Social media marketing is a powerful way for businesses of all sizes to reach prospects and customers. Your customers are already interacting with brands through social media, and if you’re not speaking directly to your audience through social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, you’re missing out! Strategic marketing principles on social media can bring incredible success to your business, driving leads and sales as well as creating devoted brand advocates.
A lot of marketers sometimes dive into social media without a plan. Usually, this is a waste of time – and at worst, it can lead to a PR disaster. To get the most out of social media, create a clear strategy that takes into account what you’re trying to achieve, who your customers are and what your competition is doing.
Understand what you are trying to do
With any plan, the first step in creating a social-media marketing strategy is to know where you want to go. What do you want to accomplish with your social media marketing efforts? Do you want to create or raise awareness of your brand? Are you looking to increase sales, or website traffic, or both? Is your goal to build customer loyalty and increase retention? These goals aren’t mutually exclusive, but you should focus on one or two: If you spread yourself too thin, you’re not going to accomplish anything.