How to create a social media marketing plan

How to create a social media marketing strategy

1. Perform a social media audit

   Chances are that your business already has some form of social media presence, maybe even on multiple social channels. But with so many companies competing for attention on the web, it's easy for your company's social media posts to get lost in the shuffle.
   
   Before you craft a new social media strategy, you should perform an audit to assess whether your current efforts are bearing any fruit.
   
   Questions to ask during an audit include:
   What social networks am I currently using?
   Which social network is used most by my target market?
   How much engagement (likes, shares, etc.) are we receiving on our posts?
   
   You may have to perform some "gap analysis" to determine how your current social media plan stacks up against your long-term business objectives.
   
   For instance, if you exclusively use Facebook, but your target customers prefer Instagram, you may have to adjust your social strategy to reach your audience.

2. Define your goals

   One of the mistakes businesses often make is to create one or two social accounts and simply share content at random. But a good social media strategy is organized around a specific purpose, which should reflect your broader business objectives.
   
   As a starting point, ask yourself: What do I want to happen as a result of our social media campaign? How will my social media plan align with my mission statement?
   
   Business experts have crafted a clever acronym to help companies create and articulate their goals. Your social media marketing goals should be "SMART," which means that they are:
   
   - Specific
   - Measurable
   - Attainable
   - Relevant
   - Time-bound
   
   For example, if your goal is to build brand awareness, you might make this goal measurable by seeking to double your follower count within a year.
   
   Alternatively, if your goal is to convert engagements into actual sales, you can measure your goal through website clicks, email signups, and your financial reporting.

3. Get to know your target audience

   Which social networks are your target customers on the most? How do your potential customers tend to use this particular social network?
   
   It's essential to understand the behavior of your target audience to engage with them appropriately. For instance, research shows that teens are gradually abandoning Facebook for other social channels. If your company sells skateboards, you may have to consider moving to a new social media channel to engage with your community.
   
   This will also help you to formulate a content strategy. Consider which types of content your social media followers are most likely to engage with. For example, if you want to reach Generation Z, you're more likely to generate leads with video content than a blog post.

4. Study the competition

   While every brand is unique, you can learn a great deal from a little competitive analysis. Find companies that operate within your industry and have a similar (if not identical) target audience. Check out their social media channels and see how they're achieving social media success.
   
   Look for things like:
   - What social networks are they using?
   - How many followers do they have?
   - How frequently do they post?
   - What kind of content do they post?
   - How do they interact with their followers?
   - Are there any relevant keywords that you should be using?
   
   Some social media marketers also recommend the art of "social listening," which means you'll put your competitors' names, account handles, and other relevant keywords in the search bar of the top social media platforms. This will provide insight into what other people are saying and posting about that competitor while also giving you a glimpse into how well they're engaging their core demographic.

5. Choose your social media platform(s)

   Once you've learned all you can about your target audience, it's time to choose which social media channels you want to join. At a minimum, you'll want to start with a Facebook page, which continues to have the highest number of daily active users at 1.93 billion.
   
   But beyond that, you'll have a wide variety of other channels to choose from. A YouTube account can be good for uploading and sharing video content.
   
   Today's most popular social networks include:
   - Twitter
   - Instagram
   - TikTok
   - Snapchat
   - LinkedIn
   - Pinterest
   
   Because each social media platform is unique, you won't be able to duplicate content across multiple channels. If you intend to maintain multiple social media accounts, you might ask a few employees to serve as a social media team to help you operate pages and engage followers.

6. Create a social media content calendar

   As you're scoping out the competition, you may discover a few companies whose social media pages left a lot to be desired. When a company goes dormant, they lose all ability to engage with their customer base, creating the impression that they're out of touch with their online community.
   
   If you don't want to lose your momentum, your social media marketing plan should involve a lot of great content and regular engagement. The best way to do this is to create a content calendar.
   
   A content calendar is a social media posting schedule, which can help you plan what sort of content you'll share, where it will go live, and on what dates.
   
   For instance, did you know that the time of day matters when posting content online? According to Buffer, you'll receive more engagement from content posted between 1:00 to 3:00 PM on Thursdays and Fridays.
   
   Therefore, you can create a social media content strategy to maximize engagement among your followers. For example, social campaigns promoting a product or service might rely on scheduled posts for maximum visibility leading up to a launch.

7. Share compelling content

   Once you've created your social media content calendar, you'll want to fill it with great, compelling content. You might already have a few content ideas from studying your competition. If not, there are two broad ways of sharing content online.
   
   Curated content refers to shared content that you did not personally create. You can easily share news stories, blog posts, viral videos, and other content on your social media channels, and you can offer your commentary on the information contained within.
   
   The advantage of curated content is that it's easy to find and takes less time than creating content on your own. The drawback, however, is that you don't get to share your unique voice with your customers. You can't showcase your products or services, either.
   
   Therefore, you’ll need to create content as part of your social media marketing plan. But precisely what kind of content is the most popular among social media users?
   
   Earlier, we hinted that younger generations prefer video to the written word. However, companies may find that a blog post is the best way to share important data for the finance community, while a static picture might be best for a fashion company.
   
   Social posts with images generate 47% more clicks than text-only ones. Your blogging platform may already have some functionality that attaches images to your posts. These images will typically be shared online when you post a link to that web page.
   
   When you share a link online, it's known as a "link post." Link posts create a large, clickable area for customers to engage with. When combined with images, this approach can help your followers click on and engage with your content more easily.

8. Track your performance and adjust your strategy

   The best social media strategies are cyclical. You'll want to regularly evaluate the strength of your social media marketing efforts to determine whether you're accomplishing the social media goals you outlined in Step 2.
   
   To do this, you might set up an account with Google Analytics (or another analytics provider). You can use this service to evaluate your web content, but it can also be a valuable social media management tool. With Google Analytics, you can analyze how well your posts perform and review valuable insights into your referral traffic (how well your posts are driving visitors back to your website).
   
   Don't be discouraged if your current social media marketing plan needs adjustment. Technology constantly changes, as does user behavior. In fact, it's only when your social media strategy doesn't change that there's a problem!
   
   You'll likely find yourself adjusting your social media plan over time and creating new social media campaigns based on what you've learned from past success.