7 Steps to Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy

You already know that you are bound to succeed in life if you have a clear and solid purpose.

Well, it’s not any different with social media.

A social media strategy is a set of guidelines on how to make use of social media channels to achieve desired marketing results.

In other words, it is the act of using social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter to find, attract and convert more leads and clients.

To put this into perspective, I have packed 7 steps to help you write the best social media marketing strategy that cuts the edge.

So, buckle up, and let’s get started.

Set Your Goals.

Here is where you put down what matters to you most.

Even though goals can vary from business to business, there are a typical set of goals that are common in the social marketing world.

They include;

Increase brand awareness.
Generate Leads.
Grow followers.
Boost engagement with customers.
Increase email marketing profits.
Increase Web Traffic.

As a good rule of thumb, pick no more than two or three of the above goals in order for them to remain achievable, specific, and measurable.

Be Specific To Your Target Audience.

You can’t do everything for everyone.

Your content might be relevant to one person and a turn-off to the other person.

Therefore it’s good to boil it down to a specific niche that shares a common interest- a dream, a desire, or a preference- that will drive a shared sense of purpose between you and your audience.

The best place to start is to tackle audience research.

Here’s how:

Check the demographics of your ideal target audience: age, location, gender, language, and other factors of relevance to your business.

Secondly, find out the social media platforms they use, what content engages them, and which posting times and frequencies work best with them.

Perform an Audit On Your Social Media Channels.

You need to thoroughly evaluate your social media channels to find out what works and what needs to be improved.

In a nutshell, here’s how:

Take a deep dive into your social media profiles. Look at them from a customer perspective. Be as honest as possible. Scrutinize and update your bio, the homepage, your handles, contact information, and pinned posts.

Here is a Free Social Media Audit Template to guide you.

Find out what works for your target audience on each platform. After all, each platform is different. For instance, What works on Facebook may fail to bear fruits on LinkedIn. Review your most recent post engagement rate across each platform. Does a particular post get more likes and comments on Twitter than on Instagram? Do you get more shares on videos than posts?

Dig Into Your Competitors.

Analyzing your competitors will help you create a unique social media marketing strategy that stands the test of time.

Conducting a rounded analysis in the competitors’ sphere revolves around these key questions:

What type of content do they create?
What is their engagement rate?
What topics do they cover?
What is their posting frequency?
Do they focus on one channel or are they across multiple platforms?

You don’t need to analyze a bulk of competitors. Just pick three to get you started.

Choose Your Social Media Platform.

Up to this point, you are in a better position to choose which social channel will effectively address your social media marketing strategy needs.

Pick 2 social channels that will help gather your audience and have the top potential to help you achieve your goals.

Here are factors to consider when choosing your social channel:

Nature of your business- For B2C(Business-Customer) go with Facebook and Instagram to connect and engage with customers while for a B2B(Business-Business) go with LinkedIn to target potential clients and build a portfolio.
Client Demographics-On which social channel do most of your clients hang out?
Available Resources- Which Social Media channel has a higher reach at a minimal cost?