Social Media for Dummies: How to Develop a Social Media Strategy in 5 Steps
12:34 PM
In today’s world, every millennial claims to be a social media expert. Yes, they may know how to USE the platforms personally, but in the professional world, it takes more that just a bare-bones Facebook page to increase brand awareness, find new customers or increase revenue.
Here are just a few tips to get you started in developing a social media strategy for your company:
Step 1: Content is King
One phrase that rings true in social media is “Content is king.” You can have a strategy comparable to the marketing geniuses at Apple or Google, but if you don’t have sharable or compelling content, no one will care.
Before you do anything else, take a look at what your capacity for creating content is -- and I’m talking GOOD, compelling, high quality content. It doesn’t need to be went-viral-overnight-huge-success type stuff, just don’t create crummy 8 YouTube videos if you can instead build a really solid Instagram presence for the same price.
Step 2: What Makes Your Business Unique?
Don’t rely on the fact that your company has been around for 150 years or that you have the most customers in a geographic area to get through to people, especially millennials. Do you offer a unique service? Are you the VERY best (or possibly only) option in a niche industry? Do you have an interesting or inspiring story behind what you do?
I’d recommend making a list of ALL the things that make your company or service unique, no matter how small, and develop a social media strategy based around your unique selling points.
Step 3: Who Should Care?
One of the greatest mistakes new social media marketers will make is having the mindset that everyone is on Facebook. Not even CLOSE to true!
Do some homework - more millennials than ever are NOT on Facebook, they’re on Instagram or Snapchat. Tumblr is HUGE among Hispanics. There is an abundance of research from Pew and Forbes outlining who’s on what platform, so before you assume Facebook or Instagram is the right platform for you, check those stats first. Don’t go there just because it’s easy. You may be totally off the mark or wasting your time (and wasting $$$).
Once you’ve found the right platform(s), define the voice of your social media pages. Maybe you can’t be witty or clever Grey Poupon, but maybe you don’t need to be. A page like that wouldn’t work for older generations, similar to the way a TV ad meant for affluent stay-at-home moms wouldn’t work for blue-collar working single dads. Again, look at who your audience is, and find the voice they will respond best to. (This is where you may need to go to your research team or do some hunting online as to what strategies work best for your target audience).
Step 4: Provide Utility!
As someone who doesn’t work in finance and who recently needed to find a good company, it feels like there are only about a million different companies out there. So, I went straight to the internet and, more specifically, Facebook pages & Twitter accounts for the three companies I was considering. I found myself drawn to the general help articles posted by one company, and ultimately made my decision based on the usefulness of those articles.
So let’s say a potential customer finds your social media page through a paid ad. What incentive do they have to follow you or come back to your pages? Do you offer deals, coupons or contests? Do you post really useful articles about your industry? Do you post really sharable, funny or viral content? (think Taco Bell or Oreo. P.S. this is REALLY hard to do for a new brand, so don’t make this your first plan of attack). Better yet, look at your competitors’ pages and see what they offer and, more importantly, what they LACK, then develop your social media strategy from there.
Step 5: ENGAGE
Some of the best case studies of good social media strategies are those brands or companies that ENGAGE with their audiences. Think of social media as a group conversation, not just a paid advertisement. Sure, you can buy ads on Facebook or YouTube, but your brand or company page should be interactive. If you’ve done your homework (a.k.a. Steps 1-4) and found compelling reasons for people to want your product or service, and your social media presence is providing utility for new or existing customers, people WILL follow your page -- so give them a reason to interact!
Ask for feedback. Ask for user stories (good or bad!). Celebrate quirky holidays relevant to your brand or service (millennials LOVE free stuff and quirky holidays). Highlight fans or employees. Give people a reason to care about EVERY post, if you can.
Of course, this is by no means EVERYTHING you should do to develop a social media strategy, but it’s a solid place to start. And if you do follow these five steps, you should be well ahead of many other companies trying to get out of the stone age and into the digital world.
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To learn more about developing your own social media strategy or working with our team of fabulous social media experts, visit nerdygirlwriters.com/learn-more.
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