionally. When it comes to storytelling, too, it is essential always to remain concise and not to overstep the company’s history. Instead, tell about why you enjoy doing what you do and which values are important to you and your company. Followers will remember this more easily.
Use The Proper Social Media Channels
With social media accounts, “more” doesn’t necessarily mean “better.” You don’t have to be represented on all channels to implement your social media strategy. After all, every single one of your appearances has to be regularly maintained and updated so that your followers remain loyal to you or new ones join you. Profiles on which nothing happens for months do not strictly invite you to press the “Follow button.”
For example, focus on three platforms to which you can devote yourself to appropriate attention and regularity. You can also pursue different goals on different platforms. For example:
- LinkedIn for communication of the corporate culture and personnel acquisition
- Facebook for customer support and competitions
- Instagram to introduce new products or services
In this way, the various networks fulfill your functions and ensure a targeted, recognizable appearance.
If you want to manage a social media account successfully, you should not underestimate the time and the necessary capacities. That is why it is wiser to use a few channels optimally than to only have a half presence on all platforms.
Be Inspired
Which trends are currently inspiring users? Which brands are particularly successful, and how do they present themselves? And what is the competition doing right now? Observing other performances regularly inspires you. Of course, it doesn’t make sense to copy other accounts. Instead, it is essential to find your style and tonality, build it up, and reproduce it consistently – because a distinctive corporate language increases the recognition value. However, it is never wrong to keep your finger on the pulse of the times and take a look at the bigger picture.
Create A Social Media Calendar
Meetings, deadlines, and unforeseen problems need to be solved: In everyday working life, besides all the big to-dos, something “small” like creating a new Instagram post can seem very unimportant. However, for the success of your social media strategy, you must always provide your accounts with new content or answer your users to their comments and questions. If you invest the time in clever social media management, you can, for example, reproduce several posts and publish them at a predetermined time. It also makes sense to divide specific social media tasks among several employees.
Review Your Social Media Strategy Regularly
Especially in the first time on social media, you need two things above all: patience and perseverance. Of course, everyone wants posts to go viral, thousands of followers subscribe to the account, and the reach increases immeasurably. The first step is to experiment with the content, find out what works well, expand it accordingly, or adjust the global strategy.
Conclusion: A Successful Social Media Strategy Takes Time And Dedication
Social networks offer you the opportunity to present your content uniquely creative and original and win over your target group for you. That is why social media accounts should never just run on the side but should be an integral part of the marketing strategy.
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