Social marketing success can often be elusive. It’s tricky because many business owners don’t truly know what success looks like or how to set things in place to be successful. While there’s no magic bullet, a purposeful action plan can certainly clear the roadway of any unnecessary debris. Keeping the useless noise out of your message goes a long way with customers who are looking for trustworthy, authoritative answers.
Many businesses have tried social media in some form or another without success. They come to the table with expectations but don’t support themselves with expert advice or guidance. There’s a myth that social media is free. While the platform is free, what you do with it is not. I’ve been called in many times when the situation was dire and cleaning up comes with high costs. It’s a lot less expense and aggravation to do it right the first time.
Setting yourself up for social marketing success does two things:
- Allows you to feel confident that what you’re spending money on is working.
- Realize the benefits of social media, which is traffic, leads and sales.
I’m a big believer in putting strategy before tactics. When you execute tactics without a solid strategy, you’re simply wasting time and energy. Tactics are short term actions that deliver very little.
The road trip to social marketing success is paved with a solid action plan. There are many things to consider when planning a road trip, especially if you want to make it a great one.
Think about it, with the finite amount of time, energy and budget you have, don’t you want your business’ social media reputation to be the kind that your customers remember forever and talk about for years to come?
These 5 pitstops are an outline for your social marketing success action plan. They will help you consider what’s best for your business and what next steps you should take.
1. Select Your Destination
The only difference between a goal and dream is a deadline.
Every action plan must first start with goals. Set goals and revisit them weekly.
Example goals are:
- Growing your Facebook page likes and engagement
- Increase traffic to your website
- Build your email list
- Generate leads
2. Plan Your Trip
Create a social marketing success strategy to reach your goals. Think of strategy as the foundation of the house you want to build. Without a strong foundation, everything built on it is at risk.
If your goal is to grow your Facebook page likes and engagement, then you’ll need a strategy that includes Facebook ads. If your goal is to increase visibility, authority and influence with search engines, your strategy should include a blog.
If you’re starting from scratch on a blog, you’ll need a strategy that includes examination of who you want to reach, why you’re the best seller to buy from and how you’ll create content for the blog.
3. Begin Your Adventure
Execute the strategy you created. This is where leadership, communication and superior management skills are valuable. As your adventure continues and you learn more about your target customers, strategies will need to be adjusted. Be ready. Be nimble.
4. Document the Highlights
“What gets measured, gets managed.” ~Peter Drucker
You must track your results. Guessing is not an option.
Track, measure and analyze all that you do. This is not something to treat off-handedly. Without concise measurement, you’ll never know if you’re succeeding.
5. Maximize Your Travel Experience
Establish ROI by taking your analyzed results and tying them back to your goals.
Did your efforts to grow your Facebook page likes and engagement achieve the desired goal? If so, set additional goals. If not, re-assess your strategy and align things so you can achieve your goal.
As you’ve probably guessed by now, these 5 steps form a loop and complete a circle for you to implement over and over again. Even if you have an outside source doing your social marketing for you, this is a great template to use to guide their efforts (and for you to ensure you’re getting your money’s worth).
It’s time to take your road trip to social marketing success. With these 5 steps there’s no more wondering or worrying. It’s an open road and your journey awaits.