What trumps Google for getting found, attracting attention, arousing interest and increasing sales?
If you said social media, you guessed right.
With an ever-growing base of frequent and loyal users, sites like
- Snapchat
- Twitter, and
- YouTube
are powerful channels for reaching more of your ideal customers and staying top of mind.
But successful social media marketing is very different from advertising in conventional media like newspapers, magazines, direct mail, radio and TV.
Successful social media marketing requires a shift in your mindset, emotional intelligence, and strategic planning.
The Social Media Success Plan for Business
Successful social media campaigns incorporate:
- Timely and engaging content that you create – blog articles, videos, podcasts
- Archived content that provides genuine value to your target audience
- Other people’s content
- Personal stories
- Inspirational messages and quotes
- Funny memes and images
- Events and offers
Over time, your disciplined and consistent social media activities will:
- Raise your visibility across the entire internet ecosystem,
- Keep your brand, your products and your services top of mind,
- Subtly and expertly guide your target audience into your sales funnel,and
- Help you convert more prospects into customers
The Ultimate Business Goal
If you are like most business owners I know, your ultimate goal is to make a good income doing work you love so that you can:
- Enjoy financial security,
- Experience financial freedom,
- Provide for your loved ones, and
- Spend more worry-free stress-free time with your family and friends, doing the things that make life worthwhile.
Your social media marketing plan can help you achieve this goal.
Steps To Reaching Your Goal
Step 1: Identify your perfect customer(s)
Marketers call this step “creating your avatar” — a detailed picture of the kind of person who will love your product or service, become a loyal repeat customer, and who will be happy to recommend you to their family, friends and other social connections.
Take some quiet time and create a description and a mental picture of this person. Are they:
- Male or female?
- Married or single?
- How old?
- Where do they live?
- What kind of house do they live in?
- What kind of car do they drive?
- What is their level of education? Where did (or do) they go to school?
- Who do they most enjoy associating with?
- Where do they work?
- What kinds of hobbies do they have?
- What are their most pressing problems, worries or concerns?
- How does your business help them solve their problems, worries or concerns?
- How do your products and services make their lives better?
- What kinds of changes are they hoping to make in their lives to be happier or healthier?
Step 2: Create a 12-month outline of content you can create that will provide value to your perfect customer
Think about and research:
- Relevant topics and content themes for each month of the year
- Monthly, quarterly and annual events you can host
- Other people’s content that you can share or repurpose and rebrand for yourself
Step 3: Create a detailed calendar of the relevant and engaging topics you will post about for each day of each month during the upcoming year.
We recommend that you keep your social media posts varied and interesting by posting information in a variety of media and formats.
Examples include:
- Original how-to tips (articles, videos, podcasts, images)
- Infographics
- Answers to questions your customers frequently ask
- Answers to questions your customers should ask .. but don’t know they should ask
- Funny or intriguing quotes
- Curated content (content other people have created with some introductory comments by you that offer your own perspective plus links to the original content)
Stumped for ideas?
Think about the top influencers in your industry and visit their websites and social media pages to get ideas … and think about how you can adapt their content, put your own spin on it and make it your own.
Step 4: Create the Content
To reach the largest audience possible, you will want to create content in a variety of formats so it can be consumed according in the way(s) your target audience prefers.
- For people who prefer to read, you’ll create written articles and blog posts.
- For visual learners, you’ll create arresting images with intriguing, engaging, funny or thought-provoking captions.
- For people who prefer video, you’ll create a series of short, entertaining and/or educational video messages.
- And for people who like to learn while driving, you’ll create downloadable audio files and podcasts that they can listen to in the car.
Step 5: Publish Your Content on Multiple Platforms: Make Yourself Visible Everywhere
Imagine the power of seeing your name and your business everywhere you go online. The more people see you, the more they will think of you before anyone else when they need the products or services that you have to offer.
By publishing your content in multiple formats on multiple channels, you’ll be multiplying your visibility exponentially, getting noticed and helping more and more people get to know you, like you, and trust you.
As you build up recognition, you’ll get more and more people spreading the word about your business, signing up for your events, buying your special deals and taking advantage of your exclusive offers.
And you will be rewarded with an ever-growing base of loyal customers who will be willing ambassadors for your company — people who will happily recommend your products and services to their friends, family and other social connections.
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