Answer These Three Questions For a Killer Social Strategy

So you’re on Facebook… Now what? Everyone knows you should be on Facebook, but do you know what to do when you’re there? I’ll give you a hint. Your mere presence will not guarantee success. The same sentiment can be carried over to all social platforms. In order to succeed in your social media endeavors, you need to establish a strategy. And no, just posting updates and funny memes is not a strategy.

To establish a strategy, there are three important things you must first figure out. Your goals you wish to achieve, your target audience and your brand voice. The last component is one that is frequently left out and I cannot understand why. (Actually, I can. It takes a lot more thought than most people think is required for social media, but I digress.) These questions help you focus on how to use social media in a way that genuinely connects with people, the most important aspect of social media.

What Are My Goals?

It is important to establish why you want to be on social media because it will dictate how you use it. Some common goals for having a social media presence are:

• Increase brand awareness
• Drive traffic to your website
• Generate leads
• Increase online sales

You may find that you have more than one, or that your goals change over time, that’s normal. Just don’t spread yourself thin with five objectives, you won’t be as effective. Once you have your goal, or goals, pinned down it will guide you in what tactics you need to deploy in the social space. For instance, if your goal is to increase brand awareness, you will use the social platform to expose your brand’s content to as many people in your target audience as you can, perhaps by utilizing community influencers or promoting posts. If your goal is to drive traffic to your website, you will use the social platform to expose your content to those likely to click through to your website. A tactic you can use to achieve that is to create compelling posts that link to your website. Whatever your goals, they will also help you decide what metrics you should be measuring to determine whether or not your efforts are successful.

Who Is My Target Audience?

Figuring out who you want to talk to will help you decide where you will talk to them and, subsequently, when you will talk to them. A great way of understanding your audience is to create a buyer’s persona. A buyer’s persona is a semi-fictional profile of your ideal customer based on real data about your current customers. This detailed profile usually includes their fictitious name, background, demographics, behaviors and pain points. Once you have your target audience figured out, you will have a better idea of what social platform you should use to reach them, what time of day they are online, as well as what kind of messaging resonates with them.

For example, if your audience is Baby Boomers, reaching and talking to them will be completely different than if your audience was Gen Z because they have different online habits and different pain points. Say you are a restaurant. When targeting Baby Boomers, you would use Facebook to spread your message of quality food and great customer service. If your target audience was Gen Z, you would be better off on Snapchat or Instagram to spread your message of customizable food or how your restaurant is socially-responsible.

What Is My Brand Voice?

Your brand voice will dictate not only what you say but how you say it, which will help your business stand out from the seemingly-infinite crowd. Here is one of my favorite quotes demonstrating the importance of tone of voice:

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

- Maya Angelou

How you made them feel will come from your tone of voice. It’s important to keep in mind that social media is more than broadcasting your message, it’s about creating meaningful relationships through authentic connections. Most people use social media to connect with other people, not to connect with companies. So to make your brand as human and personable as possible, you need to establish your voice.

Some of my favorite questions to ask when determining brand voice are:

1. What three adjectives best describe your brand?
2. What three adjectives are the opposite of your brand’s personality?
3. If your brand was a celebrity, who would it be?
4. If your brand was a person, what kind of relationship would they have with the consumer? (Think teacher, coach, mother, or best friend)

Once you have answered these three foundationally important questions, you can take what you’ve learned and create a killer content strategy. Knowing your goals will help you determine what tactics you will use and what metrics you will use to measure your success. Having a clear picture of your target audience, through the use of a buyer’s persona, will guide you in what social platform and messaging you should use. And, lastly, establishing your brand voice will help you stand out and be remembered among the sea of competitors vying for your very audience.

Wondering what makes up a killer content strategy? Stay tuned for my next blog post.

Image Sources: MEMEGENERATOR.NET