It is often recommended that you are specific with your plan so that it is easier to follow and that the results will reflect. We understand that most businesses are more relaxed about this and just want to make sure they have good content posted several times a week, to keep the followers engaged. However, a specific plan would be reaching specific targets after a set time; it really depends on the type of business out there, though.
Step 1: Objectives and goals for social media
Assuming we want to be serious about the plan and objectives, it is better to set them out before launching content and then monitoring the progress over time – that way we know better whether expectations have been met, and to modify the strategy for the things that are not working yet.
When looking at metrics, retweets, shares and likes are a good indication but not always enough. It is usually better to use advanced metrics softwares to monitor traffic and conversion rates.
What some businesses might do while discussing strategy is use the S.M.A.R.T model to be very concise about the content plan including the targets for each post!
Step 2: Audit
Before creating any kind of plan, evaluate your current social media situation to see what is happening and to determine how Step 1 will be conducted.
Once the audit has been completed, everything about your social accounts should be clearer. This also includes needing to delete an account if it no longer serves a purpose, or other accounts in your business’ name which need to be reported because they are fake and trying to tarnish your image. You don’t want fraudsters connecting with your clients or other partners and ruining the relationship when it’s never your intention!
Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Instagram – if you don’t have a plan and objective for it anymore, don’t keep it around!
Step 3: Your social accounts – create or improve
It may feel like a fresh start, but now that the audit has been completed, you may either have to launch a new account from a new feed, or updated an existing one to make it better. It will benefit its SEO position and generate traffic again. However, always remember to follow the path to your objectives. You may not need an account on all social media platforms for your business; it’s a matter of reaching your target audiences.
Part 2 will be published in 2 weeks’ time! Hope you’ve enjoyed this!