Four Steps to a Simple Social Media Strategy

Computer keyboard with social media keys
Image Credit: ©Depositphotos/marphotography

According to Social Media Marketing Industry Reports, the majority of marketers will see an increase in traffic if they invest a few hours in social media marketing each week. To get the best results, marketers will want to spend more time and focus more energy where their target market spends time (especially influencers).

1.     Know Where You Are

Social media has changed our daily lives. Friends on social media are increasingly becoming people’s trusted sources of information – even more than search engines. News has become more social than ever. How we start and conduct business, and how we meet and stay in touch with people will never be the same.

Social media is an outlet for personal expression and greatly affects what we can influence. Average people can have thousands of followers, friends, and fans. Now consider where you are in the online world, where your business is, and where you’d like to be.

2.     Understand Your Audience

What do they want and need? What are their challenges? Take some time to understand demographics and psychographics. Create content that they can relate to, address their point of pain, be relatable, listen and follow up on what they have to say.

Keep in mind what you want your audience to do. Your theme or overall objective should be to increase awareness, sales, and build customer loyalty. Keep it simple by just focusing on one goal.

3.     What is Your = ?

Fletcher Freelance = Marketing. Can you think of just one word that defines you?

  • What do you do?
  • What makes you proud?
  • What is your vision or mission when you boil it down?
  • Does it align with your USP or company slogan?

This should be clear from every post you make. Plan your content on your calendar. Build it into your routine and it won’t feel like a hassle.

4.     Measure

The only way you can improve and the only way you know you’re reaching your objective is by measuring. Your metric should be quantifiable based on your overall theme or objective.

  • If you’re looking to build awareness, to get your name out there, track shares, likes, followers, subscribers, and reach.
  • To tie to sales: record clicks, conversion rates, and sales.
  • Brand loyalty may be difficult to measure, but engagement and influence will tell you a lot.

If you made it to step four, you should be well on your way with social media marketing. Periodically go through this list to make sure you’re staying on track. Use your measurements to improve. And since we’re talking about social strategy, please feel free to tweet, like, +, or otherwise share this article.

Not sure where to start? Read How to Decide Which Social Networks Are Most Important to Your Business.

Written by
Terra L. Fletcher
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1 comment
  • Awesome article! Short and concise and easily digestible! I love these tips. When I first got into this profession I struggled with coming up with a strategy for my early clients but then learned these things along the way. I wish I had this article two years ago!