10 steps to social media success
11th, Nov 2021
Social media marketing is most effective when it is based on a well-thought-out strategy. Random posting is mostly a waste of time and money. You want to focus your social media activities where they are most likely to give you results. Whether you are just getting started or trying to improve your efforts, follow these steps to be more successful:
1. Define your goals. There are many options, including increasing your online visibility, driving traffic to your website, generating leads for a specific area of practice or other objective. Be specific because the content you share and the tactics you use will vary depending on your goals.
2. Identify and research your target audience. Decide who to prioritize. Then identify their demographics – age, income, gender, education, location, etc. Finally, determine their interests and pain points. You want to focus your messaging on your key audience.
3. Select the best social media platforms. Determine where your audience is most active and likely to look for answers to the type of problems you solve. Also, look at the demographics of each platform to ensure it matches your target audience. You should focus on the top platform first. Once you are reliably posting, building a following and engaging on that platform, add the second-best platform. It’s better to do a great job on one platform than do an okay job on two platforms.
4. Check out your competitors. Look at what platforms they are using, how active they are and what types of content they are posting. You shouldn’t necessarily copy them but it is important to evaluate your competitors and look for where you can improve on what they are doing or offer something different.
5. Create a library of content. First, evaluate your existing content to determine whether you can repurpose it for social media. That includes blog posts, articles, presentations, videos, pictures, charts and infographics. Next brainstorm topics of interest to your audience and ones that speak to their pain points. Focus on developing ‘evergreen’ content that doesn’t go out of date and can be reused multiple times. Topical content can be added into the mix as needed.
6. Engage with your audience. Social media should help build relationships. That means it can’t just be about you posting. You must interact with others. Like, comment, and share other people’s posts; follow relevant influencers and companies; join groups; send personal messages; and take other steps to strengthen your existing connections and develop new ones.
7. Post consistently. Commit to a schedule for sharing content regularly. Be realistic. If you have rarely posted in the past, it is hard to suddenly start posting daily. It is fine to start simple. Post once a week. After a few weeks, try twice a week. Most professionals are fine posting three times a week on a reliable basis. If you have interesting things to share more often, then do so. The key is to have it on your calendar or use a scheduling tool so you don’t forget to do it.
8. Establish metrics and evaluate results. All social media platforms provide analytics. What metrics are important depends on your goals. For example, if you want to increase your visibility and reach, you will want to look at the growth in followers and visits to your website. If you want more engagement with your audience, you can track likes, comments and shares of your posts.
9. Promote your social media channels. Add your social media links to your email newsletter, email signature, website, business cards and any digital marketing. You can also cross-promote between social sites. Remember to invite existing contacts to follow or connect with you and when you meet new people, make sure to send them an invitation as well.
10. Integrate it into your other marketing. All of your marketing should work together. You should be consistent in your messaging and branding and repurpose content across platforms. This is more cost-effective as well as likely to give you the best results because clients are more likely to remember your marketing if they see it regularly in multiple places.
Social media marketing like all types of marketing works best when you are strategic about your efforts. If you need assistance with your social media marketing, contact us for consultation.
