So you're ready to start benefitting from social media marketing but you're uncertain about how and where to start. If you're struggling with questions, know you're not alone.

It can be a confusing and complex world but that's not a reason to dismiss such a valuable marketing tool.

In this episode, Adam breaks down a 9-part social media marketing plan to get you and your business set up for success right from the start.

Episode Discussions:

• Why your budget is an important part of your social media marketing plan
• Things to consider when tracking the results from your social media
• Why you should have goals when creating a social media marketing plan
• Why it's important to differentiate between leisure and business
• How to measure the performance of your plan
• Social media beyond Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
• What your competitors can reveal about a given social media platform
• Common social media strategies to implement into your plan

9-part social media marketing plan:

3:58

Step 1. The current analysis or "Where are you now?"

• Identify what you've already been doing and what platforms you're on.
• Do you have existing accounts?
• Do they have customized headers and branding?
• Followers or likes?
• This list will cut down on work later in initial setup and potential decisions to abandon platforms.

4:35

Step 2. The competitor analysis "Where are they now?"

• Make a list of competitors and their current social media usage.
• This information will reveal 1 of 2 things:

1. If they're doing well, it proves a customer's interest in that social media platform
2. If they're not, it will determine that it's not an ideal market for your target market or show an opportunity to provide a service not currently being offered.

5:26

Step 3. Goals or "Where would you like to be?"

• Having goals prevents wasting time on marathon Facebook sessions that provide little value.

1. Increase brand awareness
2. Drive traffic to your website
3. Build social authority

• Each goal has its own set of specific tactics and time requirements.
• Differentiate between leisure and business building time.

6:23

Step 4. Strategy or "How are we going to do this?"

• A few common social media strategies:
  • Listening - use Google alerts, programs such as Mention to highlight when your brand or name is used online
  • Engaging - respond to comments, encourage participation on your channels, comment on other sites and other pages
  • Influencing - Does your brand have a position in the marketplace? Do you have a particular view of your industry that you can share?
  • Contributing - think of it as the means rather than the ends.

8:18

Step 5. Target Market or "Who is going to listen?"

• The single most important part of any social media marketing plan.
• Identifying your target market will save you time, money, and other valuable resources.
• Knowing details and statistics will help you determine what, where, when and how to post.
• Always make sure that you're aligning your social media marketing usage with your target market.

9:14

Step 6. Implementation or "Go time"

• Related tools available under the header of social media that may or may not be suitable for your needs:
  • blogs
  • podcasts
  • webinars
  • video
  • photo sharing
  • discussion boards and forums
  • Q & A sites
  • mobile apps
  • location marketing
• Choose 1 or 2 to start. Use your business, goals, and your target market to determine which ones to focus on.

10:35

Step 7. Monitoring or "How are we doing?"

• A key part of your plan is to measure your performance.
• Use a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) identifies what's important and then measures.
• Focus on only the most important metrics
  • One's relevant to your goals and show improvement

11:19

Step 8. Budgeting or "How much are you going to spend?"

• Social media in a business context isn't free.
• There are several factors to consider when budgeting.
• For small businesses, returns occur around the 7-14 hours per week range.
• Tools to help make this more attainable:
  • Scheduling tools: Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Edgar
  • Design tools: Canva, royalty-free online photo websites

13:01

Step 9. Return on investment (ROI) or "How much did you make?"

• The results from social media are qualitative:
  • Improved brand perception
  • Increased brand awareness
  • Number of customers reached
  • Impressions gained
• A good place to start tracking is pre-social media sales and post social media sales.
• Keep in mind: cost of customer acquisition and lifetime value of your customer

Mentioned in this Episode:

Canva

Hootsuite

Sprout Social

Edgar

Mention

Contact Adam: [email protected]

Click here to subscribe via iTunes

Modern Marketing on Stitcher

Modern Marketing on Pocket Casts