5 Simple Steps to Planning Your Social Media Strategy

Are you a business owner looking for ways to expand your marketing reach without spending a ton of money?

Many are finding that social media marketing is a powerful, low-cost vehicle to increase exposure and improve conversion rates.

Let’s walk through five basic steps to help you harness the power of social media to build your brand and reach new customers.

Why Social Media Marketing Is Ideal for Small Businesses

As a small to mid-sized business owner, you probably have limited resources to use for marketing, sales, and other expenses. Social media is cost effective and helps level the playing field so you have the potential to reach the same audience as your competition.

However, while it is a money saver, social media does require more of your time than traditional marketing. This is why it is important to focus on the five steps below to maximize your time and energy for the best results.

Social Media Planning in 5 Easy Steps

Step 1: Know Your Audience. This may seem obvious, but it is easy to get sidetracked in the world of social media. Take time to clearly identify the characteristics of your current and potential customers, what their problems or pain points typically are, and what kind of messages you want to send to them. It is helpful to write this out and review it periodically.

Step 2: Coordinate Your Efforts. Ultimately, you want visitors to land on your website so they can see what you have to offer.To encourage this, be sure that your website and blog are optimised with highly visible social icons and share buttons so your audience can easily follow you and share your content with others. Include links in your blog posts to related products or services on your website (when appropriate), and add calls-to-action at the end of your blog posts to encourage readers to follow you on social media.

Step 3: Choose the Best Social Media Platforms for Your Business. With so many options, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Start small by focusing on one or two social media platforms based on your unique audience as different platforms cater to different demographics. Become native to these platforms so you can adapt your content to effectively tell your story.

Step 4: Be Sociable. Wondering what to post? Your posts should provide valuable, interesting information, solve a problem, ask a question, make a comment, or even give your audience a good laugh. Be sure to share relevant content links from others. A good rule of thumb is to apply Andrew Davis’s 4-1-1 Rule—for every one self-serving post/update/tweet, share four new pieces of content by others and one re-share.

Step 5: Create a Workable Schedule. Craft a weekly schedule or editorial calendar to help you stay on track. For example, include things like what content you will post, how many tweets to send out, and how many images you would like to pin or repin each day.

By following these five steps, you are setting yourself up for social media success! Be sure to analyze your social media efforts periodically to see what is working and what is not so you can tweak as needed.

Need some help? Our social media experts can develop a targeted social media marketing strategy that gets results. Contact us today to find out more.