Friday Sharing: Why You Need A Social Media Marketing Strategy & How To Start One

Today's article share was found on Pinterest with this fun description: "Running a business? Want to boost sales? You need a social media marketing strategy! Here is how to start an effective social media marketing strategy."

Seeing as I've mentioned social media marketing planning and strategy a few times this past month, I figured this would be a good article to share.

You can find it on Pinterest here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/275775177159910243/

Or on the original website, here: http://www.twelveskip.com/marketing/social-media/1414/start-social-media-marketing-strategy

Have a great Friday!

Tuesday Tips: How to Create a Social Media Plan

Do you know the things you need to do to start creating your social media plan? If you don't, or are unsure of what you should be looking at, let's look at these four steps to create a solid social media plan.

1. Define your goals.
   Understand exactly what you want to accomplish with your social media plan. Are you looking to drive sales? Are you looking to drive hits to your website? Are you looking to gain more followers? Knowing your goals is an important first step in creating any plan of action.
2. Define your metrics.
   Once you have your goals in place, you have to be able to measure them. What will you be looking at to know if your plan was successful? Will you be looking at conversions, click-throughs, increase in purchases/followers? Know what you will be looking at to define your metrics.
3. Decide your tactics.
   Know what actions you will take on a regular basis that will help you achieve your goals. Have a plan in place if those actions don't help you.
4. Execute your plan.
   Keep an eye on your metrics and redefine your plan as necessary to achieve your goals.

The basics of this blog post came from this infographic on Pinterest. For more details on how to create a social media plan/strategy, check it out here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/161214861638319635/

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your social media presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Friday Facts: How Much Time You Should be Spending on Social Media

How much time do you spend on your brand's social media creating posts, images, etc., engaging users, sharing content and more? How much time do you spend creating blog posts? How about how much time are you spending dedicated to researching and content strategy as well as content curation?

Each brand is different, but if you're a full time employee focused on Social Media, then Mark Smiciklas, digital strategist at intersectionconsulting.com, has a useful infographic for you showing how your 40-hour work week could be broken up. If you aren't spending 40 hours on social media, reduce accordingly.

I came across this nifty infographic on Pinterest. Check it out here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/147422587779933692/

Friday Facts: Why Business Owners Don't Embrace Social Media

This article came across my Twitter feed yesterday and I shared it there, but I thought it would be good to share it here too.

Have you been having problems getting your boss (and business owner) to embrace the need for social media? Has he/she been pushing back against it? If so, the reasons why, and how to combat them, may be found in this article.

The biggest hold back (and I've seen this with several companies) is that the people who want to help out with social media don't have a plan. Create the plan first, then talk with the business owner.

Check out the whole article here: http://www.onlinesuperninja.com/why-business-owners-dont-embrace-social-media/

Wednesday Words: Content Strategy

A lot of what we talk about on this blog has to do with content and using that content to drive sales, website visits, or whatever it is you're looking to get out of social media. We've talked about planning and creating a social media plan. That brings us to today's word: Content Strategy.

Content Strategy is part of creating a social media plan. It helps you define what social media channels to use for your company, what types of content to be shared via what channels as well as a schedule of content production and posting. It is, ultimately, the planning and development of the social media plan which you use to create your shareable content.

What is your content strategy? Have you looked at what social media networks you want to use yet? Have you considered the various types of content and what works best for each network? Do you have a strategy and a plan of action? These are all things to consider when working on your social media plan.

Wednesday Words are a series of definitions released on Wednesday each week regarding a word found specific to Facebook's social media platform, or may be a generic word dealing with social media. These definitions are to help provide you with a better understanding of common and uncommon terms associated with Facebook and social media. You can find all the Wednesday Words by clicking on the Wednesday Words tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Know Your Goals, Make a Plan to Achieve Those Goals

“Identify your goals, then make a plan!”

Ashley Taylor Anderson, Marketing Manager, SinglePlatform

@SinglePlatform

This advice applies to everything, not just social media, but I figure we'll look at it from the perspective of tips for social media since a marketing manager mentions it.

Having goals for social media is important. Re-evaluating those goals routinely and adjusting your plan accordingly is just as important as setting your initial goals and creating a plan. Knowing what your goals are for social media allows you to plan your posts accordingly.

What are some common goals for marketing with social media?

Goals can include, but are not limited to:

• Sales
• Job recruitment
• Education
• Community involvement
• Promotion of the company and it's goals
• Other things

Often times, there are several goals. Each goal has different types of posts. Whether you're looking to drive sales or recruit for job openings, know what your goal is and what you plan to do when you achieve that goal.

If you have a team of people working on social media, it's a good idea to meet every so often - some say every three months, other say every six months - to re-evaluate your goals and your plan.

Each company and their goals are different, so I can't tell you how to create a plan. But it should include answers to questions like "how many times do we want to post a week" "will we be scheduling posts ahead of time" "who will be monitoring social media and engaging with our fanbase" "what social media platforms are we using" and "what types of posts are we going to be posting for each goal" are just a few examples.

There are many websites, books and seminars on this. If you are at a loss for where to begin, google "Social Media Plan" for a lot of useful guides, templates and advice.

Good luck!

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your Facebook presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.