Social media marketing for you! Would you like to create a social media account from which you can get commissions as a business? Then you will have to get serious and you cannot just post the most diverse content. In this blog, we delve into what we believe is the best social media marketing strategy and answer 4 of the most frequently asked questions about this social media strategy model.
Social media strategy example
Many companies want to get started with social media, but have no idea where or how to begin. Does this look familiar to you? Then follow this roadmap where we provide a clear social media marketing en/or strategy example. This will help you on your way to a successful page that will benefit you for years to come.
Step 1: Objectives social media strategy
Before you get started creating one (or more) social media channels, there are a few important points you should put on an A4 sheet for yourself. Not only does this provide clarity, you can always look back on it later when you are less motivated.
Start by defining for yourself why you need and want to use social media. In doing so, answer the following questions through bullet points:
- What do you want to encourage people to do?
- Why choose social media and not other forms of marketing?
- What all can you use social media for?
Once you have done this, it is also good to immediately write down some goals for yourself. Goals make you more likely to be consistent and serious about something. Make sure you choose realistic goals and answer at least the questions below.
- What additional revenue do you want social media to give you?
- What should the average engagement rate (or while involvement) per post be?
- What visibility do you want to achieve? Or while; how many followers, average number of views.
Keep this document well and pull it out after a certain period of time to see how far you have come. If necessary, you can then also choose to adjust your goals or add new ones.
Step 2: The baseline measurement
Get started with a baseline measurement now. This simply reflects the current situation; the starting point of your social media adventure. Start by making an overview of the current important data, such as the number of orders you are currently achieving per day, week or month, how these customers come to you (word of mouth, website or advertising) and how many customers contact you but do not place an actual order.
Include the following points here:
- What is the competitor currently doing on social media?
- Which individuals talk the most about the company and/or interests?
- What is currently being said about you online already?
Not only will this give you good inspiration for later when creating content, but it will also give you a better sense of the current situation.
Also, immediately create a persona of your target audience. Who are they, what age are they, what do they like to do, what problems are solved for them using your product or service and why is this fine. You’re going to need this persona in the next step.
Step 3: Determine the right social media channels for your business
Using the persona and the baseline measurement in Step 2, you then need to determine the best social media platform for your business to begin with. To do this, look at where your target audience is most likely to be and what kind of content you would like to post.
Choose up to 2 different platforms in the beginning so you can build a good base, and start looking at a third or fourth platform only when these pages are running well.
The most popular social media channels to choose from include:
- Facebook: still very popular especially with the older generation.
- Instagram: you can find a lot of young adults (20-30 years.) here.
- LinkedIn: the largest age group on this platform 35 to 64.
- TikTok: has the youngest audience with viewers as young as 16.
A helpful tip from us: Also check out this blog on the top 10 social media platforms.
Step 4: Determine content
Now that you’ve chosen your platform(s), you can actually get to work creating content! Decide in what forms you will package your message. Will it be video, will you share images or create mostly textual content? Also consider the preferences of your target audience, your budget and the time you have.
Be smart and create a content calendar once a month so you know what will be coming online that month. Here, you can choose to work with a scheduler such as Planoly so that your content is posted automatically.
What’s handy about working with an automatic planner is that they also show fun catch-up days. Think brother and sister day, national chocolate day or world radio day. Bet your content calendar will be full in no time with this inspiration!
Step 5: Measuring is knowing!
It is wise to reanalyze your results every month. See what forms of content, times and texts (long or short) worked best and produced the most results for you. You can already see many of these results on the platform itself; for example, Facebook and Instagram provide extensive analytics about your shared content.
Google Analytics is another useful tool to analyze your social media strategy model with. For example, they provide insight into how many people from your social media channels click on the link from your website, what they do on the website, the average session duration and how high the conversion rate is. This way, you get a peek into the brain of your target audience and can optimize your content.
In doing so, always remain flexible as well. Keep up with trends, and when your target audience switches to a new platform, go with them. Don’t get stuck in something that doesn’t work.
Frequently asked questions about the social media strategy model.
Now that you know the steps to follow within our favorite social media strategy model, there may still be some questions. Below we answer the four most frequently asked questions.
How can I reach my target audience on social media?
To ensure that the right audience on social media sees your content, it is first important to post content on the right platform. For example, with a younger audience, you will have to choose platforms like TikTok and Instagram, while an older audience is more likely to be on Facebook again. In addition to this, you need to look at the options the platform gives you. For example, you can use hashtags on Twitter and Instagram to be seen more easily, and Facebook business pages also have plenty of settings you can play with.
How can I build my brand on social media?
If you follow the step-by-step plan above and get serious about social media, you can definitely build your brand. Here, it is important that you showcase the company’s vision, mission and values well in your content and connect with your followers. Moreover, you need to keep posting consistently and listen to your target audience’s demand.
How can I use social media for lead generation?
With the right social media strategy, it is certainly possible to use social media for lead generation. Most social media platforms allow you to put a link on your profile that redirects you to the website, creating a funnel. To get people to click on this link, however, it is important that you post the right content.
How can I automate my social media?
There are several ways you can automate your social media. For example, you can choose to create all your content at once at the beginning of the month and have it posted through an automatic scheduler. Examples of automated schedulers include Hootsuite, Later and Planoly. Another method is to outsource the social media piece to a social media manager. You can find these on freelance platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork.
(These questions with short answers are purely for high SEO in the article)
Are you ready to get started with the above social media marketing strategy? We wish you much success! For a well-run page, you need patience and creativity above all. But there are certainly ways to kickstart your page. For example, you can choose to buy likes, followers or comments and hire a social media manager.
Want to learn more about the best way to grow on your social media platform? Then also check out this blog, where we delve deeper into how to make money as an influencer.
