Are You SMART at Social Media?
What is one of the first things you should consider when starting a social media business page? Even before which social media platform?
Business Goals!
What is the ultimate business goal, and how do you align that with your social media strategy?
You never want social media to replace any inbound marketing strategy’ its purpose is to augment it. The power of business on social media is to connect, influence and ultimately delight prospects, customers and critics alike.
Business Goals and Social Media
As with any other marketing strategy, you shouldn’t rely on just one method of communication with your audience. A holistic marketing strategy needs to include various forms of advertising and communication, so if you think that a free social media campaign alone is enough to drive revenue into your business, you need to reconsider your goals.
Establishing a goal for your social media that assists with the primary business goal needs to be your priority. Always remember that SMART approach to goals… the acronym is important to any goal setting in order to keep motivation and ambition to perform.
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Timely
Think of social media as a tool in the marketing toolbox with the ability to assist in various business functions: cut down customer service calls, address recent events in the company or the world, launch a product, share educational pieces, etc.
So why waste time with social media if it’s not going to be the here all end all of your primary goals?
The Social Media Necessities and Business
Social media can help you shape your company on a level conventional advertising means can’t. No longer can you shout, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” Because as much as we would like to think private lives are private, social media has made that difficult. So, you have the opportunity to completely create an image of your company on a one-on-one level.
Social media expands your marketing efforts with the ability to build brand awareness, connect with a wider audience and attract buyers. You have the ability to take your message directly to your consumer and meet them where they are at. Each social media campaign has the capability to reach a wider audience with the content that is developed through understanding your persona and aligning with the ultimate goal.
Your primary business goal should be at the heart of your social media campaigns, and content should echo that marriage of communication and goals.
Content and Business Goals
Content is the bread and butter of your social media campaign. The strategic and sensible construction of your content should not only include your business goals but also:
- Social Media Audit: The review of social media platforms performance at the current state it is in to understand what is working for you. The audit will reveal what social networks you need, the content type that performs and what campaigns have driven ROI.
- Audience: Who is your target audience and where are they? How does your buyer persona consume content? You can assess this through the audit when you dissect content. What is resonating?
- Content: The content that performs well with the higher engagement will inform you what you need to do more of or less of.
Content is the opportunity to humanize the brand. Your branding should be nailed down to a science in order to convey value while prompting an emotional reaction of the audience by answering these questions while in the development stage:
- What is the purpose of the content?
- Who am I writing to?
- How do they feel
- What do they want to understand?
- What kind of tone should I use?
Achieve that Goal
By understanding the alignment between social media and your goals, you will be able to drive your social media channels to new heights in a very real and applicable way. Social media will be able to assist any company in various ways if implemented the SMART way. Are you ready to get started and be the social media guru of your company? If you still feel unsure, Kinetic is available to get you where would need to be, contact me at zac@kineticmc.com.
