’)If you own an online business, now is the perfect time to get engaged in social media. However, it's also a very busy time because those marketers that once glossed over it have started taking it very seriously.
So, if you're ready to start creating a social media campaign, or you need to amp up your current one, then here's an 8-point guide to get you going.
#1: Choose social media networks for your business
Don't just pick a network that you think is the most popular or the one you're familiar with because you have a personal account. Really take a moment to look at the people hanging out on the different platforms.
Demographics will play a significant role in how many people you engage with that are actually interested in what you're trying to sell.
Also, pay attention to the competition and factor them into your plans to ensure you stand out and give people something unique.
#2: Find the right people to manage the campaign
It can be easy to toss someone young into the position of managing your businesses e-commerce account because they personally have two thousand Twitter followers.
However, there are other qualities to look for such as a willingness to learn about networks they don't currently engage in, their ability to create compelling content, and an understanding of your brand and what you're trying to accomplish.
#3: Set long-term goals
Take a moment to write down your long-term objectives when it comes to marketing on social media.
Maybe your goal is to showcase your brand in a more personal way, give people insight into your positive impact on the community, and expand your customer reach.
#4: Set short-term goals
Once you have established long-term goals, you can break those down into bite-size, manageable pieces.
For example, you can show your positive impact on the community by posting about in-house fundraisers you have for charities like the humane society, as well as candid pictures of your team with pets they've adopted.
You can even create a hashtag like #petfriendlyfriday and encourage your followers to post photos of themselves with their adopted pets.
#5: Have a posting schedule and content plan in place
Now that you know what networks you want to have a presence on, and you have a better idea of the goals you're trying to achieve, then it's time to create a plan for posting and content.
Here you'll want to decide what tone to use in your content, what your posting schedule will be like, and what tools will be necessary to make the most of your efforts.
You'll also want to be sure that you have a plan for engagement because you don't want to come across as robotic and non-responsive. The best customers will engage often, and they'll expect the same from you.
While social media should be planned out and executed accordingly, you should still leave a little wiggle room for new ideas, pop-up trends, and current events.
#6: Utilize old information and gather new data
If you already have social media accounts, then you can start analyzing data much sooner than step 6. Even if you didn't do a lot with your account, you could still gain a little insight into what was working and what go zero responses.
Measuring your success will let you know what you're doing right, and what needs to be tweaked.
#7: Make adjustments where necessary
As you gather more data, you can start making adjustments that are more refined when catering to your ideal customer. For example, if you are selling ecommerce web development it would not suit your business to have leads for a professional web designing company!
Maybe you found that small giveaways with ten dollar items don't get people motivated to share your posts, but when you throw a hundred dollar gift card in the mix, you see a spike in engagement.
#8: Stay consistent and don't get distracted
When it comes to social media, it's easy to get bombarded with the latest-and-greatest techniques and tools to gain more likes, shares, and followers.
Take this element of marketing your business one step at a time and stay consistent in your efforts.
Building a positive rapport with your ideal customers won't happen overnight, but once you've established yourself, the data will show that staying on top of your campaign is going to be one of the most effective ways to remain in front of customers.