Cassiah Setnar is a digital strategy coach who's been featured on ABC, NBC and Fox Business.
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Every brand needs to be on social media these days, but unfortunately, lots of brands are lost when it comes to creating content that actually engages viewers and produces ROI.
If you want the effort you put into managing your social media platforms to pay off with a growing audience and lots of exciting engagement, here are the five first steps of building an effective social media plan.
1. Start with a clear purpose.
It’s hard to get where you’re going if you don’t know your destination. When you first start to develop your social media plan, define what it is you want to accomplish. Maybe you want to gain more followers, be seen as an authority in your market or convert more leads into paying customers. When you know what you want to accomplish, it’s much easier to focus your efforts and be effective toward reaching your goals.
2. Research your target audience.
Content that does not resonate with your audience will get you nowhere. Knowing your audience is key to creating posts, events, contests, giveaways and more that will get their attention and move the needle for your business. The ultimate goal is to create content a viewer will see and think, “It’s like it was made just for me!”
Some things you’ll need to know about your audience include age, stage of life (new parents, college students and retirees are all very different audiences), interests, geographical location, pain points and what they care about both inside and outside your industry, such as sports, hobbies, charitable causes, etc.
The more you know about your target audience, the better able you’ll be to create content that speaks directly to them and stands out from the other noise on social media.
3. Figure out which platforms are right for you.
It’s not necessary for your brand to have a presence on every single social media platform. The right platforms for your business are a combination of where your audience hangs out and which platforms are most suited to what you’re selling.
For example, if your business sells something that is highly visual such as home decor, makeup or architectural planning, Instagram would likely be a great choice, but Twitter might not be. Choose 2-3 of the big platforms to focus your efforts on based on market research and the opportunities inherent in your brand.
4. Build a content schedule.
The easiest way to post on social media is to schedule content ahead of time with a social media automation platform. For busy business owners, being able to get ahead and schedule a month of content at a time saves them from scrambling at the last minute when business gets busy.
Once a month (or whatever frequency you prefer), use your social media automation platform to upload photos, videos and other content. Your platform will post your content automatically on the date and platform you’ve chosen. This is an incredible time and stress saver because you can get a lot done in an afternoon and breathe easy knowing you’re covered for the future. There are lots of paid tools that can automate posting for you, but make sure you check the platforms you’re using because many offer this feature for free.
5. Set up analytics.
Now it’s time to see what all your efforts are producing with analytics. After all, you’ll want to know what types of content are getting the most engagement, reach and driving follower growth. If you use an automated platform, you should be able to see analytics in your user dashboard. If not, there are plenty of social analytic tools on the market that make it easy to make sense of what your efforts are producing on social.
A Strong Foundation Builds Social Media Success
When your brand first branches out into the world of social media, it can feel overwhelming. With so many options for platforms, the constant need for content and so much competition, trying to get everything right can be frustrating. But don’t give up. When you build your social media plan on these five steps, you’re setting your brand up for success.
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