How to write a social media strategy and maintain an online presence
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Posted: Mon 9th May 2022
Do you work evenings? Weekends? Do you even know how many extra business hours you put in at the end of the week?
Our clients all have one thing in common: they don't have space for anything else in their schedules.
These hard-working people are so focused on what they do best, that it's almost impossible to invest time and energy into something like a social media strategy.
Writing a social media strategy
Whether you've already established social media communities, or if you are about to embark on setting one up - a social media strategy is a crucial step you should take in order to set out what you want to achieve from powerful marketing tools.
Many small businesses are using social media to spread awareness, make business connections and to keep their customers updated with the latest news and developments.
Yet without a strategy, social media activity can be random and uncoordinated with no clear goals in place to work towards. A social media strategy does not have to be a huge in-depth document; it can be as simple as an A4 piece of paper.
Six questions to address when developing your strategy
1. What are our main objectives?
Setting out your objectives should be the first step of your strategy; without these you won't know what value social media is bringing to your business.
Objectives could be as simple as spreading awareness of your business to the right customers, or perhaps it is more numbers-driven and you want to see your Facebook fans, Twitter followers and overall website traffic increase.
More specific objectives could be to become thought-leaders within your industry or generate interest in your business sector.
2. Who is our target audience?
Considering your audience in social media is hugely important as you need to think about how they would most like to be addressed, and where online they are likely to be. Your tone of voice has and the sort of content you post needs to be appealing to your audience.
3. Which platforms will we use?
There are so many social media platforms available to you. Some of the top brands have a presence on five or more, but remember not to spread yourself too thinly.
I would recommend setting up two or three depending on how much time you will be able to dedicate to social media. Obviously think about your target audience and which platforms they are using.
LinkedIn is very good for business to business communication, whereas Facebook is great for B2C. However, expect to find it hard growing a Facebook page without putting some budget into advertising, as it is a competitive platform.
Twitter is perfect for approaching bloggers and journalists, and Instagram can work well if you have a visual product.
4. Who will be responsible?
It's important to decide who will be in charge of social media within your business - as too many cooks can easily spoil the broth. You want to make sure you use same posting style and language at all times, so it is easier to give you person the sole responsibility.
If that person is you, then ensure you are dedicating enough time to it. There are great tools out there for scheduling content to go out like Hootsuite and Facebook has its own scheduling tool.
5. How will we engage?
Think about the content you have available as this will determine how you are going to manage social media. Do you have blogs, photos, interviews, videos, and news updates?
If not, is there enough content around your industry online that you can link to and talk about within your online communities? Perhaps you have some upcoming events in the calendar that you can talk about, or let influencers know about.
You could start planning out a content schedule so that you know what to post and when, for example every Friday you could post a fun picture of one of your products.
It's also worth thinking about how to deal with negativity online. What approaches are going you to take to customer service enquiries or bad PR? Better to have a plan in place than act on impulse which more often than not can go badly.
6. How will we measure success?
This relates back to your original objectives, so you need to think about how you are going to measure each goal. Google Analytics offers free statistics about web traffic and sources which is invaluable, and you should be looking at this at least once a month.
Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest both have in-built analytics sections, and there are sites out there like Statigram which give great insight into Instagram. Revisit these sections regularly to make sure you are meeting your goals and increasing your online communities - it will prove that you are doing a good job, or motivate you to do more!
Once you have created a social media strategy for your business, don't file it away. Circulate it amongst relevant staff and get their feedback to make sure everyone understand why social media is important to your business. Stick it on your wall, frame it, and use it regularly to help you make decisions.
Maintaining an online presence
Our clients understand how important a social media strategy is because they know that maintaining an online presence is vital to their future business growth.
But every cog in the wheel of their business already works at maximum capacity. They just can't find the time to implement a new system into their working day.
Some business owners do give it a try though. We hear many similar stories that often sound like this:
"I completed an online social media course. It was free so I thought why not. I did bits during the day but I mainly worked on it in the evening."
"I enjoyed it. Learnt a lot. I think I know the basics but the thought of starting from the beginning is a little bit overwhelming, to be honest. I just don't have the time to do it properly."
If you've completed a digital marketing course and managed to integrate a strategy into your schedule and you're maintaining an online presence, congratulations. You've done what many struggle to do.
Our clients sometimes try really hard to do this but eventually, the weight of it all becomes a burden and the progress they make gets lost.
And as the online presence dwindles, so does their reach, because the social media providers have no interest in part-time content creators.
We don't make the rules, we just know how to follow them.
Blogging – copywriting – social media presence
These are the three elements you need to include in your ongoing strategy. There are many different components within each one, but let's focus on copywriting for now.
Does this sound familiar? "We just did the basics." A lot of small businesses either write the copy for their websites or hand the responsibility on to the website designer.
Both of these options can supply you with the 'basics', but is this the message you want to portray to your customers?
Does it tell your story effectively? Does it promote your core values? Quick answer…no.
Customers don't want jargon!
Your potential customers don't want to read jargon or overused marketing terms. And it doesn't have to be plain or boring either.
Here is some 'basic' copy supplied by a client that was used on their brochure and website:
About Us
"LMG Projects are a Manchester-based building surveying company that specialise in all types of construction and fire protection works from the initial survey through to installation.
"LMG Projects are a fully third-party accredited contractor providing Fire Protection Solutions across a range of sectors and services.
"Liam Gordon, our MD, heads up the company, supporting clients with the latest guidance and offering solutions to provide safe and compliant buildings
"We work closely with all relevant parties to ensure works are completed, third-party accredited and signed off.
"Using our fully qualified and highly trained operatives, we are able to work on difficult projects and live environments."
That is an example of basic copy. It serves a purpose but does it offer any extra insight into the company and its values as an organisation?
Can we do better? This is what we supplied to our client which they now use:
About Us
"Manchester is the home of LMG Projects. Our journey began as building surveyors but demand for specialist construction expertise and the increasing need for fire protection works led to an expansion in many aspects of our business.
"Our customers asked and we responded.
"We take the lead in all areas of a project - from the initial survey through to installation.
"LMG Projects are a fully Third-Party Accredited Contractor providing Fire Protection Solutions across a range of sectors and services. Click here for info on our latest projects.
"Managing Director, Liam Gordon, is a proactive figure at the forefront of all things LMG Projects. With his personal approach to problem-solving, he supports clients by providing the latest guidance and up-to-date information your business needs to move forward with confidence.
"Problem-solving is nothing without solutions and you’ll find Liam and the LMG Projects team can provide what you need to produce safe and compliant buildings.
"All projects require leadership and collaboration, so we constantly strive to develop relationships with all relevant parties to ensure works are completed, third-party accredited, and signed off on time.
"Efficiency is essential. Being organised is standard practice.
"Our operatives are fully qualified and highly trained. Retaining quality team members has been a fundamental part of our growth and continues to help us undertake difficult projects within live environments."
You tell me, which one is better?
Which one best represents Liam Gordon and LMG Projects? Take your original copy and inject some personality into it.
The basics are no longer enough – your business deserves more.
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