As planning is a must for success in any business plan, so is true for social media marketing also. Only when you have a well thought out plan in place, you can use social media as a viable marketing strategy for your business. It is not an exaggeration when Benjamin Franklin said failing to plan is as good as planning to fail.
You need a social media plan for your business, like you have a business plan or a marketing plan.
For our readers, we will discuss some important things for an effective social media marketing plan. After all, you won’t want to invest time, money and effort on something that is not relevant for your business. Social media has proven to be very effective; only when it is used properly.
The important aspects that any effective social media marketing plan must have:
Clear Objective
There are many modes of conducting social media communication and knowing the purpose for each for his (or her) specific business needs. You may use social media for on-line brand building, selling a product or service online or simply interacting with customers. Once the purpose is clear, plan the content and the strategy to address the needs of your target audience.
Select the Right Social Media Outlet for YOU:
Companies identifying the right media outlets best suited for their business and target demographic is important. The best way to do it is to find out where your clients and prospective customers are active. You can simply ask your customers through a survey about the top 3 sites they use, and then engage the social media plan to target these websites.
Content is the King:
The fact that content is the king applies to social media marketing more than ever. It has to be interesting, educating, entertain, inspire, or engage readers to respond. The internet is noisy at times and it takes authentic effort to get heard. It is possible when you help make yourself relevant to your audience with valuable content.
Customer Service:
Design your social media marketing plan to impress on your customers that you are interested more in their needs than simply selling your products and services. You need a clear-cut strategy to address customer concerns and complaints online in an effective and timely manner.
To make it happen, you will need to provide dedicated resources to handle the on line communications to respond and engage the current and future customers.
As is true for any plan, for your social media plan there has to be a regular feedback mechanism and course correction on the way to achieve the desired results. Keep track of new customers or followers that you have acquired through the plan and if you are falling short of targets you need a correction plan.
The suggestions given above are simple, but essential components of any well thought out social media marketing plan for a business, big or small. Rest is on you as the executioner.
