When you decide you are going to start a social media campaign, I know… you want to just go for it.
Please don’t do that.
There is a critical piece that must happen before you start creating content and trying to “go viral.” And that piece is planning a strategy.
A strategy doesn’t have to be overwhelming or volumes full of chapters. But it does need to be thoughtful, planned and ready to execute. How does one create a strategy?
Start with the standard questions: who, what, when, where, why.
Who.
As with any part of your business, focus on the people. Start internally: who are YOU. What is your brand about? How do you convey that through your social media voice? What IS that voice, exactly? Define this voice as a person (who may or may not be you). Then look outward and determine your current audience and your target audiences. Knowing these two things is step one.
What.
What kind of content do you want to put out there, and what are you capable of creating? If you’re trying to do this all yourself, make sure you have tools in place that will help. Do you need a microphone? A ring light? What about an editing app? Something to make graphics? Do you have a library of photos that you can use to represent your brand (the people and the products?). Do you know your content buckets? Do you even know what content buckets (or pillars) are?
Where.
Determine the platforms you’ll use. You need to understand the audiences and intricacies of each platform and determine which ones make the most sense for your type of available content, your audiences and your ability.
When.
Set a time to publish on days you’ll want to publish and plan out what kind of content goes when. This can be as easy as a handwritten calendar to plan out what goes when.
Why.
In business we always stick to our “why” – why we are doing this, why we started, why we keep going. Figure out why you are engaging on social and remember to keep that top of mind as you continue to publish and engage. Your who, what, where and when must all be tied to your why.
Once you have these questions answered and it’s written down, you are ready to start. But if you’re feeling unsteady and not sure, let us know. We can help.
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