How To Plan Your Social Media Effectively

As a business owner, using Social Media as part of your marketing strategy is imperative. However, simply signing up to various Social Media channels and sending an occasional Tweet is not going to get you very far. Like any successful marketing approach, a carefully structured and well thought-out plan needs to be put into place. Wondering where to start? As Social Media marketing experts, let us help you out…

1. Understand your reasons for making a plan
   As one of the most powerful tools in the marketing sphere, Social Media needs to be used effectively. In order to do this, a clear strategy needs to be implemented so that you are able to promote your business and reach your customers in an efficient and successful manner. Before you even begin any content preparation, understanding the importance of putting this plan into action will help to give you a focused approach into the work that needs to be done. Throwing yourself into any kind of marketing strategy without carefully considering the method and potential outcomes can lead to chaos and uncertainty. A specific, measurable plan will help to guide your Social Media actions and help to set you up for success.
2. Assess your current Social Media use
   Before you start looking into how you will plan your Social Media marketing, it is important to consider how you are currently using it and how successful the results are. This should include working out how your customers interact with you, which channels drive the most traffic, what your competitors are doing and how you compare within your industry. How often do you post? Are you achieving sales through your channels? Does one channel receive more interaction than another? Are you getting much ROI regarding time spent on each channel and the business you acquire through them? These are all key questions to consider.
3. Create clear goals and objectives
   Prior to planning your content, you need to decide what you are trying to achieve through Social Media. This means figuring out who your targeted customers are, how you will approach them and what results you hope to yield. What is the purpose of your efforts in Social Media? Is your main aim to increase sales or do you want to simply get your brand in front of a bigger audience? Whatever your overall goal, make sure you have a focus. Don’t try and achieve everything under the sun, have a clear aim and set your path in that direction. This can be helped by having a number of quantifiable objectives to measure on a regular basis. For example, you could aim to increase Twitter followers by 200 per month, get 50% more views on your website or sell £500 of merchandise each week. Whatever your objectives, make sure they coincide with the aims of your business as a whole.
4. Research industry leaders, competitors and clients
   These are the people you need to consider when creating your Social Media content. Do you know who your main competitors are? How are they interacting with their followers and are they doing it successfully? Looking at the material posted by similar brands – especially industry leaders – will help you to see what is working for them and how their followers are responding. Like with brand creation and development, marketing ideas don’t always have to be completely new and original. The most effective ideas often come from taking someone’s initial approach and improving it. How can you use an existing notion and make it your own? How can you use other people’s ideas to get your product or business in front of more potential clients? Research is hugely important and provides the perfect preparation for creating your own strategy.
5. Create a content plan and calendar
   When the above points have all been considered and understood, it is now time to make your content plan. This is where you can use your passion for your business by deciding how you are going to use your creative skills to target your audience. Developing a monthly plan is a good idea – this means you can organise several weeks worth of posts which will provide your followers with regular content. Delivering engaging articles, graphics and other material which provide interesting, thought-provoking information to readers is key. Think about how you can keep your clients coming back for more, as well as attracting new ones. Using a variety of media as well as curating content from similar brands that you respect will help you to stand out in the crowd. Once the content is there, it’s time to schedule it. Using online tools such as Buffer or Hootsuite are extremely useful for this part as they allow you schedule posts across several platforms in advance – a great way to keep your content regular with minimal effort.
6. Evaluate, adjust and develop
   Constant testing, reviewing and adjusting of your Social Media content is crucial if you want to continue to see growth and development within your marketing results. Using online resources to assess channel analytics can help you to see how successful your Social Media campaigns have been. Taking note of each success and failure is hugely beneficial when you plan the next month of content. There’s no point in spending time on material that doesn’t gauge any interest. Find out what works and alter and develop it for future posts. As Social Media changes, your content will have to as well, so don’t be afraid to adapt and follow the digital marketing world as it evolves.

So there you have it, the tips and tricks that will help you make the most of your Social Media Marketing. Stick to a plan like this and you’ll be fine. However, if you still don’t have a clue, you know where to find us!