How to create a Social Media Marketing Plan - #040

Modern Marketing Podcast

So you’re ready to start benefitting from social media marketing but you’re uncertain about how and where to start. If you’re struggling with questions, know you’re not alone.

It can be a confusing and complex world but that’s not a reason to dismiss such a valuable marketing tool.

In this episode, Adam breaks down a 9-part social media marketing plan to get you and your business set up for success right from the start.

Episode Discussions:

• Why your budget is an important part of your social media marketing plan
• Things to consider when tracking the results from your social media
• Why you should have goals when creating a social media marketing plan
• Why it's important to differentiate between leisure and business
• How to measure the performance of your plan
• Social media beyond Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
• What your competitors can reveal about a given social media platform
• Common social media strategies to implement into your plan

9-part social media marketing plan:

3:58

Step 1. The current analysis or "Where are you now?"

• Identify what you've already been doing and what platforms you're on.
• Do you have existing accounts?
• Do they have customized headers and branding?
• Followers or likes?
• This list will cut down on work later in initial setup and potential decisions to abandon platforms.

4:35

Step 2. The competitor analysis "Where are they now?"

• Make a list of competitors and their current social media usage.
• This information will reveal 1 of 2 things:

1. If they're doing well, it proves a customer's interest in that social media platform
2. If they're not, it will determine that it's not an ideal market for your target market or show an opportunity to provide a service not currently being offered.

5:26

Step 3. Goals or "Where would you like to be?"

• Having goals prevents wasting time on marathon Facebook sessions that provide little value.

1. Increase brand awareness
2. Drive traffic to your website
3. Build social authority

• Each goal has its own set of specific tactics and time requirements.
• Differentiate between leisure and business building time.

6:23

Step 4. Strategy or "How are we going to do this?"

• A few common social media strategies:
  • Listening - use Google alerts, programs such as Mention to highlight when your brand or name is used online
  • Engaging - respond to comments, encourage participation on your channels, comment on other sites and other pages
  • Influencing - Does your brand have a position in the marketplace? Do you have a particular view of your industry that you can share?
  • Contributing - think of it as the means rather than the ends.

8:18

Step 5. Target Market or "Who is going to listen?"

• The single most important part of any social media marketing plan.
• Identifying your target market will save you time, money, and other valuable resources.
• Knowing details and statistics will help you determine what, where, when and how to post.
• Always make sure that you're aligning your social media marketing usage with your target market.

9:14

Step 6. Implementation or "Go time"

• Related tools available under the header of social media that may or may not be suitable for your needs:
  • blogs
  • podcasts
  • webinars
  • video
  • photo sharing
  • discussion boards and forums
  • Q & A sites
  • mobile apps
  • location marketing
• Choose 1 or 2 to start. Use your business, goals, and your target market to determine which ones to focus on.

10:35

Step 7. Monitoring or "How are we doing?"

• A key part of your plan is to measure your performance.
• Use a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) identifies what's important and then measures.
• Focus on only the most important metrics
  • One's relevant to your goals and show improvement

11:19

Step 8. Budgeting or "How much are you going to spend?"

• Social media in a business context isn't free.
• There are several factors to consider when budgeting.
• For small businesses, returns occur around the 7-14 hours per week range.
• Tools to help make this more attainable:
  • Scheduling tools: Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Edgar
  • Design tools: Canva, royalty-free online photo websites

13:01

Step 9. Return on investment (ROI) or "How much did you make?"

• The results from social media are qualitative:
  • Improved brand perception
  • Increased brand awareness
  • Number of customers reached
  • Impressions gained
• A good place to start tracking is pre-social media sales and post social media sales.
• Keep in mind: cost of customer acquisition and lifetime value of your customer

Mentioned in this Episode:

Canva

Hootsuite

Sprout Social

Edgar

Mention

Contact Adam: [e-mail]

Click here to subscribe via iTunes

Modern Marketing on Stitcher

Modern Marketing on Pocket Casts