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Monday 1 June 2015

How to create a social media strategy for your business

Social media doesn’t work if it’s ad hoc and undirected. Hard selling and spamming won’t work on social media either.  It can however, be hugely powerful in your business marketing if it’s planned and strategic. It will also help you manage your messages in the event of a PR crisis where you need to respond to your customers quickly and effectively.

Here are E=MC2 PR’s top tips on creating a great social media strategy.

  • Identify your customers and the media channels they listen to.
    For example LinkedIn is good for B2B sales and marketing. Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are great for community. A key strategy for these three would be to find active communities that are related to your business or product and interact with them in an interesting way. The idea is to always give something to people because participation in communities is all about giving.

    Don’t forget to engage with good bloggers too who can be great influencers.

  • Target the right people with the right message: one-size fits all messaging doesn’t work. Identify your customer groups, understand them and create a profile for each. Once you know who they are and what they want, you can customise your social messaging for each.

  • Know your goals: be clear on what you want to achieve and stick to one or two measurable and realistic goals which can be achieved within a set time period (e.g. raise awareness, increase sales leads, reward customers).

  • Be clear on how you want your customers / target audience to react and respond: ask yourself ‘What exactly do I want my audience to do?’

  • Look and learn from your competitors: find out what they are doing and learn from their successes and their mistakes.
     
  • Create a content plan that will engage your audience. This should really be a mix of interesting comment, conversation, video, advice, infographics and blogs that attract attention and interest. Most importantly, keep your content fresh!