It is a new year, and you are looking into learning some new tricks. Maybe you just started a business? Or maybe you already own a business, and you are looking into fine-tuning your social media marketing strategy.

But what is a social media marketing strategy, you may ask? HootSuite defines a social media marketing strategy as “a document outlining your social media goals, the tactics you will use to achieve them and the metrics you will track to measure your progress.”

We want you to start your social media marketing strategy the right way! If you are looking for a fresh start for your company’s social media marketing strategy, then you have come to the right place.

Before you can write a social media marketing strategy, you must know who your target audience is.

You can’t start marketing to your audience if you don’t know who they are. Once you know who your target audience is, you will be able to create content that they will find interesting and start commenting and sharing.

To get started with this, you will need to create a persona for your ideal customer. Learn more about this here.

Once you know which social media networks your ideal customers use, you will be able to write content easier for them. Make sure you are certain your ideal customers are on the social networks you choose; do your research and see who is using what networks.

When defining your target customer, make sure you know basic things about them such as: age, average income, location, career, interests, and anything else important about them that makes them your ideal customer.

Your social media marketing strategy must have goals that align with your business objectives

A social media marketing strategy should implement the S.M.A.R.T. goal framework. S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym that stands for: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound.

An example of a S.M.A.R.T. goal would be to use Instagram to increase sales of a certain product by 25% using shoppable posts. (Learn more about shoppable Instagram posts here.).

Don’t forget to look at important metrics! A social media marketing strategy is useless without them!

Take a look at which types of content you post are performing the best. Which posts are driving user engagement, such as opening links or following your call-to-actions?

Take special note of how many click-throughs to your website are made from your posts, as well as the number of clicks your paid ads (if you are using them) are getting.

Begin your social media marketing strategy by writing down some goals you have, how you plan on achieving those goals, and what metrics you will be monitoring in the process. We have a free chart for you to download to help you get started! (Requires Microsoft Word).

Further reading: HootSuite has posted a list of 19 essential social media metrics that you should track that we recommend you look at!

Research your competition: what are they doing through social media to get leads?

To get some inspiration for your own content ideas, find at least three competitors of yours and see how they are utilizing social media to promote themselves.

What are they posting that is driving traffic to their websites?

Which types of posts are getting the most likes and/or comments from their followers?

What types of content are they posting frequently?

And most importantly: what areas do you feel they are lacking in their social media marketing strategy?

If one of your competitors is dominating on one platform, don’t try to win them over. Instead, fine tune your social media marketing strategy to focus on social networks where they are not dominant. This is your chance to get your company dominant on said networks, should your strategies be effective.

Remember each network will have a different strategy

You will not be doing the same thing on each network. Each social network that you choose to utilize will serve a different purpose for your overall strategy.

For example, let’s say you own a clothing boutique and you have chosen Instagram and Twitter as your networks of choice. You can use Instagram stories to share some of the latest styles with your audience; Twitter on the other hand can be used as a customer service platform where your customers can reach out to you with questions.

Write out mission statements for each network you want to use.

For example: “My company will use Instagram for promoting our latest products and increase sales by x%.”

If you struggle to come up with a good mission statement for a certain network, then there is the possibility that chosen network may not be worth being part of your overall strategy.

 Use a social media marketing calendar

It always helps to have everything organized. Don’t just start posting away! Decide on what you plan to post ahead of time by using a social media marketing calendar.

A social media marketing calendar lists the dates and times you plan to publish a certain piece to a certain social network.

Need a template for this? HubSpot has a great one that you can check out right here.

What types of content are you going to share?

There are many types of content you can share. You may realize some content pieces might be appropriate on one social network over others; this goes back to what we said earlier about how different networks will have a different strategy.

For example, if you are posting regularly on your blog about industry-related topics then you will want to share those on LinkedIn. Or if you just released an episode of your podcast that you want your customers to check out, you can share it on Facebook.

But regardless of what you share, remember the 80-20 rule which states that 80% of your posts should educate, inform, or entertain your audience while 20% of them are promotional posts advertising your products and services.

The reason why we strongly encourage you to follow the 80-20 rule is to ensure that your social media pages do not appear too salesy. If all you do is make posts begging your audience to buy your products, then you can expect your social media marketing strategy to fail. Utilizing content marketing by sharing your blog posts, eBooks, podcasts, and other informative content will help show your audience your expertise in your industry.

Our next series of articles will be focused on different types of compelling content you can produce and share to keep your audience engaged.

How often should I post?

We have broken down the best times to post per week, on which days, and what times on those days in this neat infographic.

Conclusion

We hope that this guide will help you get your social media marketing strategy off the ground as we enter this new year. You will learn that certain audiences expect certain things from you, and as you build up your social media presence, your audience will begin to see what value your company and its brand can bring to them. At CDG, we’re all about helping small business owners build up their brands. If you have questions for us, please feel free to comment below or contact us. We look forward to hearing what you have to say!