The presence in social networks is becoming increasingly important and forces us to have a social media plan designed. You cannot have a presence in the networks without knowing why you are doing it and what you want to achieve. Improvising content is the same as wasting money, time and effort. Nowadays, it could be said that all companies have a marketing plan both offline and online. One cannot replace the other, both have to go hand in hand to achieve the company's objectives.
This plan consists of a document that describes the essential points of your brand's strategy on social networks. It is a plan structured in several parts that must be related and linked to each other. Each of these parts contributes value to the final result you hope to achieve. The first thing you should do is a preliminary analysis and define a strategy for your plan to work. This document details the strategies and actions to be carried out on social networks in a clear and orderly manner. Also, this is a document that can change over time whenever new tools, new social networks, or changes in the consumer appear. That is, our strategy is constantly changing and, therefore, this will always be a dynamic document.
Drawing up a social media plan: the most important thing to do
When drawing up your social media plan, you should know that the customer is at the centre of everything. Social networks will help you to understand your customers' needs and be able to provide them with an immediate response or solution. They also allow you to establish direct contact with your customers and you should not forget that they are the centre of your digital strategy. Therefore, your content should be aimed at satisfying their needs. It sounds a bit cold, but the customer is looking for a solution to their problems and that is your role in social networks.
Don't waste time always offering your products and selling all the time, otherwise you will make users get bored because you will always focus on selling. We are not saying that you should stop selling, but that you should do it well. For example, you can offer your products talking about their benefits and how they can help your users to solve certain problems. Also, focus on answering your users' questions, satisfy their needs and move their emotions. If you do this you will not only create a relationship with your audience, but you will differentiate yourself from the competition.
Developing a social media plan: Is it necessary?
We are social beings and we all like to talk about our experiences, give our opinion on a certain topic or express our tastes or feelings. Based on this idea... Yes, you need a social media plan. This document gives your company the opportunity to be part of these opinions, expression of ideas, tastes and others through interaction. Your company can have a voice and a face on social networks, but not only as the company that sells this or that thing or offers a service, but as that human and social company that your users are expecting. The key of the plan is to offer valuable content that helps to improve people's lives. This sounds a bit complicated: solve the lives of others? Impossible, but you can contribute creating practical, applicable and entertaining content to keep your audience aware of your brand.
Create a social media plan: The same content for all social networks?
Social networks have different objectives, so you should not use the same content for all of them. For example:
- Facebook: social network associated with leisure
- Instagram: visual social network for branding
- LinkedIn: professional social network, i.e. formal in nature
- Twitter: dynamic network with short-lived content
- Pinterest: network to inspire through images and infographics
- YouTube: video and tutorial network
you can't communicate in the same way on all social networks, as they don't all have the same objectives.
Making a social media plan: Steps to follow
1. Initial analysis
Before making a social media plan, you should carry out an analysis of the specific activities of the plan, analyse your target audience (create your buyer persona( s)) and analyse the market you are going to work with. We recommend you to define your needs as a brand, your activity and your product or service, think about how your service is sold or hired, analyse your closest competitors and define what differentiates you from the rest.
2. Analysis of your website
Your website is your company's letter of introduction in the digital world. It is important to optimise it so that your brand generates a real impact from the first moment. We recommend you to check if your website has calls to action, check if you need the option to sell through the website or if it is only informative, check if it looks good on mobile devices, check if the SEO is well worked, know your keywords and above all analyse if it offers a good user experience.
3. Platform analysis
It is not necessary for your brand to be present on all existing platforms, so we recommend that you carry out an analysis to determine which social networks are most suitable for your brand. To make a good choice it is important that you know the nature of each social network and above all that of your target audience. We recommend that you analyse the networks where your target audience moves the most so that you can focus your efforts on attracting them.
4. Content plan
This is a key stage in your social media plan. Here you should design the content you are going to publish on social networks. Don't fall into repetition by always publishing the same thing. You will only get your audience bored and they will leave. You must adapt to the formats that the different networks offer, as well as the language. We recommend you define the type of content and the number of publications you will make on each social network, as well as the topics you will cover. Also, define the language you will use in each one, as it is not the same to address an audience on LinkedIn as on Instagram.
5. Define your KPIs and objectives
Measuring the results you get is key to your social media strategy. The good thing is that you don't have to wait until the end to analyse whether your actions are working or not. We recommend you do everything at the moment so you can improve your strategies without having to spend too much time. As for the KPIs, these are analysed according to the needs of your brand. For example, you can analyse interactions according to the number of followers, clicks per number of publications or conversions to direct leads from social networks, etc. We recommend you define the objectives you want to achieve in a year, as well as defining weekly and monthly objectives.
6. Contingency plan
It is always necessary to have an ace up your sleeve. If you are not achieving your social media objectives, you can activate this plan through viral publications, promotional actions or contests. If you are receiving a barrage of criticism, keep calm and reverse this negative situation. Turn this criticism into a happy and satisfied user, listen to them and give them a solution to their problem. This will help to improve your brand reputation.
Nobody said it would be easy, but once you have done it, you will get the desired results. Do not hesitate to make a social media plan and put it into action. And if you fail, remember that you always have the opportunity to improve by modifying this document which, as we have already said, is dynamic because it adapts to the context, time and trends.
have you already elaborated a social media plan for your company?
