The Wonderful Guide To Social Media: Developing Your Strategy

When it comes to Social Media, it’s not just a scattergun approach…

You may think that developing a social media strategy for your brand is a waste of time. However this is actually the most beneficial way of kicking off any campaigns or content that you wish to put out on social media.

Your social media channels are a platform to portray your brand online, and will be a way for your brand to connect with your audience, on their terms and in their personal online space. 30% of millennials say that they connect with a brand on social media at least once a month, so it’s vital to get your online voice heard, and discover how you can convert your audience into customers.

Social media is more than just a broadcast medium, it will open doors for your business for the following beneficial reasons:

• Discover more about your business: you will be very surprised by how others are talking about your business online, and this is the perfect way to view it, and analyse how you can grow your business, brand positioning and your audience.
• Generate leads and sales: use hyper-focused targeting methods and well managed campaigns to reach precise audiences to generate and build interest.
• Crisis communication: millenials are also used to consuming content ‘now’. Being active on social media gives you the opportunity to have your say, and respond directly to customer queries and concerns instantly.

Follow these top tips to develop a winning strategy for your brand, and deliver content that will engage your audience.

Know Your Audience

Understanding who your audience is and how to target them correctly is key to creating content that will cut-through the noise in your market. Identify your audience demographic, and research statistics to ensure that your chosen platforms are favourable for specific age ranges/interests.

Set Achievable Goals

What is the purpose of your social media channels? Is it to advertise your brand, or is it more to create conversation and engagement amongst your audience? You will need to determine this once you have discovered who you want to be targeting.

Your goals should be
S – specific. Define your goals as much as possible, including who you want to target, what platform you will use, and why you are doing so.
M – measurable. Ensure you can track results via Google Analytics, or insights via the social media platform directly, to make sure that what you are doing is worthwhile.
A – achievable. The goals should not be out of reach, or be below the usual standards of your brand.
R – realistic. Do your goals meet the current needs of your brand? Is each goal consistent with goals that have already been established?
T – time bound. Set a time limit, and what you want to have achieved by that time. This will secure a sense of urgency.

Build Engaging Social Media Content

Content really is king. Curating engaging content that fits your brand’s identity is important to stay relevant. You will need to find the perfect balance between promotional content and more informal content, as you do not want to appear too pushy, and you will want to come across as relatable.

Include video, infographics, statistics and questions as these will all encourage engagement and shares within your network. You may also want to generate ‘real’ conversion, and will need to consider closing your posts with relevant CTAs (calls to action) where suitable.

Great content will generate ‘likes and shares’, but wonderful content will go one step further than that – it can create brand loyalty and turn interested potential customers into genuine brand advocates and, ultimately, sales.

Make a Plan and Schedule

Wonderful’s way of making sure everything is in the right place is by producing a calendar. Use an Excel document or a Google Sheet and lay out dates, and your chosen social media channels. Plan what will go out on what day, and use a scheduling tool so that nothing gets forgotten about.

Your content will be time-sensitive. If your target audience mainly work 9-5 jobs, you’re best off scheduling your content to go out during commuter times (early in the morning, or around 6pm in the evening). Every brand, and target audience has different social media usage behaviours. You can trial and error your content by posting at different times during the beginning stages of your social strategy, and then once you uncover the types, frequency and times which create most engagement, you can begin to post more strategically.

If you would like a helping hand with your social media strategy, feel free to contact us directly, or download our Social Media 101 guide here.