Let me tell you a secret. The key factors to a winning social media strategy for your business is understanding what your customers want/need/are looking for AND staying consistent with your messaging and posting on social media platforms.
5 Steps for Creating a Kick Ass Social Media Strategy
Everyone wants to be successful on social media so let’s pull back the curtain and show you what 5 core factors and steps are required to ensure you have a robust strategy in place.
- What problem do you solve? (Your Product/Service)
- What are your business goals? (Quarterly & Yearly)
- What platforms should you be on? (Your Target Market)
- What are you going to post? (What, When & How Often to Post)
- What is your budget? (Social Media Advertising – Budget or No Budget)
STEP 1: WHAT PROBLEM DO YOU SOLVE?
Think of it this way, customers want to know what you can do for them. First of all, do they know you exist and if they DO KNOW you exist do they actually know what you do and more importantly, WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THEM.
For Step 1: Answer these questions:
=> What problem(s) do I solve for my ideal client/customer?
=> What product(s) and service(s) do I offer that make my ideal client’s/customer’s life easier?
=> Who already knows about me, where do I currently get business from (referrals, word-of-mouth, traditional advertising etc.) This is very important, you will want to leverage this on your social media (more on that later).
STEP 2: WHAT ARE YOUR BUSINESS GOALS?
This is a critical component of your social media strategy. You want to ensure that ALL OF YOUR MARKETING (including social media) is in alignment with your business goals.
Instead of having big goals for the year, I recommend breaking them down into quarterly goals so you can adjust when needed without impacting your entire yearly strategy. Break it down into bite size goals so you can easily manage them and adjust as you go/pivot if needed.
SAMPLE BUSINESS GOALS:
- Increase revenue by X amount every quarter (or every month).
- Gain X number of new clients each quarter (or each month)
- Expand business into X region
- Reach new demographic (homeowners, business owners etc.)
- Retain customers/clients (increase customer/client retention by X percentage)
- Reduce churn (customer loss) by X percentage
Write down all of your business goals and keep them for the next part.
STEP 3: WHAT PLATFORMS SHOULD YOU BE ON?
Ok, so you have a clear understanding of what problem your business solves and the benefits of your business to your ideal customer. You also have your quarterly/yearly goals clearly defined and written down.
Now let’s go over your TARGET MARKET so you can decide what social media platforms you need to be on.
YOUR CURRENT CUSTOMERS & CLIENTS
If you currently have a customers/clients – find out more about them. Why did they choose you/your product? Whether you send out a survey or do a focus group, you want to know exactly why they keep coming back and why they bought from you in the first place!
Ask them a series of questions:
- why did they buy from you/choose your product
- would they recommend you to their friends (if not why not)
- when they think of your business what comes to mind? Top three words/phrases
- what social media platforms do they currently use/are they one?
- ask if they would be willing to give you a testimonial that you can use on social media/your website.
The questions above will help you decide what platforms to be on AND post ideas AS WELL AS testimonials.
WHO IS YOUR TARGET MARKET & WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS DO THEY USE?
If you are just starting out and your business is new, you will want to find out more about your target market. This is also why knowing what problem you solve and how you make your ideal customer’s/client’s life easier is SO IMPORTANT! This will help you drill down on who your target market is and where they hang out online.
=> Find out more about your ideal customer/client. Who are they, how old are they, what do they do for a living, what industry do they work in, where do they live etc.
=> What is your ideal customer/client interested in, what are their hobbies, where do they hang out, what platforms do they use on social media?
=> When does your ideal customer/client purchase your products/services? Is it seasonal, do they buy online or in person, at the farmer’s market? Impulse buy or a planned purchase etc.
Even though you are searching your target market it is really important to always connect with your current customer/client base so you find out more about why they chose you over your competition. Also, be flexible and open to the fact that sometimes you think you know who your target market is, only to be surprised at who actually buys from you. There may be target markets you haven’t considered.
Step 4: WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO POST?
Now let’s look at what to post, when to post and how often to post.
What to post? This comes back to who is your target market, what problem do you solve, and how do you make your customer’s/client’s life easier? So post about that! You can also post about your products, product reviews, testimonials, clients/customers, staff etc.
When to post? Explore different days and times. The key is to actually post on a regular and consistent basis. It takes time to gain a following! Be patient.
How often to post? Every social media platform is different – they key is to be consistent. Post a minimum of 1-3 times per week on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. Twitter requires much more of a commitment – posting daily or even multiple times per day.
Step 4: WHAT IS YOUR BUDGET?
While everyone wants organic traffic, views and engagement on social media it takes a long time to get that! Do you have a budget for monthly boosts or advertisements? If you have a marketing budget for your social media platform – then invest in advertising. You can do a lot on a small amount – even just $5 per day.
See which posts you are doing that are performing well and then either boost the post or create an ad on the same topic/similar to your post.
CREATE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY IN 5 EASY STEPS! I hope this article helped you outline a social media strategy that gets you the results you are looking for!
Do you have any questions? Just leave a comment below or get in touch!
Ki Digital Media 