With almost 3.6 billion social media users around the world, you can bet your ideal client is one of them, scrolling Instagram or checking Facebook throughout the day. Wouldn’t it be great if they saw one of your posts and thought, “Hey that would make my life easier” and then immediately purchased your product or booked a consultation with you?
Of course it would be!
Social media has become the epicentre of content marketing: if you build it (relationships and trust) they will come (shop, that is).
But in order to “build it,” you have to have a plan. Posting on social media just for the sake of posting won’t get you anywhere. How do you create a plan that works? Follow these five steps to creating a custom plan that not only works but that you’ll actually stick to – and watch your social media turn from a waste of time to lead generator:
1. Get Clear on Your Target Audience
Like any other marketing strategy, you need to understand who you’re trying to reach and connect with. If you don’t know your demographic, everything else is just a guessing game. The language you use, the images you use, the pain points you address all depend on your ideal customer. If these don’t align, your efforts won’t stand a chance.
2. Audit of Your Past Content
If you’ve been posting on social media for a while, take a look at your insights and see which type of posts perform best for you. Is it memes? How-to style content? Reels? Images of your product being used by real people? Whatever it is, you’ll want to make sure to include this ‘super’ content in your strategy going forward.
This can also be a good time to see what kind of content does not perform well – but the key here is to remember that you’re looking for trends. A post can flop without any rhyme or reason sometimes, so just because one picture of a dog didn’t do well, doesn’t mean you should avoid all images of animals going forward (tip: people love animals!)
3. Define Your Goals
Your social media goals should be aligned with your business goals, for example:
- Do you want to increase brand awareness? Monitor your follower count and post reach.
- Do you want to generate new leads? Monitor calls or form completions.
Be sure to set these out in advance, and track your starting point too. As you’re tracking progress over the next six months or so, be sure to focus on the big picture. As mentioned above, a post can flop for no reason at all, and sometimes a ‘bot cleanup’ by Instagram will see your followers plummet. It’s important not to get hung up on these events and instead monitor overall progress.
4. Create Content That Positions You As A Thought Leader
There’s no denying it, there is a lot of noise out there on social media. A lot of people talking about and selling the same things. But if you understand your audience (step 1, remember?) and what their pain points are, then you can stand out from the crowd by speaking directly to them as individuals.
Take what you know about them, and create content that helps them solve their problems. It’s as simple as that. By sharing value, you become someone they want to keep coming back to see what else you have.
Remember, value doesn’t always have to be educational. It can also be entertaining or inspirational, so use your imagination and expand the content you share beyond just your business.
5. Engage, Engage, Engage.
Social media is a long-term game and is all about building relationships and trust with your audience. Your content positions you as an expert, but it’s the engagement that positions you as a trusted friend. Someone they can rely on to deliver. Also, someone who will help them if they have questions post-purchase.
Be sure to respond to all comments on your posts, and reach out to other ideal clients (again, see step 1 above) and engage with their content, too. Even if they don’t follow you. It’s just as important to start the conversation as it is to continue it.
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Every business will have a different strategy or plan for social media. Who you target. The content you create. How often you post. They’re all dependent on your business and shouldn’t be part of a cookie-cutter strategy. If you have questions about getting started on social media (or maybe changing how you’re approaching it), send us a message and let’s chat.