Social media presence is becoming the lifeblood for all organizations, big or small. Traditional marketing avenues are starting to dry up. There are now more than 3.8 billion social media users across the globe, which means social media is your best way to reach a large audience. In spite of what you think of social media, the hard truth is it’s a must for any business trying to make it today. The online world is becoming a place where people can search any item of their choice. Considering the oversaturation of markets in the digital space, it is vital for companies to make sure that they perfectly launch their businesses on social media with strategic marketing efforts.
In this write up, we’ll walk you through some points necessary to consider before launching your business on social media. Let’s start at the top!
Brand Knowledge
In today’s world brand builders need to think beyond the point of sale and use their strategic imagination to create unique selling points and customer experiences that no competitor can replicate. An ideal modern customer is thrifty, smart and loaded with options hence it’s imperative for companies to create brand experiences that drive customers towards their services. Customers now want brands that engage them, provide a great experience and ultimately relate to their situation. Distinguishing your brand from lookalike crowds is the best way to create stunning social media content.
Target Audience Knowledge
Social media marketing is all about creating content around what your target audience wants. It is nearly impossible for your business to succeed if you don’t know your target audience. $37 billion is wasted in ad spend every year from ads that fail to engage the target audience. A huge number of customers won’t engage with companies that provide content that doesn’t match with their needs. This implies that you have to look for a persona for your audience and focus on what will attract them to your social media pages. Some things to consider when looking at your target audience are:
- Age
- Location
- Job title
- Income
- Pain points (that your business can solve)
- Most used social network
Competitive Analysis
Neglecting to conduct a competitive analysis will only make your company a me-too brand. Competitive analysis allows you to see the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors as well as untapped opportunities in the relative industry of operation. A competitor might be killing it on Facebook but be doing nothing on Instagram. This leaves another opportunity for you to dominate. Such information can help you outdo your rival companies.
Choose platforms to target
The most important part of your social media launch is to know the platforms that you will focus all your efforts on. To do this, you’ll want to use the following process:
- Decide the number of platforms that you would want to start with
- Find platforms that your target audience use
- Also consider the popularity of the platform
- Review the platforms that your competitors are using
- Think about the type of content that you want to provide
Create a mission statement
After selecting the right platform it is imperative to create a mission statement. This will help you determine what you want to use each platform for. You should consider who your ideal customer is and use their needs and pain points to focus your mission statement further. Below are some areas to consider for your mission statement:
- Revenue
- Create engagement
- Create a community
- Brand awareness
- Driving traffic to your website
- Sales Leads
It is vital to note that social media content must always align with your mission statement.
Set up and optimize your accounts
It is difficult to drive traffic, boost sales with an un-optimized social media profile. It’s a pity that a number of organizations online do not properly optimize their profiles. An unclear business profile leads to stunt social media growth. Here are five easy ways you can optimize your social profiles today for better results according to Forbes:
- Clarify Your Brand Name
- Upload A High-Quality Profile Picture
- Update Your Bio With Relevant Information
- Use Hashtags
- Link To Your Website
Content scheduling
Social media calendar helps you to draft what you wish to publish. The 80/20 rule is one of the simplest way to create content on your schedules. This is where 80% is dedicated to information, education, and entertainment, and 20% is dedicated to selling.
Above all there are various ways to create content such as:
- User generated content
- Engaging content
- Tips and tricks such as recipes or unusual ways to use your products
- Leveraging your own blog content
- Repurposing other marketing efforts such as landing pages, video, offers, and more
Conclusion
In my opinion social media is a double-edged sword for businesses. It presents the best modern way to find and attract your target audience. At the same time considering digital over saturation, it can be hard to make much headway without a clear launch roadmap.
