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.

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.