TECHNOLOGY
The three-step process to an effective social media strategy By Marta Ceccato SAPIENS MEDIA COACHING In this day and age, social media is a crucial aspect of any business. Having an effective social media strategy can not only boost brand awareness, but also increase revenue. Here are three key steps to build an effective social media strategy:
1 Defining the target audience Defining the target audience is essential to ensure time, money and resources are invested in the right content, formats and social media channels. The first step to determining the target audience is to establish:
Every social media platform offers in-depth analytics and insights that can be leveraged to track how social media activities are performing and whether they are reaching the right target audience.
Sharing the business’s story and explaining its values help to draw in people who have the same values. It’s those common values that will keep the audience loyal to the business.
However, if the goals of the social media efforts are to drive traffic to a website or to generate sales, the best way to measure results is to use a web analytics platform such as Google Analytics. This is a free tool from Google that enables companies to monitor the number of visitors to a website, the number of pages viewed, number of sales, total revenue and much more.
• 40% should inform and educate. The aim of educational and informative content is to answer questions, provide solutions and showcase expertise with the long-term goal of being seen as an authority in the sector. Once a business has established itself as an authority, followers are more willing to read its promotional content.
3 Creating consistent and high-quality content
• What problems the businesses products or services solve
Posting regularly and sharing high-quality content is essential to the success of a social media strategy.
• Who will benefit most from those products or services
The purpose of social media content should be to:
• Who the current customers are
a. create an emotional connection with the audience
• Which types of customers the competitors attract Once the target audience has been defined, in order to determine where to focus, it’s key to ascertain on which social media channels they are most active, the type of content they like to consume and the type of formats they prefer (for example, video, blog, podcast, etc).
2 Setting specific and measurable goals Setting specific goals (WHAT), how progress towards those goals will be measured (HOW) and the timeframe by which the goals should be achieved (WHEN) is key to monitor and assess how each social media activity is performing. To get the most out of social media, the social media goals should be aligned with the business objectives. For example, if the business objective is to raise brand awareness, the social media goal should be the number of potential customers reached through social media activities.
b. demonstrate expertise c. promote and sell products and services When starting out with social media content planning, the 40-40-20 rule is a great way to ensure the right mix. • 40% of the content should focus on building lasting connections with the audience through storytelling. Storytelling involves using stories to tell why the business exists and what it stands for in a way that brings emotions and experiences to life.
• 20% should promote the business’s products or services. Promotional content focuses on products and services with the intent to convert followers into customers. Planning and scheduling social media content is a good way to be consistent and to select a healthy mix of topics. Moreover, planning and scheduling tools are key not only to staying organised, but also to viewing all social media activities in one place and accessing invaluable data that can be utilized to understand what’s working – and what’s not. A great social media strategy is never set in stone and it’s continuously changing. Whether creating a post on Instagram, a video on YouTube or Twitter, everything has to fit together to help the business grow. Testing, analysing, and re-evaluating social content on an ongoing basis is the only way to create a social media strategy that evolves with the business.
Marta is an award-winning digital marketing and technologies expert with 15 years of marketing experience working with billion-dollar brands. She is the founder of Sapiens Media Coaching, a consultancy that focuses on making digital marketing simple for SMEs. Marta can be found at www.sapiensmediacoaching.com Business Connexions | 25
