Establishing Your Social Media Strategy

Social media can be an ambiguous topic when it comes to businesses and gaining customers. Sure, the campaign may look good, but is it producing RESULTS? Flash and hype won’t pay the bills. Companies have to select right Social media agency to promote their business and to do marketing campaigns to increase the sales and ROI.

A strategic plan will ensure you are spending time on tasks that produce revenue. Here are some strategies that you can easily implement to get a handle on your social media strategy:

• Determine which social media site has your audience, and go there. Does your business sell boring type widgets that are super specific to an industry, such as electrical, IT, or automobiles? Getting 1,000 likes on Facebook probably isn’t going to help you. What if you could find out WHO is looking for, or talking about your product and/or industry? Enter Twitter, and tools like FollowerWonk, Export.ly, and Topsy. If Facebook is where your audience is (your business reaches a very wide scope of people; clothing, business services, interesting things that every day users are interested in), stay there, and maximize your content. Run contests and giveaways (within guidelines). Some social sites have generational pull; sites like Reddit and StumbleUpon tend to have younger users, while Facebook and Twitter span all ages. Use this information to target your audience. If you have a cool, hip product that appeals to young professionals, follow them to their preferred methods of communication.

• Mobile Marketing & Social Media – Don’t ignore it. Reports show that mobile Facebook traffic is as high as 45% via moble devices, while mobile Twitter traffic is as high as 55% from mobile traffic. If your business is too boring or obscure to be interesting on social mediums, consider branching out. For example, if you sell industry specific tools, such as fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides for landscapers, it would be easy to create a Home Gardening Blog, and have your ‘boring’ company sponsor the content. Encourage the landscaping companies to distribute this free resource to the customers they service. It’s time to get creative!

•  Connecting via social media. Perhaps you can’t gain direct customers on your Facebook page, either because your product is very industry specific, or flat out boring. Perhaps your service is something that everyone would rather not ‘Like’ on Facebook (think DUI Attorney, Funeral Home, etc.). You, and the people you work with, can still connect on mediums via Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Etsy, Flickr, and more. LinkedIn is the best place to spend time networking and connecting with other professionals to maximize networking. If you can’t get direct clients with Social Media, think of connecting with professionals who can send referrals your way. You can also use your personal account to stay on top of things that are relevant to your industry. While no one will post ‘I just got a DUI!’ as a status, there are many, many posts about alcohol. Simply ‘Liking’ a local Vineyard page will add your name/face to their list, and someone may make a connection

• Social Media is constantly changing. Remember MySpace? Who’s to say Facebook is not going to go the way of the dinosaur, and something else will become the next ‘it’. Don’t miss out on branding our business on every social medium available. Check out KnowEm.com – a social registration site that will register your business name with the most popular networks out there. Many plans are available, start with as few as 25 profiles or register as many as 300.

• Social Media and Analytics: The proof is in the pudding! Track your progress, and stick with what works. Keep in mind what works now may not work a year from now, so it’s critical to track it. Google Analytics offers detailed instructions for tracking ‘Likes’ from your site, and Followers on Twitter, +1’s on Google+, and more. Use the Goals feature in Analytics to measure which channels are sending the most visitors to your web site. Be careful not to confuse ‘Shares’ and ‘Likes’ for views. In Analytics, you are looking for unique page views, and the time the visitor spends on each page after being referred from a social medium, to indicate value.

Social Media can be very valuable to a business, or it can be a complete waste of time. If you don’t have a strategy, perhaps it’s time to consult an agency who can lend a hand with creativity and tools. Use the 5 points above to explore your own campaign, discuss these points with a social media expert, and get organized!