Social Media Strategy in 8 Steps

So, you have your social media accounts set up and you are ready to start “making magic”… What do you do next? You probably send one tweet and then nothing for the next three weeks. Why? Because you don’t know where to start. Here is a great 8 step social media strategy that will help YOU stay on the right social media path.

Step 1 – Team Effort

When building your social media strategy, you need to make sure that it is down to just one person. It really does need to be a team effort, regardless of the experience each individual has in social media. Not only will a more rounded strategy be built, but it creates a great dynamic for the team when everyone’s voice is included in the final decision.

Step 2 – Listen

You have built your social media strategy with your team and now its time to listen to what is being said in the social space. Most companies actually ignore this step but it is crucial to see and hear what is being said about your business, your competitors and the sector your company sits in. Using a tool like Mention will help you give you clarity around the type of information your target market are responding to.

Step 3 – Have a goal in mind

Social media strategies without an end goal will never succeed. You need to have something to work towards otherwise you will just end up going round in circles. What do YOU want to use social media for? Brand awareness? Achieve more sales? Pick one to begin with and then branch out once you have your social media strategy working.

Step 4 – Measuring your Success

How will you determine whether your business is a success on social media? Are you going to measure your ROI? Are you going to look at effective key performance indicators to assess how successful you are on social media? You need to be really precise.

Step 5 – Analyze your Audience

To know what to post on social media, you need to know your audience, just like in step 2 where you need to listen. Once you have listened you need to analyze your findings from the social tool mention. This will allow you to determine the characteristics of your customers and what works for them.

Step 6 – What makes YOU different?

To be successful on social media and to have an engaging audience, you need to offer something different. Take Disney for example. As much as we love their films because of the way it has been made, it is all about the fairy tale and magic created. How can you be an innovative business and offer something different?

Step 7 – Humanising your Social Actions

We see this with large companies where their social media replies are generic and not personal. To make sure your social media strategy is a success, you need to be personable and approachable. Social media is about people, so don’t treat it like a hard sell advertising tool.

Step 8 – Create specific social network plans

Once you have sussed your overall social media strategy, you can then turn your attention to specific networks. You should know by this stage what network your community hangs out on the most and create a separate plan.

I hope these 8 steps will help you create a great social media strategy that will allow you to achieve social media success.