These days, everyone prides themselves on being a social media marketing strategist. But BE CAREFUL!
Being present on social networks as a user is a bit like jabbering in English. On the other hand, creating an authentic marketing strategy for social networks me ans reaching level C2 of the language.
If you aspire to develop a strategy for your various social networks from scratch or become a professional in the sector, this article will reveal all the clues to win the treasure hunt.
You Can Also Read: Building a Better Social Media Presence: A Complete Guide
In summary, a checklist will guide you from beginner to professional.
Who implements the marketing strategy on social networks?
Whether you are a community manager or a social media manager, it is time to map your position in the tumult of social networks. To shine in this constantly evolving universe, the key lies in precisely understanding your missions.
In this abundant ecosystem, different professions coexist. If reality were ideal, imagine yourself in one of these roles:
Social media strategic
You, the social media strategist, are responsible for painstakingly shaping the social media marketing strategy and defining the methodology.
Social media manager
It is your responsibility to make this strategy a reality with your team.
Community manager
You are the lead in publishing content and implementing the marketing strategy, overseen by social media managers.
Content curator
Your role is to curate relevant content, search for brand-related content on other blogs, and share news on social media.
In reality, the boundaries between these roles are often blurred, and you may have to take on all four roles at once or part of each.
How to develop a social media marketing strategy?
You now have a clear vision of the different roles in the world of social networks. Maiden Stride suggests different steps to follow to implement an effective marketing strategy on social networks.
Step 1: Do research
As you begin your dive into the world of social networks, the first step is to arm yourself with knowledge and scan the field before defining your strategy.
To achieve this, ask yourself the right questions:
Question 1: What social networks exist and on which to position yourself?
It might seem obvious to only focus on well-known platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and LinkedIn, but think again.
Less obvious platforms like Pinterest or Google My Business can reveal unexpected results.
Before following the standard, explore the different possibilities in depth. You might be overlooking a promising channel that could boost your results.
Question 2: Where are my competitors on social networks?
Discover the strategies they deploy on the social game board. You will get inspiring ideas for your strategy.
- You will be able to evaluate your results against theirs.
- You will identify flaws in their strategy to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
- You will understand your potential customers.
Question 3: How do large companies use social networks?
Let's be realistic. Large companies have considerable resources to implement social media marketing strategies. Even if you don't, you can still learn from them.
- Explore the social networks they use.
- Review the frequency and format of their posts.
- Understand their advertising investment.
Question 4: What do users say about your brand?
Even if your business isn't yet active on social media, that doesn't mean people aren't talking about it. The best way to understand what people are saying about your brand is to implement a social listening plan.
Thanks to this approach, you can discover:
- What are their feelings (positive or negative) towards your brand?
- What topics interest them?
- How do they perceive your brand?
- What do they expect from you?
Step 2: Design a plan
Let's begin this second step with the wisdom of the mythical Hannibal of the All Risks Agency:
“ I love it when a plan goes smoothly. »
As in the series, on social networks, the same thing happens. For a plan to work, it must first be constructed.
Now, take out your research notes and add the knowledge you have about your brand. Now is the time to establish your social media plan to complete your marketing strategy.
The social media plan fits into a strategic marketing plan.
Define the generic objectives of your brand strategy. Here are some examples:
- Create a brand image
- Get users
- Improve your reputation
- Increase traffic to your website
Associate one or more strategies with each objective. In other words, what are you going to do to achieve it, and for how long?
After developing a plan and thinking about the social media marketing strategy, it's time to move on to the content plan.
The content plan is the guide document for knowing what to publish on social networks.
In this document, you must establish:
- The frequency of publication on each social network.
- The different topics that you will share.
- The content type and format.
- The best time to post. Here are 5 examples for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn.
- The Community Manager 2023 calendar to note all the important dates on your social networks.
It is also necessary to:
- Specify who will carry out these actions: yourself, a third person, a team, etc.
- Know if you are going to cross it with the editorial plan of your company's blog to include it in the schedule.
Crisis plan
Things are going well until something goes wrong.
The crisis plan should be prepared for any disaster that may occur in your community.
Without this plan, it is difficult to act on internet trolls or mass attacks that may occur on your social profiles.
Our advice: Plan this crisis protocol to be able to act quickly and intelligently.
Step 3: Start execution
Now It is the time to implement the plan.
- Seek help from a social media planner
- Be vigilant as there are unauthorized scheduling tools that may cause your accounts to be closed.
- Authorized social media programming tools allow you to:
- Know your best times to post on social media based on when your audience is online.
- Keep your scheduled content for as long as needed.
- Help you better plan your work and leave nothing to chance.
- Have all the information at your fingertips without having to resort to Excel tables.
- Work as a team and have a system for validating posts on social networks.
- Have advanced features like an Artificial Intelligence Assistant, an image or video bank, an integrated hashtag search tool, and more.
Conclusion
To be successful in social media marketing, businesses need to have a nuanced understanding of various platforms, competitor strategies, and audience perceptions. This requires meticulous research, planning, and execution of strategies to effectively navigate the constantly changing landscape of social networks.
Adopting a comprehensive approach that includes content planning, crisis management, and collaboration tools can help businesses achieve success in social media marketing.