5 Reasons Why You Need A Social Media Strategy
Whether you have a brick and mortar store or office, or operate solely online, chances are you will have some kind of website and/or blog. And one of the best ways that people will discover your website and, ultimately buy your products or services, is to spread your blog posts and other relevant content through social networking. This is what social media is all about – the disseminating of information to the broadest audience possible. It is one of the most cost-effective ways there is to market your business efficiently and effectively.
While you may feel like you are being productive with your social media, much time can be wasted if you don’t have a solid social media strategy in place. This will do away with random blog posts and ad hoc posting and ensure that what you are saying on Twitter matches what you have on your blog and Facebook page. Your social media strategy is a way to build and enhance your corporate brand. Be entertaining, use plenty of visuals and thoroughly engage your audience. It’s time to get the conversation started!
To Create a Well-developed Online Presence
Chances are if you own a business, you want to cover costs and make a profit. So it makes sense that you will want to create as many opportunities to build a well-developed organic online presence in order to meet your expenses and increase your cash flow. The more you post online, using your social media strategy, the more chances people will have to see you. Consistency is key when it comes to social media. If you want to be found in the search engines then you have to post online regularly – there’s no way of getting around it. Your social media strategy will not only raise awareness of your brand, but it will also help with your SEO and send more traffic to your website.
To Manage Your Goals
Let’s say for argument’s sake that you wish to hold a sale. You don’t just post about the sale on the day OF the sale. You need to come up with a plan to let everyone know in advance that a sale will be occurring to let people plan ahead, budget or browse your offerings. By having a social media plan you will know that you will be promoting your sale a week or two in advance. This will make sure that all of your special promotions are marketed on all of your channels. It leaves nothing to chance and all your goals will be met and managed.
To Create Posts Which Resonate With Your Audience
Sitting down in advance and planning your posts will guarantee that your audience is targeted through better content. You aren’t just posting what you believe they want to see on that day. You have a long-term plan that will engage and support your audience on a deeper level; provided of course, you know your demographic in the first place. If you are unsure of who this is, then you will need to take a step back and focus on creating a profile for your demographic, before you come up with suitable content. Understanding this will make a world of difference and ensure that your social media strategy is as effective as it can be.
To Keep Ahead of Your Competitors
To keep up with the Joneses or even exceed their level of service you need to put yourself out there. Think about how you can add value to the products and service you offer to your followers. What do they want to read? Through careful consideration, and a bit of trial and error, you will come across ways to boost your reputation and strengthen your brand. If you start posting and then stop because of a lack of a plan, you are doing yourself no favours at all. Every time you do this you are letting your customers down and giving your competitors a chance to forge ahead.
To Expand Your Audience
After a while, you may find that your numbers stagnate and you are not bringing in any new clients. Through carefully curated content and a well-planned social media strategy, you can seek creative ways to expand your audience reach and attract potential new customers. Creating new leads or lead generation is what it is all about. You can ask people to like, comment or even share your page if they believe the content to be interesting or relevant. You can answer questions in real time. Your customers are on social media so it stands to reason that you should be too. Using well-honed strategies, you will be able to create content that will really hit the mark.