One of the biggest mistakes I’ve watched business make is heading into social media marketing without a strategy. They think that if they throw up a bit of content, they’re going to see massive results.
The problem is, a lot of times they haven’t determined what their goals are, so they have no way of measuring their results!
Setting Goals:
Before you get started with your social media marketing… Determine what your goals are. Are you looking to build brand awareness? Generate leads? Increase engagement? Your goals will determine your entire strategy.
Remember, if you don’t have a goal or strategy, you’re working aimlessly and won’t find that there’s a return on investment.
Target Audience:
Once you know what your goals are, it’s important to know who your target audience is. What’s your ideal customer or client? Consider the obvious – gender, age, location. But then search deeper.
What are their behaviours? What brands are they following on social media? What tv shows do they watch? What podcasts are they listening to?
Know your audience inside and out so you can customize your content to them!
Relatable Content:
Once you know your target audience and all their likes and dislikes, it makes it easier to create content that’s specific to them!
If you know your audience is busy moms, you might want to focus on things like quick and easy snacks for on the go, or relatable things like lack of sleep and coffee!
If you’re marketing to entrepreneurs, focus on their struggles – hiring issues, lack of time, motivation, etc.
Post things that your audience as a whole can relate to! This is where knowing what tv shows they watch or what books they’re reading can be valuable. You can build off that type of content.
Content That Resonates:
Knowing your audience allows you to post content that will resonate with them. If you know your audience is less likely to watch a video, then you know you can focus on more written content. If they’re less likely to read a lengthy article, then try video!
You can also tell what tone and voice you should be using. Using a more professional tone when trying to reach younger audiences might not resonate as well as if you were marketing to a more business-oriented audience.
Content Strategy:
Posting consistently is incredibly important – but it’s more important to post with a strategy. We love creating content schedules, so we know what type of content we will be posting each day of the week! This allows us to ensure you’re posting different types of content every day.
A good strategy to follow is the 80/20 rule. 80% of the time, you post things that focus on engagement, education, or entertainment. They aren’t your typical selling posts. You’re simply providing value! 20% of the time you can feature something about your business or brand. Include a clear call to action and direct them into the first step of your sales funnel!
Negative Comments:
One of the strategies we put into place for our clients right away is how we will handle negative comments. If you don’t have a clear strategy, it’s easy to respond back emotionally – which oftentimes hurts the brand!
A good strategy is to have a blanket response that you use when you get a negative response. Acknowledge the concern, direct them to a private message, and open the conversation.
“We’re sorry you had this experience. We’d love to chat with you about it to see if we can help. Please private message us!”
When you do this, keep in mind that all conversations can be screenshotted, so handle yourself in a professional manner – even in private conversations.
If you’re emotional, take a step back and don’t respond right away. Give yourself time to cool off. You can always hire someone to handle the trolls and situations for you as well!
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