“What do you mean; you’re not on social media yet? You have to be there; it’s a great lever to reach your prospects! ”. Indeed, in year 2021, a communication plan that does not comprise social media may seem out-of-date. But how do you get started on social networks when you don’t know where to start? Should you make a Facebook page without having knowledge what content to share? Which social network is best suited to your values? Where exactly is your community located? Today you may be asking yourself these questions, and it is normal. Setting up a social media strategy requires specific know-how and methods. This blog will enlighten you with these five main strategies that you must respect before embarking on social networks.
1. Set smart goals
After defining your goals and analyzing the competitors, it’s time to determine your company’s goals. Clarifying the results you want to achieve is 30% more likely to succeed. Some studies claim a percentage as high as 40%. First, break down your goals into less achievable activities. Your plan has five main characteristics and should be wise:
- Specific objectives: The objectives are clear and precise. Only in this way can you monitor your progress.
- Measurable: The measure requires a “scale”. That is, it must be measurable so that improvements can be evaluated.
- Achievable: The purpose must be entirely possible, not abstract.
- Relevance: You need to be consistent with your business strategy and benefit your business.
- Timeline: Can be measured, evaluated and possibly modified.
Without a goal, you cannot measure your return on investment. Contact us to set your business goal for social media awareness.
2. Identify your community
A community is a social group of people who interact, share, and use information related to their areas of interest. Its members come together around specific codes: a language, behaviour or a commitment to a cause.
To find the community that would be most likely to be interested in your brand, you will need to make several assumptions and verify the behaviors of each of them by creating an empathy map by answering the following questions:
- How does he feel? What is important to him? What are its significant concerns?
- What does he hear? What does his entourage, friends, boss, or people who matter to him say? Who is influential for him?
- What does he see? What does the market offer? What does its environment look like? Where does he live? What is his daily life?
- What is he doing? What is his behaviour within a group? His attitude in public? How important is his appearance to him? What are his habits?
- What are his fears? Does he have fears or frustrations? Limits not to be exceeded?
- What are his wishes? What are its criteria for success? Is it needed? At what point is he satisfied?
By making a precise choice in your community’s definition, you maximize the chances of creating engagement around a centre of interest that you will have in common with it.
3. Write an editorial line
It is the common thread that will guide your brand speech. Once defined, the editorial line allows you to know precisely the subjects you are going to discuss with your community. Be careful to maintain consistency between the objectives, the chosen community and the editorial line. You will also need to define which topics are to be avoided. Language is a strong element of differentiation.
By respecting an editorial solid line, you will succeed in asserting your brand’s identity. You will have to choose to talk about a subject your community is passionate about and not necessarily what you want to talk about! The entire nuance is there. Think about setting an appropriate tone and making a choice as to how to address the members of your community: will you decide to speak to them or to address them? An editorial line must be split into large headings that allow the brand to be heard.
4. Define the proper channels/supports for your social media strategy
Very well, it’s progressing! At this point, you are approximately prepared to go. You still have to define the right social networks to invest in. It is not an easy task. Some brands believe that they will reach all of their targets/communities by being present everywhere. It is advised to take the opposite view of this vision: select 2 or 3 networks in a precise way, on which you will be sure to find your community.
By being on too many networks, you will create confusion in the minds of your community, and you risk losing engagement. On the other hand, you will gain credibility by focusing your actions on specific networks. What is the point of investing in a social network like Snapchat if your community is not there? No. Depending on their age, interests and habits, you will be able to find the right media on which to position yourself.
5. Set key measurement indicators
This is the last step in the roadmap that you should follow. You started by setting specific goals to know which direction to take on social media. How do you know if your actions are working if you don’t measure them? Just like a classic communication action, you must analyze the results.
When you broadcast a commercial on TV, quite a few metrics tell you if your advertisement has worked well or not. On the other hand, you can know almost everything on social networks. Dozens of indicators will allow you to refine your strategy and optimize it to achieve your goals. Naveen Kumar, the head of marketing in JDM Web Technologies since 2009, is a specialist in handling all online and mobile tools such as display, SEO, e-CRM, tracking, social networking, and email. In short, he has one goal: to use all the online and social marketing tools to gain and maintain perfect loyalty and maximize investment return.