Have you ever considered running a social media campaign? Do you have a new product or brand? Are you trying to pivot to a more digitally focused presence in the post-pandemic world?
If so, then one could answer that you have considered running a social media campaign to boost your initiative or build up awareness for new business endeavors and developments.
Here are two truths and a lie about said campaign and before you read on, I want you to first consider which one is the lie.
- You do not have to pay anything to run a successful social media campaign. (You can do it all for free)
- You need to develop a plan or solid strategy before beginning any social media campaign
- If you are not savvy with social media or have a need to reach a specific goal, then it is advised that you hire an expert.
Ok, so which of the three choices above is the lie?
Let’s begin with the truth.
You need to develop a plan or solid strategy before beginning any social media campaign
Do not begin any social media campaign (or any business initiative) without a plan. It’s just not advisable. Sure you can wing it. You can throw caution to the wind and fly by the seat of your pants every day – but how would you know what is and isn’t working for you? As you attempt to build and grow your businesses presence online if you do not have a strategy in place how do you understand what is happening?
The short answer, you won’t.
It will be hard to understand what your audiences are receptive to. You have to be clear on what you are trying to get out of this. Create a solid plan of how you will track and measure your efforts. The information which you get from your research will be a solid blueprint for future campaigns, while also helping you to really understand the wants and needs of your target audience. It will totally take the guessing and “blindness” out of your marketing initiatives.
Try implementing these steps to get you started:
Establish your S.M.A.R.T. goals – Specific | Measurable | Attainable | Relevant | Timely
- Think about the buyer’s journey, there are typically three stages: a) the awareness stage b) the consideration stage c) The decision stage; consider which stage of your buyer’s journey you will be creating content for.
- Know who your buyer is, make sure you understand what problems they are facing and establish how you will solve that problem with your content.
- Figure out what action you want your buyer to take. What do you want the end goal to be with the content strategy you are creating.
- Determine the channels you will use to deliver your message. For example, Blogs, Video, Online education, e-book – etc. Then figure out how you will deliver this content on your social media platforms.
If you are not savvy with social media or have a need to reach a specific goal, then it is advised that you hire an expert.
When I was a kid my mother used to always tell me, “If you need help, then ask for it, closed mouths don’t get fed”. I could remember rolling my eyes so hard internally (of course) when she said it.
It was so annoying to hear, “closed mouths don’t get fed” and of course it wasn’t until I was an adult and had lived a little before what that statement really meant hit home. For most business owners it’s almost ingrained in us, that we can do it all. Honestly who knows your business better than you, right? Who knows what you’re thinking better than you? Who out there can complete a task for your business more efficiently than you can? If you immediately said, “no one” then it will be very difficult for you to scale and grow your business.
Period.
You have got to let go of the reigns. Do your research, ask for help and entrust those task which you are not great in to someone more capable. Read that again.
Change the thinking around your budget, because when it comes to your business, it will help you much more to start associating money spent – to investments you are making in your business instead of money you are losing and never getting back.
If you are going to hire, hire smart. Jot down everything you are looking to achieve with your social media campaign and find a specialist. Someone qualified and able to help you achieve your social media goals. And trust them to do the job.
And now The Lie.
You do not have to pay anything to run a successful social media campaign. (You can do it all for free)
An effective social media campaign is a balancing act, which includes promotional and non-promotional content. You will need to include both in your campaign to really help get your message to your target audience and build awareness to whatever it is your business is promoting. Whatever the central message or product, is you’ll want to promote it to expand its reach to as many relevant accounts as possible on each platform you are on.
You can then create organic or non-promotional content around your promoted content to keep the conversation going. “You should start by promoting one message on multiple different platforms using content that fits the chosen platform. By consistently sharing the same message across your campaign, your followers will hear the same information over and over again, which will allow them to retain your message.” (Source: Hubspot)
Make sure that your or your social media manager is spending at least an hour per day, engaging, communicating, socially listening, tracking and analyzing paid and non-paid social media developments. This will help you determine the scope of your efforts, while helping you to better understand and interact with your audience.
Conclusion
It does not have to be rocket science.
Your main goal should be discovering what your audience wants to see from you, what they need and being there with the answers they are looking for.
That is it.
Remember that even though it is all business when you are trying to scale, social media is meant to be social.
If you do not understand how to be social on social media, or simply do not have the time or the energy to put into it – that is ok. Do your business a favor and hire an expert who can do it for you, and well.
Know what your goals and objectives are.
Set aside a budget which will help you to reach those goals and objectives. It takes time, patience and energy to build an effective social media campaign, but once you’ve figured it out and have reached that sweet spot, you’ll be off and running. I promise.
Do you have more questions about running a social media campaign? Let’s Chat! support@isimplyassistu.com or Linkedin @Jeanette Stevens, MBA