Three steps to your Social Media action plan
People often don’t understand what I do when I say I am social media engagement specialist. They think that it is only about posting on Facebook and Twitter but why will anyone need to hire someone to do that? What type of job is it?
Let’s explore what is social media to business and why is it important for success in this age. Guess what business owners are using right now to connect with clients? Yup. Social media!
When we googled the question “Will social media help me?” we were greeted with 1.6 billion suggestions. Had we added the word ‘business’ to it, they would still be few millions. Many of those will be repeating the same thing. Still it’s clear that getting started on social media is a question that business owners are looking for an answer to. Facebook campaigns, blog posts, news articles, corporate videos and more – again, everyone is looking to find the right way to do the social media.
What is the secret ingredient?
If you ask me, the secret is simple: You might want to start right away just like everything else that you do in your business. It is helpful to have a plan with measurable milestones and results. I was always amused by the idea of connecting with so many people virtually. I got more and more interested, every time I explored a new aspect of social media. I have a hobby to try new networks which I come across, just to study new ways of spreading virtual messages. Not kidding! Now being a social media engagement specialist, I know it’s not a myth or exaggeration that your social presence online is a representative of your company.
It was a challenge for me to make others understand that posting JUST anything on social media isn’t social media marketing. You need to be specific to attract right kind of people. You can’t afford to say ‘what’s in your mind’ without thinking. It should be what others want to read because people will judge you accordingly!
Step 1: Why should your business want to be on Social Media? > Define your Social Media purpose
From having discussions with clients to monitoring conversations online, the overarching theme that prevents businesses from using social media is lack of understanding about why they NEED to be here! The typical responses we get include, “Our competitors are here,” “Because everyone’s talking about it”, “We want to be on everywhere.” The problem is that they fail to dig deep into bigger questions they need to answer:
- What are your competitors doing on social media?
- How can you differentiate yourself from the competitors with social media?
- Will you be able to identify impact it will be have on your business?
- Will you measure increased awareness, number of new leads through social media, heightened participation of potential clients and will you find out if it changes your bottom line?
- Are you reaching your target audience?
- Have you identified who that is?
- Will you enjoy working with social media or is it just an extra chore for you?
Being able to answer these will allow you to move to next step.
Step 2: Where do you need to be? > Determine your Social Media channels
There are literally hundreds of social networks online along with power hitters Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. Not to forget the forums, niche networks, community blog networks and more. No wonder so many businesses have trouble spotting the right path.
- Define your market segment – Where is your target market in social networks? Are the business professionals on LinkedIn or every day users on Facebook?
- Who do you want to be connected with? – Unless you are selling coke or pampers, you don’t need mass audience! Be specific. The closer you stick with your offerings, the fewer followers you will attract. But they will be delighted to connect with you.
- Stick with maximum 3 to 4 networks – Work only with a number of networks than you can consistently maintain. Only if you can add meaningful content publish your business page on that network.
Step 3: How do you measure success= > Map out goals and success metrics
Try to define your goals and measure the success of your social media use. What do you want to achieve out of it? Quantitatively measure your efforts in terms of Likes/Follower growth or increase in frequency of engagement or brand mentions or amount of content to be shared etc.
- Set up a calendar – Set up a social media calendar and break it down into results pattern like monthly, quarterly, biannually, annually .
- Analyse results periodically – Study the difference in website traffic. Does traffic increase and which channels bring more traffic. Google Analytics will do the job!
- Determine acceptable growth vs. ideal growth – Compare if you are at least reaching the former i.e. minimum growth you expected to achieve through social media. And how far behind are you lagging from ideal growth? An indicator could be your turnover that is generated through Social Media or leads you receive through referrals on Social Media (email does not count!).
- Analyse the cost of implementation – Compare cost of implementation to the expected return (increased customer loyalty, word of mouth marketing, brand perception)
Remember content is the key! Stand out from the crowd through your content.
What is your greatest challenge when it comes to Social Media Marketing for your business?
Need my assistance in social media marketing? Email me at nabehalatif@live.com
Social Media which was once used just for the purpose, to connect with families and friends now has become the most popular way of advertising. All big brands have directed themselves towards Social Media Marketing, which is comparatively rapid way of advertising. When it first emerged, brands just used it to gain exposure but later this exposure diverted into gaining audience and promoting business over the night. Socializing with the customers benefitted the brand by making the customers loyal, known as the brand loyalty. Brands which give proper attention towards SMM are most likely to have more loyal customers but it requires great devotion and time which is very difficult for entrepreneurs & brands to do in today’s busy schedule.
With latest technological advancements, we are noticing new roles related to marketing in this digital age. Chief Marketing Technologist is one of them.