Effective Marketing Strategies Through Social Media

Effective Marketing Strategies Through Social Media:  from Business 2 Community by Stephanie Wagner

6 Tips On How To Compliment Your Existing Marketing Plan With Social Media

According to the rumor mill, traditional marketing is dead.  However, there’s usually some truth associated with hearsay.  In a digital world, these rumors are quite valid. In the business world, social media marketing strategies have become standard in place of traditional marketing methods.
What is the number one goal of any business? Out beat, outbid, or outsell the competition! Prove your products and services are undoubtedly superior to competition’s.
If you’ve included social media in your communications arsenal, then you’ve just “one- upped” your opponent. Keep in mind that most businesses are doing the same as your company, but the difference is how are you executing your strategies differently?
Below, I’ve listed some ideal components of an effective social media marketing strategy.

1. Outline your executive summary. This essential element should summarize your entire plan on one page.  Briefly explain the intent of your strategy; i.e. situation analysis, resolution, opportunities, advantages, disadvantages and a description of how you plan to use and implement social media, including funding, outreach, integration of websites, blogs, digital content distribution and customer engagement outline.
2. Identify your goals and objectives. This is self-explanatory, however make sure that these are explicitly identified and are measurable realistic company goals.
3.  Who is your audience? Know your target audience. Do you want to reach out and include different demographics than your current customer base? If so, figure out how to get their attention and take heed in where they’re located. Digitally speaking you need to be where they are, i.e. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, instagram, LinkedIn, aggregation sites such as Daily Social, Groupon, Living Social, etc. Where are they located geographically? NYC, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, etc. Be where they are.  Research will be required in order to succeed in gaining new customers as well as maintaining current ones.
4. Be strategic in your tactics. In detail, describe the type of content you’d like to include on any of your sites.  How will you use these sites? How much of a commitment are you willing to give to each. Give a few of these ideas some thought: Q&A sessions, flash promotions, general promotions, contests, news flashes or any other ways you’d like to publicize business happenings to your audience.
5. Social media etiquette. In business, it’s always a smart idea to be safe than sorry. Implement social media policies to abide by for both your business as well as your audience.  It would definitely be worthwhile to have ground rules already laid out in the event inappropriate posting may arise.  If done tactfully and tastefully, your content creation should generate more leads to your site.
6. Measure your efforts. Don’t let your social media marketing be in vane. The three most important parts of the strategy should focus on launching, management and optimization. Gathering and analyzing your data is the only way to determine the efficacy of your social media marketing. Collect information on your followers, success rates of various promotions and announcements, etc. Regularly evaluate trends and shifts, which will allow you to adapt to change. Adapting to change in order to stay competitive is essential when measuring your ROI.

The above outlines a few great ways to integrate a social media marketing campaign into your communications plan. Be mindful that social media is a very effective tool for any business and staying abreast of the digital platforms will keep your competitive edge, razor sharp.