Every aspect of your overall marketing campaign needs its own strategy.
All of your marketing avenues deserve a specific set of tasks and goals to help you reach your goals. But what about social media?
It’s a different animal than traditional advertising so it deserves its own special type of attention.
The Social in Social Media
Before social media came along, businesses had to pay some form of money to advertise their products and services. With social media, that type of attention doesn’t work.
Sure you can spend money on Facebook ads but you still have to be present and engage your audience for the full effect. Social media isn’t about advertising it’s about being social.
People will only show up if you invite them to and if they’re interested in the conversations you participate in.
The other piece of this is that social media isn’t a one and done strategy like emails, ads, or commercials. Social media actually requires a response. It requires you to be “social” with your audience and keep them engaged.
The Pros and Cons of Instant Feedback
Another reason why social media requires a unique strategy is that due to its nature, it requires you to pay attention.
Why is this so important?
If your customers reach out to you on social media, you want to be there too. Nowhere else can you gain this level with engagement with your audience so you don’t want to miss out on the opportunity.
Think about it. When you see an ad on TV, do you have the chance to instantly connect with the advertiser? No but if the ad was done well, where does it send you at the end of the ad? To their Facebook or Twitter account.
Of course, there can be a downside to that level of interaction. If something goes wrong with your product, service, or company in general, social media may aid in fueling the fire.
If that happens, you must be present to prevent things from spiraling out of control. Some companies have stayed out of the picture completely when this happened to them and it didn’t go well.
If you’re on social media, your audience will expect you to be there on a consistent basis.
Building Your Social Media Strategy
These are all topics to consider when building your social media strategy. Not only do you have to create content to post and share but you also have to be there to engage with your audience.
While it’s virtually impossible to be on social media 24/7, you can set up tools and systems to monitor your accounts. By having a content strategy and designating someone to be responsible for responding to comments, you can easily reach your audience with social media and improve your marketing ROI.
