Welcome back to Media Trends Monday, and welcome to 2022!
At one time or another, we’ve all promised ourselves that we’re going to make more of an effort on our company social media accounts. While it’s great to have that blind ambition, it’s also great to know where to start. Hopefully this article can give you an uber-broad framework; a roadmap designed to be filled in as you go.
So what do you do first?
Research your target audience
Creating content for your current followers is great, but who are you trying to reach? That’s the real question you should be asking yourself. This doesn’t have to be extensive research either—consider something as simple as brainstorming who your potential customers could be, then thinking about what kind of platforms and content they interact with.
Pick your channels
You don’t need to be on every social platform known to mankind. Pick a few channels that make sense for your goals and audience, and focus on growing your account there before moving to new channels. Examine the audience of each channel to inform your decision. Obviously, this also depends on the amount of hours your team is allotted to spend on social.
Create a plan
Set achievable goals. Carry out an audit of your current social accounts. Use an external site like Hootsuite or Buffer to track and establish goals for metrics and KPIs. Finally, create a content calendar! We can’t stress this enough: Organization is the name of the game when growing your social presence.
Be present
Post consistently and post at the best times to engage. Think about when your brand is available to interact with customers and stakeholders. And be sure to post AND engage. Respond to comments AND comment on other content in your category. Interacting with posts within your category is a great way for your brand to expand.
Evaluate
Use analytics and metrics to evaluate your performance and guide future decisions. Take note of what works and what doesn’t on things like post length, post time, visual content, and hashtags on your most successful posts. Then, use what you’ve learned to inform your future content.
…and repeat. This process shouldn’t be done just once. The world of social media changes fast, and you too must continually reevaluate yourself to keep pace.
You know your business, we know social. Let’s talk.
Best of luck in the new year. Thanks for reading. We’ll see you for the next installment of Media Trends Monday!
