Developing An Effective Social Media Strategy

Editor's Notes

• #2: The presentation was developed for the 2016 UNCF Student Leadership Conference. The UNCF (United Negro College Fund) Student Leadership Conference prepares students to diversity into various fields of social entrepreneurship. This deck was part of a presentation that helped the students discover how they can develop an effective social media strategy.
• #5: When we talk about social media we are talking any two-way communication that is open to the public. This includes some spaces you already know about, such as, Facebook, blogs, Twitter, and others you may not have thought as being a part of the social landscape such as email or text messaging. To see just how impactful social media is, let’s take a look at this video.
• #6: Watch this video to insights on Social Media in 2016. 4:25 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3rWAd8KQxE&nohtml5=False
• #7: With all those channels and more your social media strategy success depends on creating a simple and sensible strategy that fits your resources and goals. Switching gears from using social media to connect with friends and family to using it to develop a professional on social media strategy first requires you to research, observe and listen. Here are three steps to help you get started developing an effective plan?
• #8: Here are top three steps to take when developing your social media plan. (1) The very first thing you want to do set you goals. Why are you in the space and how will you measure success? (2) Second, what is your voice and who are you talking to? (3) Third, how will you connect with your audience and what will you share?
• #9: The first step in creating a social-media marketing strategy is to understand where you want to go. What is the purpose of your social media marketing efforts? Do you want to create or raise awareness about a business or project? Are you looking to expand your brand? These goals aren’t mutually exclusive, but you should focus on one or two: If you spread yourself too thin, you’re not going to accomplish anything. — A sensible social media strategy is one where the social media goals align with the objectives. Each social media activity should accomplish a measurable task to ensure you are making progress. For example, you will measure Twitter’s impact on awareness differently than you would measure Facebook’s, so this differentiation needs to be accounted for with the goal-setting. Think of these specific measurements as the individual dials on the dashboard or control panel of your social media ‘machine’. Your social media goals should be measured in three key buckets of activity: How many people did you reach with your specific activity? How many readers and customers did you engage (via reads, shares, retweets) with your messaging or content? How many customers did you move toward your goal as a result of your social media activity?
• #10: A successful social-media strategy is all about targeting the right people with the right messages. To do this, you need to understand your audience and determine how you will communicate with them. Start by defining the key demographics of the audience you’re trying to reach - age, gender, occupation, income, hobbies and interests, etc. If you are trying to reach fellow millennials, you’ll want to have a very creative, casual voice on a platform like Snapchat. If you want to target alumni, hiring agencies or business, you want to have a more professional voice on LinkedIn. — When it comes to social media, the competition can tell you a lot about what works and what doesn’t. You might want to check out accounts you admire? Pick three or four of the top ones. Find out which social networks they’re active on, and study their content. Is it funny or serious? What kind of cultural references do they use? Do they talk mainly about their accomplishments and services or do they focus on other things? — Once you have done all your research, determine what your voice will be. Serious, playful, informative or entertaining. But remember, it’s called social media for a reason. The most important part is being social.
• #11: Now you have a handle on your voice, it’s time to start building your messages. Determine the key messages that you want to communicate. Choose two or three messages or themes that you want to share. Remember, not all social-media platforms are the same. You need to choose the right ones for the audience you are targeting. If you are speaking to an older demographic, use Facebook. If you are talking to teens and young adults, you may want to use Snapchat or Instagram. LinkedIn is a good platform to target people who may want to hire you while Pinterest may be better if you’re launching a fashion business and want to show off your designs. Some of these channels will become more obvious when you look at the channel your competitors are using, but they have have overlooked some spaces so do your homework. You should also identify influencers who can help you reach your target audience. Or become an influencer yourself! Good bloggers command high levels of trust in their readers and are indispensable in creating buzz around your brand. Build a content plan Finally, you need to develop a strong content plan that will deliver engaging material. The content needs to align with your overall messaging and be appropriate for the channels you’re using. Visuals command a lot of attention so mix it up with photos, videos, guides, infographics, memes and graphics. Also, don’t think of content as something you post once. You need a repetitive presence on social. The social media plan should include a daily breakdown of what you should post most days of the week. Yes, I said most day so of the week. Consistency is the key in social media. Don’t ride the social media wave unless you can commit to a consistent schedule that your followers can depend on. I tend to use themes to map out the days of the week on my social media plans. I am also a big fan of iteration. It helps guide your posts throughout the week. Motivation Monday Tip Tuesday Wisdom Wednesday Throwback Thursday Fun Friday Your success depends on creating a simple and sensible strategy that fits your resources and goals. Here are a two steps where you can take to focus your energy right now: 1) Start blogging Fresh content is the linchpin of a successful social strategy, so you’ll need to commit to creating fresh, quality content on a consistent basis. Commit to writing at least one new blog post a week.. 2) Create educational content Consider creating downloadable content like ebooks, checklists, videos, and infographics. If the content is truly helpful and educational, people will be more likely to share it on social media and extend your reach. Check out my blog on how to develop a social media plan here: https://daniellericks.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=173799932&action=edit
• #12: Once you know your goals, your voice and the way you’ll connect, then you need to decide WHERE to connect. Most people don’t have the bandwidth to establish and sustain a great social media presence on more than a handful of channels. Research key networks to learn where your target audience is most likely to spend time, and focus your effort on building, nurturing, and sustaining a community there before moving on to another channel. Facebook remains a powerhouse in the space with 1.09 billion daily active users on average for March 2016 989 million mobile daily active users on average for March 2016 1.65 billion monthly active users as of March 31, 2016 1.51 billion mobile monthly active users as of March 31, 2016 http://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/ Twitter’s mission is: To give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers. They post: 310 Million Monthly active users 1 Billion Unique visits monthly to sites with embedded Tweets 83% Active users on mobile https://about.twitter.com/company Instagram stats are: 400M+Monthly Actives 40B+ Photos Shared 3.5B Likes Daily 80M+ Average Photos Per Day https://www.instagram.com/press/ If you thought Snapchat was for just sexting, you are missing the boat. LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with more than 433 million members in over 200 countries and territories. Professionals are signing up to join LinkedIn at a rate of more than two new members per second. There are more than 40 million students and recent college graduates on LinkedIn. They are LinkedIn's fastest-growing demographic. https://press.linkedin.com/about-linkedin Snapchat is the best way to reach 13 to 34 year-olds. More than 60% of U.S.13 to 34 year-old smartphone users are Snapchatters. 10+ Billion video views every day on Snapchat. https://www.snapchat.com/ads
• #13: Measure your results so you know what works and what doesn’t. There are a million things you can track related to social media, so start by looking at how much traffic is being driven to your website or blog from social media. Watch your posts to see what people are responding to, and look for trends related to particular topics or keywords that generate more interest than others. Once you have a sense of what is resonate with your audience you can determine what worked and what did not. But remember, it takes time to build a following, establish yourself as an influencer, and you will start seeing results.
• #14: Protect your Digital Footprint Social Smarts - Be mindful of what you are posting on your social media channels Privacy - If you are an admin, be protective of your passwords Appropriateness - Posting provocative photos in unacceptable. Nows the time to clean up your accounts Avoidance - Now is also the time to stay out of online fights or engage in online bullying
• #15: We covered: Goal setting, finding your voice in the social media space, creating content for you social sites, how to develop a social media plan and ways to measure your results.
• #16: Do you need help developing a social media strategy? Danielle Ricks Productions is here to help. Email me at danielle@daniellericksproductions.com