What should a social media marketing strategy look like?

Statistics state that there are more than 50 million businesses who have created business pages on Facebook. Additionally, it was recently estimated that there are more than 25 million businesses registered on Instagram.

There is no denying that almost every business across Australia is using social media as part of their marketing strategy. Time and time again, social platforms prove to be an excellent space for attracting both B2B and B2C interest.

Although, to achieve success on social media, it is critical that you outline a plan and purpose. Randomly chuckin’ words onto the web will not help you. But strategically targeting potential clients with tactical words and visuals can.

All marketing plans will look different, depending on how limited or extensive your resources are. However, all marketing strategies should consider the seven elements below and incorporate these into a plan moving forward. When you are building a social media plan from scratch, it is important that you dwell on the below considerations and ensure they are addressed at one point or another.

1. Overall aims with your social media.

First of all, you need to contemplate and discuss your primary and secondary intentions by engaging with social platforms. Perhaps you are trying to attract clients online to your services? Maybe you are wanting to generate brand awareness through social media? Alternatively, you might be hoping to sell products or event tickets. There could be multiple reasons you want to be on social channels.

Continually referring back to your goals will make sure that are staying on track and producing content that relates back to your ultimate intentions.

2. Goals for six, twelve and twenty four months.

Realistic and measurable goals are imperative for tracking progress and giving your content producers purpose. Your goals could be reflective of how many posts you want to strive to make over a period of time, or they may be more results-driven and indicative of how many customers/clients you want to entice.

Between different industries, goals will vary largely. Without ever using social media before, it might be difficult to understand what an attainable goal could be. Sometimes it is best to watch your success over one or two months to get an idea of your social media potential, and then make some goals based on your initial success.

3. Your budget for social media.

Majority of Australian businesses have entirely diverted their marketing budget from traditional forms of advertising, and they have placed it into digital mediums. While we strongly believe that social media and other digital advertising is the future of marketing, we understand that forcing your entire budget into the online world can be daunting.

There are a variety of ways to organically reach an audience, as well as spending money on paid advertisements.

4. The platforms you intend on using.

Popular social media platforms to consider in a social media marketing strategy are:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

It is worthwhile being flexible in your approach to social media, as new trends and popular platforms are continually arising. If you are willing to adapt your marketing strategy as time progresses, you are opening yourself to optimal success.

5. The frequency you intend on posting.

As the most popular marketers in Australia say, content is king. The time and effort placed into your digital marketing strategy will largely depend on your resources. It will also vary depending on the return you are hoping to gain from your efforts. Active businesses will generally post around three times per week, but small businesses starting out on social media might only aim for once per month.

6. The style and tone of your content.

If you have gone through the process of branding your business, you will have a general idea of what tone and style your content should be. Remaining ‘on brand’ will assist with general brand awareness and consistency between all of your marketing efforts. In regards to types of content, videos are known to perform well on all social platforms. However, the power of good copy and bold images should not be underestimated.

7. What consultants you will engage with for assistance.

Unless you have a sizable in-house marketing team, the problem you will encounter is that you are too focused on your specific business niche to understand the ins and outs of social media.

Instead of wrangling your brain to understand the platforms and obtain genuine results through social media, it is sometimes best to hand the task over to social media professionals.

If you are yet to set yourself up on digital platforms, you have a lot of catching up to do. However, there is no need to panic. It is never too late to establish and grow an audience online. Especially with the help of one of Australia’s best marketing consultants, you will be digitally set up in no time.

The team at Generate Your Audience are confident in our social media strategies that attain admirable results for all of our clients. We also offer a greater range of digital marketing services, including website development and search engine optimisation. Drop a line today and find out how our service offering can be beneficial to you.