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Starting from scratch? Here’s how to build a social media marketing strategy

Starting from scratch_ Here’s how to build a social media marketing strategy

May 15, 2020

We cannot even imagine the promotion & marketing of businesses without the help of social media. It has become an important pillar of digital marketing and there is a reason why it is called so. One of the goals of all businesses is to get the attention of the target audience and social media is one such platform where they can get that. Almost half of the world’s population is using social media and the approximate numbers are around 3.8 billion. So, you can imagine what exposure businesses will get with their presence on this platform. 

But we must say that it is not that easy as it looks and it is important to create an effective strategy to get the success you want. There is no doubt that social media is one of the best platforms for business promotion and it could do wonders if used in the right way. A structured plan is always the best to get success. If you are planning to start social media marketing then this strategy might effectively work for you.

How to build a social media marketing strategy

  • Set appropriate goals

Before implementing anything for social media marketing, the first and foremost thing to consider is the goal. You must know what you want to achieve through social media marketing because that will define further steps in this strategy. Your goals must be crystal clear and that is necessary for any business to stay on track till the end. If your goals are not clear then your efforts and resources will go in vain and what you’ll get in the end is nothing. Depending upon your business’s niche, social media marketing goals could be to increase website traffic, increase brand awareness, generate leads, generate revenue, and increase community engagement. Focus is most important and that could only be done if your goals are clear. 

  • Select social media networks

There are many social media platforms that we know but, it is also important to know that not all are appropriate for each business. So, while creating a social media marketing strategy, every business must define which social media platforms will be appropriate and best for them for promotion. Selecting the right network will depend upon the segment of the audience you want to target and their behavior on different social media platforms. The audience is what you want to get engaged with on social platforms thus, targeting the right one is a must. For that, you are required to consider what is mentioned in the next point. 

  • Audience research

Yes, audience research is part of social media marketing strategy and it plays a vital role in defining the success of any business. With this, you cannot rely on your perceptions or assumptions as it could be really harmful to your entire marketing strategy. The audience is always important because all businesses rely on their actions for revenue and growth. Thus, you must properly analyze the segment of the audience under your radar and know their interest.

This is the only way to please them with your marketing efforts and convince them to buy your product or service. The type of audience you want to approach will decide which social media platforms you should choose. For example, if your target is millennials, platforms like Instagram & Facebook could be the best choice for you, while on the other hand if your focus is solely on business owners and other companies then promoting your brand on LinkedIn will be the best. 

  • Provide your complete information

If you want to gain the trust of your audience, then you must disclose all the key details about your business online. The details we are talking about include the name of your business, its establishment year, the correct address of your physical presence, and the products or services that you provide. If possible, disclosing your company’s registration number will play a vital role in earning the trust of your audience. Thus, it is not only about having a presence on social media but showing your true identity is also a must. To try your product or service, the audience must ensure that your brand is genuine and providing key details might be of great help. 

  • Define your important social media metrics

For those who don’t know, it is necessary to know that there many metrics of social media that play a key role in digital marketing success and every business must keep a close eye on those metrics to get success. Considering these metrics will help businesses measure their success and optimize strategies to do better. Let us see the social media metrics that we are talking about.

Post reach-

As we know, the audience decides the success of any business and it will depend upon how much attention a business gets after posting content. Post reach is the key metric that will show the popularity of your post on social media. In simpler terms, it will tell the numbers of how many people have seen your post. Thus, you can analyze the quality of the content posted.

Number of clicks-

Another metric that should be considered is the number of clicks that you’ve got on your single post. More are the clicks; more is the exposure that you’ve got. The number of clicks will also give you an idea of visitors coming on to your website plus will tell you what kind of content is liked by your target audience. 

Number of likes-

It is another factor that tells how much people are liking the content you’ve posted on social media. For likes, you must analyze how many you’ve got organically and how many with the help of paid strategy. One thing that you can see here is that if you are getting more likes organically when compared to a paid advertisement campaign, then you can redefine your budget and cut the cost of paid promotions.

Hashtag-

Hashtags have become so popular that they can make any content viral on the social media platform. A hashtag is a phrase or a single word followed by ‘#’ without any space in between. So, you can calculate the performance of hashtags that have been used by your followers to promote your content and based on that, you can restructure future contents. 

Reaction-

What people are talking about your brand in comments, direct messages, and even through hashtags is very important in deciding how your brand is doing in the social world. If the reaction of people is positive then congrats, you are making your moves right. While on the other hand, if you are receiving negative comments, then you have to re-strategize your moves

  • Competitors are the great teachers

You might be wondering to see us calling your competitors as your teachers. Yes, it is right, your competitors can teach you a lot indirectly. For that, you are required to keep an eye over your competitors and see what they are doing, how they are doing, and what reaction they are receiving from the audience. Doing this will help you a lot to decide your moves and make them better than your competitors. To know what your competitors are doing, you can take the help of tools that are available in the market. Getting insights into your competitor’s strategies will not only make your work easier but also better. This also helps you stay one step ahead thus increases the chances of getting more attention.

