Social media is clearly one of the most valuable and used marketing tools we have at our disposal. In order to work well, this marketing channel has to be strategically planned with nothing left to chances.
Set the Clear Goals
As with any other business activity you are conducting, you cannot recognize success unless you have clear goals. It is important to know what your social media campaign is used for. Is it to run surveys and find out more about your target audience, to raise brand awareness, to increase your website’s organic traffic, or to increase sales? Each of the goals requires a unique approach and encompasses different business activities.
The Time-Space Continuum
The Internet has enabled you to be everywhere at all times. However, is that really what your business is striving for, or could it benefit from greater focus? Determining whether you want to run a local campaign, as opposed to a global one is of the essence. This is where well-defined goals come to place. What follows is not a rule but an example. If you are looking to raise brand awareness or recognizes consumer behavior, a global campaign sounds like a good opportunity. If, on the other hand, you want to increase sales, and get people to visit a brick-and-mortar store, a local campaign sounds better.
A global strategy can be run by one team, while a local one needs an insight, responsiveness, and the timing of the locals. Therefore, it would not hurt to have several people/teams working on your social media campaign in different parts of the world
The Budget
The budget and the allocation of funds within the social media campaign can be a bit of an issue. Particularly when influenced by the previous point, as well as the two following points. You should ensure the most appropriate allocation of funds, that is, investing in people, publishing tools, and analytical tools. Your social media management team is important, but so are the analytics. Since the focus is on making the best use of data acquired, analytics software which helps provide a full picture seems to be a top priority. The budgeting and the funds available are completely intertwined with the following point.
Determining ROI
By knowing exactly how much you get back per one dollar invested, you know how much you can afford to spend on the campaign in the first place. The number of factors is involved which makes this calculation particularly difficult. The key is in the careful tracking of the expenses, and not letting anything miss your notice as “miscellaneous”. Also, you need to be able to measure the impact that the campaign had on your goals. Unless you can track sales directly to the social media efforts, this is a foggy area. Good analytics tools and financial acumen will help you understand exactly how much has the achieving of your social media goals potentially increased your revenue.
The Right Audience
When there is talk about online campaigns, the number of followers, clicks, and visits comes up as very important. However, none of them have any value unless they are genuine and can eventually be converted to sales this way or another. This is why you need to build a community around your brand using your organic audience. Providing valuable content, targeted and designed for your customers will ensure visibility as it will pass through the elaborate algorithms applied by social media. Also, it will engage the customers, instead of spamming them with your content. Choose the right format. For example, hiring a video production company will help you create engaging content in a very popular format.
Consistent Brand Image
When you own a private social media account, you are the person behind it. What comes out on your profile is how people will perceive you, good or bad, even if that is not the real you. It works the same way for your business accounts. The trouble is that the harm done by a single post can ruin years of effort spent on building an image. Therefore, every business should have clear and thorough guidelines for the use of social media. It will help them stay in the clear. Should something go wrong, you need to resource to the damage-control tactics. Be very careful and avoid acting on impulses, you probably only have one shot at it.
Target your weak spots, and patch them up. Use the right solutions to get the most out of this social media opportunity.
Leila Dorari is an entrepreneur, freelance writer and business-improvement enthusiast from Sydney. Currently, she is consulting companies on various effects different marketing solutions can have on their business. In her spare time you can usually find her window shopping.
