Best Practices For Creating A Winning Social Media Strategy Outline

Deep down, everyone desires a social media strategy that delivers a remarkable ROI and propels their business to the apex of their industry. The social media world often appears to be long on hype and short on delivery to those not in the know. It’s hard to craft a winning social media strategy outline, at least in theory. There are at least four basic guidelines that one should remember when brainstorming one’s road map for social media domination.

Identify Your Audience
If you don’t know what target demographic you’re targeting, you’ll find it a lot more difficult to make headway with social media marketing. Nail down which demographics you’re pursuing before you get started. For instance, a younger audience may respond more positively to a Twitter campaign than older consumers. Use Google Trends and similar platforms to break down your market into segments. Once you’ve positively identified them, you can figure out how to appeal to them.

Choose Your Tools Wisely
Not every social media platform is going to be a home run with your audience. Pinterest may work wonders when it comes to moving home furnishings and travel packages, but it probably wouldn’t be your first choice if you’re marketing a PC repair business. Generally speaking, a heavy presence on Google+ is a good idea for local outfits. Facebook is a great bet for businesses in any industry and can be adapted to various kinds of campaigns.

Focus on Content & Sharing
Once you’re ready to roll, you’ll have to decide on an approach. Regardless of the shape that approach takes, content is the vehicle that propels your business forward in terms of recognition and ultimate acceptance. You can use tutorials, opinion pieces or perception-shaping bits in a variety of forms. It can be articles, infographics, videos or even a contest. Just quantify your brand by distilling it to its undefinable essence and go with it.

Roll with the Punches
Admitting when you’re wrong is the key to eventual success in the social media world. Sometimes, your gut instincts on what will work are wrong. That’s when you need to adjust your strategy and explore new options without throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Long story short, learn from your mistakes and move on. A marketing failure is just an opportunity to grow and profit. Be human, make your brand personal, figure out how to accurately measure your success and apply lessons learned to future campaigns.

Bring It All Together
Though the winning specifics vary from business to business, social media campaigns that work follow a predictable pattern. Planning a successful social media strategy is one thing. Executing it is another matter entirely. Hopefully, the rough blueprint outlined above will point you in the right direction. If you’d like to ensure that your social promotions make it to the next level, a social media manager acting as the quarterback of your strategy is your best bet.