How to Create an Effective Social Media Strategy

Social Media has now become a virtual marketing platform for every business. With some paid advertising media becoming more costly or unable to leverage analytics on certain devices, it's becoming necessary for brands to leverage blended marketing campaigns where they leverage social media to achieve their business objectives. Brands' need an effective social media marketing plan to attract new customers and retain existing customers.

A Social media marketing plan summarises the actions that brands plan to achieve on social media. But developing a compelling social media plan is a painful process. In an increasingly competitive market, a well-thought-out strategy  is necessary to succeed on the Internet.

What are the common problems organisations face with Social Media?

Having worked with a number of small businesses, we've come to identify a few common issues with their existing Social Media Marketing activities.  You may be able to relate with some of these:

• Posts have had too much of a strong emphasis on sales.  Research shows that educating the audience with regards to your brand, it's values, and benefits is more effective than a push to acquire business all the time.  A good rule of thumb is to employ the 80/20 rule.  80% education focus : 20% sales focus

• Lack of understanding of audience interests and platform trends. Posts are more likely to be effective when delivered on the platforms where your audience are, relate to subjects they have an interest in and when they use terminology that they are familiar with.

• Ad-hoc posting without emphasis on results and performance.  Posting ad-hoc based upon instinct instead of strategy offers limited insight on analytics and performance in order to improve results.

• Lack of engagement with followers.  Sometimes this is because the posts have been written in a manner which does little to encourage engagement, whereas in other cases organisations fail to respond to comments and engage directly with their audience.

By creating effective social media strategies, brands can overcome the issues highlighted above, reach a bigger audience and boost profits. However, developing a great social media plan is difficult.  So we've outlined the steps for you; keep reading to create a winning social media strategy.

What is a Social Media Strategy?

A social media strategy describes how you create, post, and engage with your audience. Your social media marketing plan includes guidelines for social content, posting schedule, creative plans, and engagement strategies.

An effective social media strategy outlines what you plan to accomplish through social media. It helps you determine the direction you should take and lets you know when you're succeeding or failing.

Why Create a Social Media Strategy?

Social media marketers have to face three primary challenges:

• Reaching their audience
• Determining investment return
• Attaining corporate goals

You may solve these problems and many others by creating a social media strategy. You can adjust your benchmarks over time and track their performance, and create new ones as needed with a social media plan.

The importance of Social Media Strategy

Social Media has a huge number of users worldwide. According to Kepios, there were an estimated 4.65 billion social media users in April 2022, effectively 58.7% of the global population. And Facebook with it's 2.89 billion social media users, makes it the number one social media platform. These enormous numbers are enough to convince brands about the potential of social media channels. 

Social Media provides businesses with numerous opportunities, but it's crucial to utilise it wisely. Brands can leverage several techniques to stand out from their competitors.

Let's look at ways to create an effective social media strategy.

How to Create a Social Media Strategy

Creating an effective social media plan is not the easiest of tasks. It requires marketers to outline several aspects to ensure it achieves organisational objectives. Here are some ways to create a winning social media strategy:

1.  Conduct a Social Media Audit

One of the initial steps to developing social media strategy is conducting an Audit. Although if you are starting, this step won't be possible. Instead, you would have to start from scratch with the signup to your chosen social media platforms. After a month or more, you should be in a position to get valuable insights about your customers.

However, if you are already using social media for your brand, you will already have some previous data. Every Social media platform has an analytics tool that provides valuable information. Brands can audit their current social media metrics to define benchmarks and improve accordingly in the future.

2.  Identify Your Target Audience

The second most crucial thing is to identify your ideal customer. For this, you will have to develop buyer personas. Buyer Personas typically include customers' demographics, age, gender, income, hobbies, interests, etc. Identifying buyer personas helps you to effectively align your social media strategy.

Audiences can be broken down into three or four buyer personas. It's also important to make sure that your buyer personas represent the majority of your audience.

3.  Analyse Your Competitors

Competitor analysis is also required when designing an effective social media plan. You can research your competitors using social media, understand their offer and more importantly get an indication of where they have shortcomings. This also enables you to develop solutions which address the some of these deficiencies.

Analyse their social media campaigns by looking at their statistics. Analysis of competitor metrics and statistics also enables you to set benchmarks and goals for your social media strategy, with the aim of differentiating your offer to provide an effective alternative which stands out in the market. 

4.  Set Smart Goals

Now that you know your ideal customer and have built your buyer personas, it's time to set smart goals to help you realise your business objectives. Setting goals helps to define a structure for your campaigns, monitor campaign performance, and craft an effective social media plan.

A social media goal should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. It's also important not to be fooled by vanity metrics, such as numbers of followers. Instead, measure only those metrics which matter for your business.  Quality metrics, such as number of engagements and actions tend to be a more accurate indicator of performance.

5.  Select Appropriate Social Media Channels

There are several social media channels, each one with different features. Therefore, consider the benefits of each platform before choosing which suits your business. In essence, you want to select social networks most frequented by your target audience. 

Finally, plan a social media marketing plan for every social network you plan to include in your social media strategy.   

6.  Monitor Your Performance

Social media channels offer a wealth of information to track. Therefore, it's crucial to monitor the relevant information. Start by examining how much traffic your social media accounts drive to your website. Keep an eye on your posts to see which ones people respond to; it would help identify their interests. Establish goals for key metrics and measure your progress to get an idea of your post-performance.

7.  Experiment and Improve Accordingly

It's important to remember that Social Media Marketing does not work overnight. Building a following, establishing a brand, and seeing results takes time. Experimenting helps you find the right channel for your audience. After all, you want a social media strategy that drives your desired results; while also adhering to your brand's image. As you gather information, you can improve your recipe card, content, and personas - helping you refine your strategy and produce better results.

Let Us Create Your Social Media Strategy!

Whether or not you're new to social media or have an established presence, developing an effective social media plan is not an easy task. There are a variety of factors to consider. Identifying buyer personas, analysis of your competitors, and choosing the appropriate social media channels for your target audience requires thought and planning.

Many organisations, and small business owners in particular find it challenging to find the time and resources to define an effective Social Media Strategy.  This can lead to ad-hoc posting without an understanding of performance and ineffective overall results.  At Omni Communications, our team of experts can take into account all the necessary considerations to help you develop a winning social media strategy and ensure your social media plan achieves your desired results. 

For more information on how we help with Social Media Strategy, contact us using the Contact Form below, call us on

 

0161 507 7999

or email sales@omnicom.uk