Even though some countries block social networks, they still have huge potential. Billions of people (potential customers) flock to them. But to really reach them, you need to know social network algorithms and have a well-thought-out strategy. We show you in six steps how not to create a social network, but how to succeed with your strategy and how to make yourself known on social networks …
Worldwide, 98% of BtoC companies say they use Facebook (Statista 2022) to position themselves and attract new customers via social networks. Among the essential techniques, there is Facebook monitoring. Among the platforms, Instagram is the second most used social network by marketing professionals: more than two-thirds of global companies rely on Instagram in their social media strategy. It is closely followed by the professional network LinkedIn. Twitter is integrated and used by almost one in two companies worldwide. The social network TikTok, still relatively new, is also among the most used social networks.
There is no doubt that companies are investing in social networks. But to succeed, you must first improve your social network strategy, as revealed in Alexandre Roth’s training and this selection of community manager books.
Steps to a Successful Social Media Strategy
When starting a new strategy for these social networks, there are always a lot of questions that need to be answered. If you want to develop a successful strategy, it is advisable to address them in order while mastering the vocabulary on social networks of course! This will avoid missing important aspects.
Step 1: Define the goals of your social media strategy
You already know this from other activities than marketing: Before you start implementing a new strategy, you should define goals. So before you create your company profile, you should be clear about your goals: What exactly do you want to achieve with your social media presence? Acquire a new target group? Or support the sales team by generating leads?
Here’s an example of setting goals for a social media strategy: You decide to increase awareness of your business and its brands. Additionally, you want to advance your content marketing through social media and encourage users to interact more with your content. Finally, you want to get more conversions and build customer loyalty through content and social media.
Setting goals is a critical success factor for your social media strategy. The strategy is systematically based on the goals set. In addition, you cannot grow your social media activities until you have defined the goals.
Step 2: Define resources and responsibilities
When it comes to managing a company’s social media or your own, questions about resources and responsibilities automatically arise. Your strategy must take into account the fact that social media marketing is not easy. The success of your activities largely depends on the resources you can and want to devote to it. Social media marketing must have clearly identified responsibilities: Who is responsible for editorial planning and updating the editorial plan? Who takes care of the graphics of the publications? In addition to the content on your social networks, you must also determine who reacts to user comments.
If you do not have enough resources internally, it is now possible to get help from AI and obtain very good results. There is not only ChatGPT for this, many specialized tools in social networks are available to set up your digital strategy as this article tells us. For example, we are told that ChatGPT is sometimes overloaded in its free version and prevents the creation of ideas or engaging content. It is therefore sometimes necessary to turn to paid tools that allow considerable time and manpower savings.
Step 3: Analyze your target group
Target group analysis is also a well-known step to better animate a community later on. This may seem trivial at first, but ask you: who should I reach on social media? Often, social media strategies fail to precisely define the target group and social media posts miss the mark.
In addition, the target group sometimes determines the choice of the social network(s) . This is because not all platforms are equally relevant for all target groups. Therefore, define in advance the target group you want to address. Focus on the expectations of the users in order to be able to assess and serve them better.
Step 4: Select only the networks that are suitable for your target group
Target group analysis is also important to choose the most suitable platform for your marketing. Facebook and Instagram are not always the best choice. It is precisely on the new social media platforms that the younger generation is flocking. The latest example is TikTok.
Several studies have shown that women, for example, are more present on Instagram than men. In addition, Instagram is significantly more popular among the 14-29 age group. If your main target group was, for example, female and young, Instagram would be an excellent idea here.
In the third step of a successful social media strategy, you should therefore take a close look at the number of users of the various platforms. Where does your target group mainly operate? These channels are then mandatory. You can of course include other networks. Finally, not all platforms are suitable for all content formats. That is why it is important to take a well-considered cross-media approach.
Step 5: Benchmark your social media presence
Look left and right: how are your competitors present on social media? On which channels are they represented? How does their marketing look on Facebook, Instagram & Co? How well managed and active are your competitors’ channels and communities? How often do they publish? Analyze your competitors’ presence on social media in terms of involvement, communication and virality of content.
By benchmarking, you can better differentiate your strategy from your competitors’ activities and thus publish other content that your competitors may not have yet exploited, whether in the form of an article on your blog to which you create a link or a video. Your creativity has virtually no limits.
Step 6: Measure, analyze and evaluate your social media activities
Is your social media strategy delivering the desired results? To be able to evaluate it, you need to go back to the previously defined goals and measure your activities. The platforms offer comprehensive statistical functions, such as Facebook with Facebook Insights. By measuring various indicators, you can, for example, see how your posts are perceived by your target group. Such information is much more important than the simple number of followers, because it allows you to draw conclusions about the quality of your content.
Constantly adapt your content based on the results of the analysis. This also applies to your entire social media strategy. Social media is very dynamic. You must therefore remain flexible and on the lookout for new trends. In the best case, you will, for example, be able to position yourself as a pioneer of a new trend.
