According to a Hootsuite, “there are now 4.2 billion active social media users—almost twice as many as there were just five years ago. Those users spend an average of 2 hours and 25 minutes on social channels every single day.” You know what that means? If you aren’t using social to grow your brand awareness, connect with your target audience, build trust, and make sales, now is a great time to update your marketing plan!
Research
You first need to do some research in order to determine what is working for other businesses that you follow and especially your competitors.
Examine why you follow the businesses you follow on your own personal social accounts? (style, types of posts, content, frequency)
Check out what your competitors are doing?
Where are they doing it? (What platform are they using?)
What kind of response are they getting?
What kinds of posts are getting the most likes and shares?
Also, research your target market and examine what ways they interact most with social media.
The Plan
Next, you need to have a plan. By having a plan:
You eliminate wasted time and energy
You have stated goals
You have a plan for measuring the effectiveness of your social media plan
Decide
Determine which social media platforms are right for you (next week we will review the different platforms and which target markets are using which platform the most)!
Calendar
Create a timeline of content.
Get out the calendar and look at how to market the moment. Determine which special events you can plan your marketing around.
Deliberate on what your customers have asked for and need from the content you are sharing.
Plan the rest of your content for the next 3-6 months.
Measure
Determine the metrics you are going to use:
Fortunately, most of the social platforms have their own free tools that you can use.
Sometimes it can be difficult to decipher what they mean, so there will be a learning curve.
Let Anneomaly Digital figure all that out and deliver you the bottom line.
Use free platform tools:
Re-evaluate
Once you have looked at your metrics and examined your social media campaign’s effectiveness for meeting your goals, then you can adapt and make some changes.
Consider whether you are using the right social platform.
Evaluate your posts for style and tone that is best for your target market.
Is your content organic? Engaging? Educational?
Are you using hashtags? Are you using the right hashtags?
Are you engaging with your followers?
Have you called Anneomaly Digital to help you revamp your strategy and get the results you want and need?
Jazz It Up
Consider some of these ideas for giving your social media a little pizzazz.
Find an influencer who is willing to try your services and products and get you noticed.
Try partnering up with other businesses that connect with your services or products. (For example, partner with a well-known salon if you have a clothing boutique). Each of you can post about the other to gain new followers.
Create a facebook group sharing information that gets people engaged and excited on a consistent basis.
Use the interactive tools on the different platforms, for example, you can have a facebook live feed, create Instagram stories, and do twitter polls.
Keep evaluating why people are engaged on social platforms and find ways to use that to your advantage. According to Hootsuite, the top five reasons people use social media right now are:
To stay connected with family and friends (create content that encourages that)
To relax and decompress (fun, humorous, enjoyable, stress-free content)
To share videos and photos (make sure your content is visually appealing!)
Your small business stands to gain a lot and lose very little by being active on social media. You can bet your competitors are maximizing social media marketing strategies! And, as they say, if you can’t beat them, join them! Let Anneomaly Digital help you with your digital marketing, while you do what you love, run your business!