Social Media Marketing Strategy

Template:

Key steps for developing a

social media marketing strategy

The following are the key steps for developing a social media marketing strategy. Use this template to create your own version.

• Set goals and establish key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Define your target audience
• Identify the best social media platform(s)
• Audit your social media channels
• Competitive research
• Additional social media platforms for consideration
• The final decision on which social media platforms to use
• Engagement plan for your social media
• Monitor what’s being said about your business
• Promotional plan for your social media
• A resource to help elevate your social media presence

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Set goals and establish

key performance indicators (KPIs)

Before you get started with any social media marketing efforts, you need to first set goals and establish what the key performance indicators are. Your objectives might be one or more of the following — to increase brand awareness, generate leads and sales, increase followers, drive website traffic, boost SEO, improve customer loyalty, etc.

Pro Tip: Try to set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goals that make sure your objectives are attainable and can be reached in a certain time frame.

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See example on the next page >>

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Set goals and establish key performance indicators (KPIs)

Example >

Define your

target audience

Once you’ve identified your goals, you can then start to define the specific audience you are trying to reach with your social media campaigns. Social media platforms allow businesses to target potential customers based on demographics, interests, and behaviors.

To do this, you can use real customer data or buyer personas if you have them. Demographics including age, gender, profession, and location can help you hone in on your target audience. This is an important step in choosing which social media platforms you need to be on.

Identify the best social media platform(s)

Each platform has its own unique user base and set of features, so it's important to select the one that best suits your business needs. Keep in mind that each platform attracts a different audience (e.g, age group and gender). Start small by focusing on just one or two channels that best fit your audience. Once you’ve established the brand on a couple of channels, you can branch out and test others. We have created a detailed chart for you that you can reference.

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Identify the best social media platform(s)

Source: Statista, Inc.

Identify the best social media platform(s)

Source: Statista, Inc.

Identify the best social media platform(s)

Source: Statista, Inc.

Audit your social

media channels

If your company has been around a few years, you probably already have social media profiles established on popular channels like Facebook and Twitter. Start your audit by finding out where your social traffic is already coming from.

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Pro Tip: If you have Google Analytics set up for your website, go to Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels, then click the “Social” channel grouping link in the report table below the chart. This will show you which social networks are already driving traffic to your website.

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See example on the next page >>

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Audit your social media channels

Add the results here. See our examples:

Audit your social media channels

If your business already has a presence on social media platforms, take a look at which social platforms are getting engagement.

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Competitive research

Here’s the part where you look at the types of content your competitors are posting and how well it is working. You may discover an untapped opportunity.

If you are not yet familiar with all the social media channels your competitors are using, you can get an idea by simply visiting their website and looking at the website footer where there are typically links to popular social media sites to connect with them. Then you can click through each one to see how often they are posting, what types of content they are posting, and how much engagement they’re getting on each one.

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Competitive research

Then list your competitors’ top social media platforms below.

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Additional social media platforms

for consideration

At this stage, list additional social media platforms that you believe your customers are spending time on and engaging with.

When it comes to well-known social networks in the United States, YouTube and Facebook are the most popular, followed by Instagram. These social platforms are closely followed by TikTok, Twitter, and Snapchat.

Pro Tip: A great way to check whether a social media network is favorable for your business is by doing a search on that platform and looking for relevant industry keywords, your company name, and your competitors' names. If there's little to no discussion or engagement around those topics, it might not be the best fit.

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The final decision on which social media platforms to use

Yay! By following each of the steps above, you’re now ready to decide which social media platforms your business will be active on. This is the time to claim or polish up your profile on each of these platforms, like in this example.

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The final decision on which social media platforms to use

Pro Tip: Even if there are major social media platforms you are not planning to use right away, still go ahead and claim your business’s profiles on them. You may decide to use these other platforms later on and you don’t want other people or impersonators taking your business’s name.

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Engagement plan for social

media platforms

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An engagement plan is one of the most important aspects of your business’s social media strategy. It outlines how you will use social media to reach and respond to your target audience, which in turn helps grow traffic and followers.

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Engagement plan for social

media platforms

Pro Tip: A recent study shows that in general, the best days to post on social media are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And the best times are 8:41 AM, 3:15 PM, and 7:00 PM in your target time zone.

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Engagement plan for social

media platforms

Use the table below to plan what types of content you’ll be sharing, when you want to share it, and which social media networks you want to use. For example, you may want to share blog posts, on-demand webinars, and re-share content from thought leaders/industry experts on your social media channels.

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Monitor what’s being said about your business on social media

Social listening is monitoring what's being said about your business online. The goal is to get a pulse on what people are saying so that you can create or adjust your strategy so that it remains relevant to your target audience. Without listening, you run the risk of creating a strategy that people don't respond to – wasting your time and efforts.

It’s important to have a social listening action plan on where to listen, and what you’ll listen for, so you can respond quickly.

Monitor what’s being said about your business on social media

Pro Tip: Don’t forget to do social listening for other terms related to your industry and competitors. Getting insights into what people are saying can also be a way to engage with your audience.

Promotional plan for social

media platforms

Having a promotional plan in place can help increase your reach on social media by using strategies like paid boosts, retargeting, and account takeovers.

Paid boosts can help increase the visibility of a post to a wider audience, retargeting can help target individuals who have already shown interest in your brand or product, and account takeovers can help create a sense of urgency or exclusivity around a promotion.

Use this section to plan your social media promotions.

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Elevate your social media presence with Birdeye

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Now that you have a strategy in place it’s time to get maximum impact on your social media efforts.

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With Birdeye, you can elevate your online reputation and boost your SEO efforts further with our latest social media management tools. Now you can easily share customer reviews directly to your social channels. You'll also have the capability to see and respond to posts from popular platforms and generate reports for insights on important social media metrics.

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Combining Birdeye with the power of social media will keep your local business ahead of the competition and at the top of search rankings, where it belongs.

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Visit Birdeye.com

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