Having a comprehensive social media strategy for building a brand is of paramount importance; however, many people struggle with it and aren’t sure where to start, which often results in a lack of focus and an inability to gain traction with their target audience.
In order to prevent this from happening, here are 7 key questions you should ask yourself, that will enable you to build a solid and effective social media strategy.
1. What are Your Goals?
Deciding on what your goals are is a first and crucial step to building an effective social media strategy. To do this, follow the SMART goal rule, making sure they are:
- Specific – Be certain about what you want the end result to be.
- Measurable – Have a blueprint in place that will help you to measure your progress so you know you’re heading in the right direction.
- Actionable – Set up the steps you will take to reach your goal.
- Realistic – Set realistic goals. You won’t gain the reach you’re looking for overnight.
- Time-bound – Setting boundaries for your goals time-wise ensures you will push yourself to reach them.
2. Who is Your Target Audience?
Once you determine who your target audience is, you can learn more about them – their demographic, which of your competitors they follow and more. By doing this, you will be better able to create content that appeals to them on a personal level and add value to them.
3. What is the Current State of Your Social Media Marketing?
Getting a clear idea of where you are is the next step towards knowing which gaps you need to fill, or in which direction you need to head. To do this, look at the current engagement on your posts: which platforms are performing the best; the consistency with which you post and the quality of your content. Don’t forget that your target audience is the deciding factor; so whether or not you are personally drawn to a particular platform, if that’s where your target audience goes, that’s the platform you need to start utilizing.
4. What Kind of Content Will You Need to Produce?
The next thing you need to decide on is what kind of content you will need in order to reach your goals. To do this, take note of what kind of content you may have been neglecting that could boost your engagement, how you want the content to look and what initiatives you could utilize to promote it.
5. Do You Have the Necessary Resources and Budget?
The next question you will need to ask yourself is if you have the resources necessary to create your social media strategy and, if not, how you can get ahold of them. Also very important, is deciding on the amount you are willing to spend to promote your brand or business.
6. What Tools Do You Need?
This works hand in hand with the above point, as there are many free or budget-friendly tools you can use to help you create and promote your content. Facebook, Instagram & Snapchat all have a built-in Story feature that makes creating and promoting content a whole lot easier. You should also use a post management system or app, some of the best ones being Hootsuite or AgoraPulse. Canva.com is also a great destination for free graphics.
7. How Will You Keep Track?
The final and vitally important question to ask is: how do you plan to keep track of your progress? Figuring out which metrics matter the most to you will help you accurately gauge whether or not your efforts are working. Using third-party tools or apps to track your progress is a good option and you can also use Excel or Google Sheets to help you out.
