For any business looking to delve into the world of social media, building a strong comprehensive strategy is the first step. But first…
What is a Social Media Strategy?
In its simplest terms, a social media strategy is a structured plan that details how your business will utilise social media platforms to accomplish its marketing goals. It involves defining target audiences, setting objectives, creating and curating content, scheduling posts and engaging with followers.
3 steps to take when planning your strategy
The first question you’ll need to ask is: Why is your business joining social media? Every business is unique, with different goals to drive its marketing strategy.
These goals might include:
- Raising awareness for your brand
- Driving traffic to your website
- Generating conversions
- Providing another stream for customer service
Once you’ve defined your goals, you’ll need a way to measure your progress. This is where Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) come in.
By tracking metrics such as followers, impressions, reach, likes, or clicks, you can accurately measure the effectiveness of your content and how aligned your marketing plan is to your overall goals.
If your goal is to increase brand awareness, focusing on metrics like reach and impressions should provide a clear picture of how many people are seeing your content and how often. Reach measures the number of unique users who see your content, while impressions count the total number of times your content is displayed, regardless of user duplication.
On the other hand, if your objective is to drive more traffic to your website, analysing the click-through rate (CTR) is essential. CTR measures the percentage of users who click on a specific link out of the total number of users who view a page, email, or advertisement. A high CTR indicates that your content is compelling and encourages users to find out more.
With a clear goal and a way to measure performance, the next step is to define your audience. Without a set target audience, you greatly decrease the chance of your content reaching the right people.
This includes understanding the age of your audience, their gender, income, occupation, hobbies and more.
One effective method to pinpoint your ideal target audience is to create a ‘customer persona’ – a fictional representation of your average customer.
These personas are detailed profiles that embody the characteristics of different segments of your audience. Brands often develop between three to seven distinct personas, each providing deep insights into who you are marketing to.
For example, if a small bakery in the heart of Manchester City Centre wants to begin posting on social media, and their biggest customer demographic is Manchester University students, their content needs to be:
- Reaching Manchester and surrounding areas
- Appealing to a younger generation
- Active on food-related trends
Your audience insights can also guide you in choosing the right platforms.
For instance, studies show that over 60% of TikTok’s audience are Gen Z, making it the ideal channel for brands targeting a younger audience.
Track your engagement
It’s important to remember that a social media strategy isn’t a one-time task. Once you’ve put your plan into action, you’ll need to regularly monitor and analyse performance through analytics. By comparing your metrics to the goals you outlined at the start, you can identify whether or not your social media tactics are successful and adapt your content accordingly.
If you find your current strategy isn’t aligning with your goals, use the data you have collected to drive your next campaign and then repeat the process.
The takeaway
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to building a social media strategy, and what works for one company may not work for the next.
However, a well-crafted social media marketing strategy can go a long way in growing your business and boosting your bottom line – and the returns are well worth the investment.