  • Focus on your tone

Social media is a platform where millions of users stay online 24/7 and 365 days thus, being a business owner, it is important for you to define the tone in which you will interact with your audience. The way you interact with the audience will decide their behavior towards you. Hence, it is advised to use a professional, conversational, and positive tone in your content. This will make people feel more engaged with your brand. Avoid being too pushy and arrogant as this might be harmful for your reputation. 

  • Content creation

Now, when you have analyzed what you should do and how you should do on social media, here’s the time to create content. This is one of the most important parts of the whole digital marketing campaign. Content must be relevant, informative, and engaging. It doesn’t matter what is the niche of your business, if your content is not unique and interesting, no one will give a thought about it. Thus, plan and create content that is tempting for the audience and it forces them to react to that. Another point to consider while creating content is to stay within the niche of the products or services you provide as this is of high importance when for search engine bots. 

Forget not to include images, videos, or GIFs within your content as these are the factors that will make it more interesting and engaging for the audience. While on the other hand, if possible, create story-based content that is relevant to your business as this will have a high chance of getting the attention every business wants. Hiring a professional for creating content might be of great help for you. 

  • It’s posting time 

While you have created a mind-boggling content for your social media accounts, it is now the time to post it. But several factors must be considered before you post the content and those include the time of posting, platform at which you are posting, and how much you are posting. All these must be considered seriously if you want to get the best out of your content. If you have a perception that posting more in less time will speed up the process of getting success, then you might be wrong as doing this could be considered a bad strategy by search engine bots and you might not get the exposure and ranking that you are looking for. 

You are required to analyze that posting which type of content (graphical or written) on which platform has high chances of being noticed. Posting according to this data will keep you ahead of your competitors and the success will follow you. Another point to keep in mind for posting the content is the frequency. If the frequency is not right then no matter how interesting and engaging your content is, people will forget about it and all your efforts will be wasted. So, it is advised to maintain a consistent frequency as doing this will make people eagerly wait for your posts and the reputation of your brand will improve. 

  • Responding is the best way to interact

Never let your audience feel alone as if they feel so, you will start losing them. Everyone wants to get heard and so does your audience. Thus, never leave customer reviews unattended irrespective of the fact that they are positive ones or negative ones, if possible, every review must be answered. This is another way of interacting with your audience and make them feel that you are with them for any queries they have regarding your brand. It is also an important factor that helps in improving the local search ranking of your business. 

There is no problem while handling positive reviews as all you have to do is just appreciate their opinion or sentiment about your brand but, when it comes to negative ones, special care must be taken. With negative reviews, one thing is sure that people are angry with the service or the product you have delivered and when someone is angry it is important to use a polite tone. This becomes necessary when a business is interacting with its customers. Even if the problem your customers are facing is not your fault it is important to apologize for the mistake and take appropriate action. Business is not only about one client rather it is about creating a strong base of loyal clients and for that, you might also have to sometimes say sorry for the mistakes that you haven’t done. 

  • Analytics are also necessary

If you don’t measure your progress then how will you analyze how far you’ve reached towards your goal and what changes are required in your strategic planning to move further? Besides these, there are many more questions whose answers will only be received after measuring the progress of your social media marketing. 

There are many social media tools available in the market that can help you out in analyzing your efforts. We must say that analyzing web pages are mandatory periodically so that any faults can be detected early and rectified before they become a big problem. There are many software that can tell you each and every information about your webpages including the number of visitors, their pattern of visit, time spent, their behavior on your site, landing page, exit page, how they came there, and much more. All these details will play a vital role in creating a strong plan for your next move. Tools are always there to help and you must use them to make your work easier. 

The Last Say

I must say that we all are well aware of how big social media platform is and the power it has got. This is the reason why this platform is admired across the globe when it comes to digital marketing. Being such a huge platform, social media can not only make any business successful but if not targeted in the right way it could be the reason for your downfall as well. Thus, it is important to watch out every step you move forward. 

Social media is so popular that information goes viral so quickly that no other platform can do so. Thus, if you make any mistake, you can imagine how harmful it will be for the reputation of your brand. To avoid doing any, you should consider these social media marketing strategies. These will work even if you have a startup or an established business, only you have to do is implement them right. In the end, one pro-tip we must share with you is that the digital platform keeps changing and so does social algorithms. So, you must stay updated about these changes and keep optimizing your plans, efforts, and resources. 

We hope this blog would have helped you and provided you with the information you were looking for.

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