Social media has become essential to any successful marketing strategy in today’s digital age. With billions of people worldwide using social media platforms, businesses have a unique opportunity to reach a massive audience and build brand awareness. However, creating an effective social media marketing plan can be daunting, especially if you’re new to social media marketing.
In this blog post, we’ll walk you through the key steps to creating a social media marketing plan to help you achieve your business goals and reach your target audience. So, whether you’re a small business owner or a marketing professional, read on to learn how to create a social media marketing plan that works for your business.
Reasons to create a marketing plan for social media
For most marketers, it’s abundantly evident that social media is an enormously crucial instrument for developing a personal relationship with their target audience. And here is why.
The use of social media consumes a significant amount of our time. Users spent a global average of 145 minutes daily on social media platforms in 2022.
Around 80% of customers base at least some of their purchases on the advertisements they see on social media.
In addition, social media is a great tool for understanding customer requirements, enhancing brand recognition and loyalty, and even providing prompt customer care.
What do you need to create a social media marketing plan?
Now that we’ve addressed why having one is crucial let’s go into the specifics of developing a social media marketing strategy.
Ensure that you have access to all of the social media accounts that are already associated with your organization before you get started. It’s also a good idea to assess your existing content strategy, if you already have one, to ensure that your social media plan aligns with the rest of your digital marketing initiatives.
Determine your goal
Creating an outline of your social media goals is the first essential step in building a plan for marketing via social media.
Those goals can help you visualize the result of your marketing strategy’s path. They assist you in maintaining your concentration and maximizing your team’s productivity.
Determine your most productive social media goals with the help of the SMART goal method. This indicates that you want to have specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals.
If you’re having trouble deciding what your social media marketing objectives should be, you might want to take a look at the top three social media goals that other marketers have set for the coming year:
- 73% of specialists aspire to increase the number of new clients they acquire
- 64% of specialists strive to increase their customers’ brand awareness
- 45% of specialists aim to increase the number of leads, purchases, and other conversions
When specifying your social media goals, remember to align them with other digital marketing efforts as well as your overall business objectives.
Choose the social networking channels you want to use
It may be tempting to cultivate a presence on every social media site. Still, you will achieve far higher success if you can filter down your options to the places where your target audience spends time online.
Use buyer personas or research your target demographic to determine which social media sites will provide the most return on investment for your company’s marketing budget before choosing between them.
There are a few broad social media trends that you may use to select the appropriate platforms, although every niche will have its unique quirks.
For example, 63% of users worldwide frequently use Facebook, whereas just 36% use Instagram regularly.
Facebook users tend to be of an older demographic, while users of a younger demographic are more likely to be found on TikTok or Instagram.
Also, while a user might have more than one account on any social media app, it would be better if you are in contact with or have a follower of a verified account. Using Leadar could help you know which contacts are real and avoid having numerous contacts with no verification. The effect of this is that, for every authentic contact, you are sure to generate an authentic lead.
Come up with concepts for various social media campaigns
It’s time to start putting together some ideas for your social media strategy. You should consider your brand’s identity seriously, including its voice, imagery, and other aspects.
It’s useful to check the social media accounts of your competitors to gain insight into what aspects of their content are successful for your audience.
You can also work together with the sales team and the customer support team to come up with additional ideas for campaigns. Gathering ideas from various sources gives you a comprehensive and diverse inventory of potential courses of action.
Always remember that there is no such thing as a bad idea when you’re brainstorming. This exercise aims to get everything out in the open so you can come up with the most effective ideas for your social media marketing plan.
Determine the types of marketing campaigns you intend to run
It’s natural to be tempted to want to concentrate all of your efforts on the final stage of the sales funnel to increase conversions and purchases. But, doing so is a major error of judgment. You’ll need to amass and keep a respectable following across your social media accounts before running social media campaigns to drive conversions.
In addition, make sure that all your social media profiles are fully completed and optimized. Your potential new followers and clients will feel more confident in your business’s validity and authority if you have a substantial following and your profile seems professional.
Build a social media content calendar
It’s time to start planning your social media strategy for the next few months now that you’ve made a good start growing your following on various social media platforms.
The social media calendar may be the most significant component of your overall marketing strategy. It will serve as a reliable source of information for your team and ensure that your strategy stays on course.
To begin, select the successful campaigns that emerged from the brainstorming stage. Choose the days of the week you will post and the type of information you publish.
Pay attention to sales, holidays, and other significant events in your planning. You may wish to organize a more intensive campaign during the high seasons that your firm experiences.
Tasks should be delegated to the appropriate members of the team
As you plot out your campaigns on your social media calendar, consider which team members are most qualified to do the various tasks.
You may maximize the efficiency of your social media strategy by delegating jobs to the members of your team who bring the most relevant expertise to the table.
The individual responsible for a task will update their work if that task advances to a new step, such as moving from the graphic design stage to the final review stage.
It’s important to note that social media marketing is constantly evolving and requires consistent effort and dedication. Businesses should regularly monitor and update their social media marketing plan to remain relevant and effective.
With a well-crafted social media marketing plan, businesses can effectively reach and engage with their audience, increase brand awareness, and ultimately achieve their business objectives.