5 Tips for Developing a Foolproof Social Media Communications Strategy

Roberto Mejia
by Roberto Mejia on July 19, 2013 in Visibility
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One of the most common social media mistakes that marketers make is not having a solid plan for how to develop and share content. Social networks have become major avenues for communication, and they deserve as much attention and forethought as you would give to other marketing channels.social media strategy

If you do not have a specific strategy for your social media communications--or if your existing strategy has fallen behind the times--here are some tips for getting organized.

Get the Right People Involved

Social media is an information hub. Your company's social media "voice" needs to know what is going on throughout the organization (and beyond, as industry-wide and even world-wide events impact social media strategy). Social media content could include information about new products, job openings, special events, helpful tips and marketing campaigns.

That means you need to get input from and collaborate with representatives from all parts of the company. 

Define Your Objectives

Is your goal to expand your reach? Strengthen customer relations? Improve SEO? All of the above? You can craft a strategy only if you know what the goals are.

Once you have those goals, you must figure out how to best use social media to achieve them. This requires knowing your target audience and finding the right types of social media platforms and posts to effectively reach that audience. 

Develop a Content Calendar

Social media planning requires having a content calendar for your posts and campaigns, the same as you would for any other type of publication. Timing is essential with social media, and a calendar will ensure that you say the right things at the right times.

A calendar also gives you lead time to craft the content. Social media posts may be short, but some of them (such as highly engaging videos or infographics) take some time to create.

Once you have a calendar, it is a good idea to schedule your posts to publish automatically. This ensures they go public at the right times. You also save time with this process.

Monitor Responses

You generally want to encourage interaction on social media, and interaction is a two-way street. So you will need someone to monitor your social media channels to help build community, answer questions and resolve complaints

Besides monitoring responses, you will also want to measure the response to your social media posts. You can then see what works best and refine your posting approach.

Keep Everyone on the Same Page

Because your social media content is related to everything and everyone else within your company, you need to keep the lines of communication open. You can accomplish this with collaboration, project management software or by simply sharing documents.

With the right organization and planning, you can get your social network communications running like a well-oiled machine, allowing you to make the most of the opportunity that social media provides.

* Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

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Roberto Mejia

Roberto Mejia

While specializing in web development and inbound marketing, Roberto Mejia prides himself in always learning and improving as much as possible.