One of the most used phrases by digital marketing agencies you’ll hear is “Have you got a social media strategy?” Often the answer is no, or I’m posting when I remember. Sorry, but that doesn’t count as a digital marketing strategy. In this blog, we’re going to cover how to create your own social media strategy from scratch. Simply posting and seeing what sticks—trial and error—is no longer good enough to make sure people are seeing your hard work. You need a strategy. And we can not emphasise how important this is.
Many businesses think they need to have a presence on all social media platforms. To prevent from spreading yourself too thin you need to think about where your target audience is hanging out. For example; if you are marketing to a teen audience, you can’t assume they are on Instagram.
According to recent research, teens are leaving Instagram in droves. So where are they going? For the younger generation, Facebook and Instagram are growing a reputation for being uncool It’s where their parents hang out online. They’re moving in droves to Snapchat, Tik Tok and micro sharing sites like Discord—an instant VoIP messaging and distribution app. So it’s important to know where your social media audience is spending time.
6 weeks prior to your social media launch
Step 1: Decide on your social media platforms
6 weeks before starting on social media, you’ll need to decide which platforms you want to use. It might be best if you just start out with one until you have it down pat before taking on more platforms. If your business is more B2B you might want to start out on Linkedin. If you’re marketing to teens, it could be a good idea to start with Snapchat or Tik Tok.
If you are using a digital marketing agency like Boost Social this will be incorporated into the approach.
Step 2: Analyse your competition
Also, this is the time when you’ll want to check out where your competitors are. Do they have a presence on LinkedIn? Are they only on Instagram and Facebook? What about Twitter? Take time to look at what type of content they are posting and how is their audiences responding. Are they getting lots of engagement or nothing but the sound of silence? Make a note of any posts that seemed to perform well. You can’t copy it word for word and you’ll want to put your own twist on it, but you can create something similar. There are no rules saying you can’t take inspiration from your competitors.
5 Weeks out
Step 3: Decide on your goals
Why are you on social media? The answer shouldn’t be because everyone else is! What are you hoping to achieve? Do you want brand awareness? Are you looking to launch a new product (you can have separate social media pages simply for products)? Are you waiting for a website to be built so you are using social media in the interim? Make a list and write down your goals and what social media platforms will help you achieve this.
Step 4: Decide on your brand voice and tone
Is your tone going to be light and fun? Serious and professional? Sarcastic and witty? Will you talk in the third person, or use pronouns like I and we. You may want to think of your brand as a person and give your brand some characteristics. Some brands are casual and fun and can get away with dropping the odd swear word.
Four weeks out
Step 5: Who is going to take care of your community engagement?
You need to make a plan of who will respond to the comments left on your page and how you will handle negative comments. Don’t forget to set the profanity filter if you don’t want curse words on your page.
Step 6: Have a crisis plan
In the event of a company PR crisis, you need to have a strategy to deal with it. For example if there is a product recall, or your company has been caught up in the bad press, people on social media are going to visit your page, and/or leave reviews which make reflect negatively. During the midst of a crisis, we recommend turning off your recommendations and being ready to respond to an onslaught of comments.
3 weeks out
Step 7: Create your social media calendar
This is where you plan out what you are going to be posting and on what days. Honestly, it sounds like a lot of work upfront, but in the long run, it will save brainpower trying to figure out what to post each day. You can find a calendar template, use an Excel sheet or draw it up on a whiteboard. Whatever works for you.
Step 8: Create some sample posts
Before you start posting make sure you create some artwork and find images that you think will perform well. Get feedback from friends or family to see what they like. If you are using Instagram set up a dummy feed to play around with colours and themes. If you aren’t great at graphic design, use a program like Canva. It’s free for the basic package
2 weeks out
Step 9: Create your platforms
Fill in all the appropriate information about the business, upload your company logo and ensure all aspects of the profile are filled in
Step 10: Tell all your friends and family to like your profile
Organic growth can be slow so to give you a little kick start, bribe everyone you know to like your profile and you’re ready to start posting.
And it’s GO week!
Step 11
Now you are ready to start posting!
If you are struggling to carry out the steps above, we have an in-house team of digital marketers who can assist in creating social media strategies and content creation.
