You’re at the stage where you know you need a social media strategy. You’re convinced of the benefits, and you’ve got the staff capacity to implement it. The question is where to start, and once you get started, how do you choose the right direction to go in.
Businesses big and small are waking up to the potential of digital marketing and social media as a tool. The number of possible strategies is higher than ever, and there’s a wealth of different tools to help you achieve it. This is all good news, but it can make it overwhelming when you want to put your strategy on paper.
Not knowing which is the best route to take and what resources you need to get there shouldn’t stop you from working on your strategy. Here’s the information you need to build your approach and make some key decisions.
Get Inspiration
There are lots of tools that can help you do the job. However, budgets aren’t unlimited, and you don’t have the time or capacity to use all of them. Some of the tools that exist won’t be right for your business or your strategy.
It can be challenging to work out which ones are worth your time without spending hours on each website, researching the product, and its impact. Fortunately, since there are so many tools and many people using them, you can now do what you would do with any other product, read reviews.
You might not find out everything you need to know, but hearing about someone else’s experience with several different programs and tools can be a significant time-saver. The Bazaar Of Marketing try out lots of different digital marketing products and share an opinion and the results. There are links to free books and training on the site, which is “always trying to be up to date and bring the best programs, courses, and training.”
Map the Big Picture and the Little Picture
The vital components of your social media strategy are your business goals, your social media objectives, and your metrics. Before you get sidetracked by any state of the art software, or the latest marketing products, put pen to paper with the key people in your organization.
The big picture is your business goals, and the little picture is your metrics. It’s incredibly difficult to put these two together without your social media objectives. If the difference between your goals and objectives isn’t clear to you, remember that one is what you want to achieve, and the other is the means to an end.
Social media, in this case, is a means to an end. You need it, and you’ll need to set objectives for it, but it isn’t the place to focus your attention on initially. Whenever you consider a tool or an approach, check it against the big picture. Will it help you with your business goals? If the answer is yes, check it against the little picture. Will it help you measure your progress?
Once you’ve answered yes to both questions, it’s time to work out how this tool can be combined with social media to be a means to an end. Will it help you schedule posts, which will mean you are engaging potential customers? It might be a tool that organizes customer details, which helps with customer retention. Seeing if it ticks all three boxes is a good test.
Solve a Problem
It’s unlikely that you’ll get your social media approach exactly right on your first try. When it comes to any theoretical work or strategy, the quotation from Voltaire comes to mind “perfect is the enemy of good.” What this means is you need to get out there and do something instead of spending hours perfecting your strategy.
You need the strategy, and it will be incredibly beneficial in the long run. However, it’ll work best when you have some data to evaluate. Come up with an approach that’s based on your objectives, goals, and metrics and then try it out. If it doesn’t do what you expected, you’ll be in a much better position.
Now instead of trying to create the perfect mix of theory, software, and tools, you can try to solve a problem. You know what you want, you know what you’re doing, and now you can narrow your attention to what you decide to do differently this time. Your audience and your industry is a changing field, so knowing how to implement an approach and then adapt it is the best skill you can have.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to your 2020 social media strategy, make sure your business needs are at the heart of it. Don’t focus on using the latest products, find something that you think could work for you based on some reviews, and then test it against the big and little picture. Remember, if it doesn’t work, you can always adapt and change.
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