Social Media Planning
Social media is a powerful tool and smart entrepreneurs will aim to learn all of it’ s capabilities.
But while you’ re learning, you want to make sure you’ re getting the best return on your investment for your social media accounts. One of the quickest and easiest ways of doing this is to make sure you plan your social media strategy before you actually start posting or promoting on your site.
Social Media Goals
It is important you choose the most appropriate social media channel for your business. It should align with your specific business goals and ideals. Make sure you know your avatar. No, not the James Cameron movie with amazing special effects. Your avatar is the profile of your ideal client. It’ s the‘ person’ you identify that you want to engage with your brand and become loyal to it. Avatars are created using information that identifies:
• Demographics- age, income, education etc
• Psychographics- attitudes, aspirations and other psychological criteria
The table below shows the audiences that are engaging with each social media channel. It’ s important you know where your potential clients are spending their time and whether their platform matches your business.
Social Media Audit
Now you have a better understanding of where your target market is hanging out online, it’ s time to look at your social media accounts. Are your ideal clients on your social media platform? What is their behavior? Are they active and engaging on your platform? Spend a bit of time on each platform; you’ ll get the‘ Aha! moment.
Social Media Profile
If a client is going to spend money with you, whether it be products or services, they’ ll want to know about you. In most cases they’ ll check out your social media profile, your website and probably a blog post or two, before committing to a purchase. Make sure your profiles are set up correctly on each platform, with all the necessary and relevant information. This is one area that is often neglected, but so essential for a good first impression.
Social Media Calendar
Not sure what to post and how often to post? So many of my clients say the same thing. A good starting point is to review your existing posts and see which ones had the most engagement – likes, shares, and comments. When you start your planning, focus on the topics that have high engagement. They give you an indication of your client’ s interests and what they will want to see more of in the future. For a brand new account, it’ s simply a‘ test and learn’ strategy. Make sure you do regular reviews on your popular posts.
Source: Sensis Social Media Report 2017
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