Setting up a basic Social Media Strategy and then putting that Social Media Plan into action…
Strategy:
Set your goals and priorities
Create a list of top things you want to achieve e.g. increase new sales by 15%, increase business with existing customers by 30%; increase profit margins by 20%
Existing customers: stay in their minds, engage with them and inform them of new products
New customers: send out good content, network, email marketing, use social media to share and increase referrals and word of mouth
Profit: use social media for cost effective marketing and look at ways to increase ROI
Plan:
SEO – look at Blogs, Video Marketing and Google+
Networking- through linked in, social networks, events
Mix Social with other Marketing Methods
Launch promotions and giveaways
Look at ways social media can support your marketing plans
Focus:
Find out where your customers are hanging out – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube etc
Focus on those targeted places – if you haven’t the resources don’t try and do everything – focus on those that matter
Organise:
Set up an editorial calendar
Set aside some time each day to deal with social media
Set aside budget – if social media is part of your marketing plan then make sure you budget and you have the resources – it may be free but it takes time and that means money
Efficiency:
Use tools such as Hootsuite to help you monitor and manage social media
Make sure you respond and engage – people want to see that you are human!
Don’t just set it and forget it – be consistent and respond in a timely manner
Be consistent – dont’ post once then leave it for 2 weeks or longer – you may lose all those followers you had!
Use a Customer Relationship Management platform (CRM) or Social CRM
Delegate:
Set up a company policy
Train staff or outsource to an agency as long as your message is clear and it is being done effectively
Make sure there is someone who oversees everything
Integrate & Measure:
Integrate links for social neworks into your website, blogs, email marketing and across other social networks
Set up an ROI plan – set goals, budget, measure, compare
Use measurement tools such as Google Analytics and Facebook Insights
About the Author: Karen Black is the Co-founder and Director of Mamba Media – a Creative Agency that specialises in Websites, Design and Digital Marketing for the Travel and Tourism Industry.
Finding your way through the haze of social media can be daunting and you may often you wonder “what am I getting out of it?” If you follow the steps below, we hope this should help you to improve your social networking and start seeing some return on investment.
1. Attract
- Create interesting blog posts and videos
- Have a content strategy
- Customise and brand your profiles to help build trust with your audience
- Be consistent to build credibility and expertise over time
- Become more active on Social Networks and Linked In groups
- Create links back to your website without being salesy
2. Retain
- Use targeted email marketing as well as social media
- Make it easy for someone to engage you in your social media activities from all the pages in your site
- Continue to engage with those that like, follow and subscribe on your website
- Make sure you always provide VALUE to your customer or they will unlike or unsubscribe
3. Convert
- Use social media as a lead generation tool for business
- Blogs and video work well with many companies to convert sales
- Give people an option to “buy” or fill out a form
4. Measure
- Use a tool such as the free Google Analytics to give you an insight into where your web traffic is coming from
- Use the free analytics plug-ins on Blogs, Facebook Insights and Youtube analytics to monitor engagements, clicks etc
- Use a URL shortener such as bit.ly to track all your URLs used in social media, blogs etc to see which get the most clicks
- Measuring the results of your social media activity is easy if you use some free and inexpensive tools to track traffic and conversions at your website.
We would love to hear from you – your comments, suggestions, what you find works for you or any questions you have so we can bring you more tips and tools. Simply connect via Facebook, Google, Twitter, LinkedIn or OpenID below and leave your comments.
About the Author: Karen Black is the Co-founder and Director of Mamba Media – a Creative Agency that specialises in Websites, Design and Digital Marketing for the Travel and Tourism Industry.