Does Your Social Media Strategy Need a Wake-Up Call?

Not sure if your small business’s social media campaign is hitting its mark? Consider giving your social media marketing strategy a wake-up call by asking a few simple questions:

Do you have a goal?

It all starts with a goal. What are you trying to gain with your company’s Facebook page or Twitter feed? Hint: the answer is NOT “more followers.” Because having “more” of the wrong thing isn’t going to help you in any way. LinkedIn, Instagram or any of the other social media platforms may or may not directly get you more business, but they can still help you in that direction. Your goals might include:

• promote your product or service
• attract and engage a specific audience
• grow your email list
• network with and engage referral partners
• improve customer service
• stay in touch with past clients and reach out to their contacts
• brand yourself as an expert

Whatever your goals may be, be realistic and give clear calls to action.

Do you know your target?

Now that you have a defined goal, do you know who you are trying to attract? Your ideal target might not be the same across every social media platform. For instance, you might use Facebook to engage B2C clients and use Twitter and LinkedIn for B2B clients. In any case, know who you’re trying to reach and speak directly to that audience.

Does your content suck?

I know, I know… if one more person says “Content is King!” I might keel over with boredom because it’s become such a cliche, but the bottom line is… it’s the truth. Make sure your content satisfies your goal and feeds your target. Don’t limit yourself: produce whatever you can to appease the beast: that includes posts, blogs, images, videos, podcasts, etc.

Are you awake at the wheel?

Are you posting often enough? Are you responsive and engaging? Are you tracking what works and what doesn’t? Having a strategy is one thing but running the race is another. Content may be King but Engagement is at least a Queen or some kind of Knight or Squire or something.

Are you a techno-dud?

Social media isn’t exactly rocket science (or brain surgery, if you happen to be a rocket scientist) but you have to be a bit technically savvy. Do your pictures look pretty on all your social media or do they sometimes get weirdly cropped and distorted? Are your videos playing back at optimal speed or do they take forever to load up and look fuzzy? Are your podcasts easy to download? Do your hyperlinks work? Are you using hashtags appropriately? Do you know how to tag with etiquette? Are you aware of optimal post lengths and optimal post times? Do you know the lingo? What’s a Retweet? What’s a Regram? What’s a Shortlink and why would you want to?

Does your social media campaign have your support?

Social media marketing works best if you treat it like a part of a larger marketing machine. Support your social media campaign with face-to-face networking, creating amazing content, sending CASL-compliant emails, and maintaining a killer website. All these elements work together and are greater than the sum of their parts.

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