A Guide to Building Your Social Media Strategy

Social media has become an essential tool in every business with online presence to, not only network, but also serve as a successful advertising method. Over the years, social media has earned its spot in the marketing mix to generate ROI. 

According to DigitalMarketing.org, “Social media's power is commendable as you get to reach a large number of people within seconds of posting an ad, helping you reduce your costs, and making your ads reach out to your potential audience through these social media advertisements.”

To achieve best create your social media strategy, there are important steps you must first take:

1) Understand your business goals

Whether you’re closely involved with business decision-making at your company, or if you have to check in with executives to gather them, the first – and most important – step in building your social media plan is understanding your business goals. Business goals might include: increasing domestic sales by 20%, attracting high quality talent for new positions, or penetrating a new market. Once you have a clear view of your business goals, you can begin to think about how you can achieve them through social media marketing. 

2) Identify marketing objectives 

Once you’ve recognized your business goals, you then must identify your marketing objectives to support those goals. For example, if your goal is to penetrate a new market, you’ll likely want to start with social media tactics that improve brand awareness and recognition. To do this, pinpoint the key performance indicators (KPIs) that support your objectives and implement tactics to help meet your KPI targets.

3) Define your audience

“Developing a clear understanding of your social media target audience may be the most important thing you do as a social media marketer,” according to an article on Hootsuite. “Your target audience informs all elements of your social media strategy.”

Create personas to best understand your audience and develop your content strategy around them. 

While there are many steps involved in developing your social media strategy, these first three tips will help you lay the groundwork for a plan that improves business outcomes. 

After all, Sprout Social says: “As other departments across your business begin leveraging social data, your social team will become a go-to resource for guidance. Social marketers are already masters in turning social data into strategic business recommendations, targeted content and more. Start proactively showcasing that expertise to influence other elements of your business.”