Social media gives you the opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors in the most cost-effective way possible. Unfortunately, launching a successful campaign for your business can be overwhelming, especially if you don’t know where to start. We’ve broken it down into four questions:
Step 1: What is your goal?
Social media marketing is more than just creating a profile and posting information about your products. Your business has to engage and communicate with your audience. What do you want to focus on?
- Engagement: clicks, likes, shares, comments and mentions of your brand
- Reach: followers and traffic to your website traffic
- Conversions: sales or leads
- Customer loyalty: issues resolved, improved customer service and customer lifetime value
Step 2: Who is your customer?
Once you have your goal in mind, it’s time to understand your customer — who they are, what they’re interested in and where you can find them. Fill in the blanks on these characteristics to nail down your customer: age, gender, education, occupation, needs, hobbies and location.
Step 3: Who is your competition?
It’s vital to know who you’re up against. Pay attention (and update this information every quarter) to what campaigns your competition is implementing, the strength of their influence, and the frequency and timing of their posts. Review what they do and what their weak points are so you can differentiate your own campaigns.
Step 4: What platform should you use?
Each social media platform serves a different purpose and caters to a different audience. When you’re getting started, focus on one or two social channels. For helpful overviews of several platforms to consider, check out our two-part blog: Social media marketing tips to grow your business — Part 1 and Part 2.
Once you’ve answered these questions, it’s time to strategize about your content. A good blog to start with is Tips to boost social media engagement for your business.
West Press’ talented staff is here to help you each step of the way — from graphic design to printing to mailing services to large format. Contact West Press or your Account Executive at 520-624-4939 today.