Ideally executed - creating a simple social media plan
There's a line from Gary Vaynerchuk that I recently saw quoted by Eamon FitzGerald - ‘ideas are only as good as the execution’. It feels like it's the most difficult thing to get right when it comes to social media strategy. Talking the talk is one thing, but walking the talk is a totally different thing, and a lot more complicated, especially for small businesses. Everyone can tell you what to do and how to do it, but few can do it for you, or do it right.
I've seen several social media strategies, produced by different companies for small businesses (food, wine and lifestyle brands), that are full of helpful recommendations for improving a social media presence. The reports usually include suggestions for multi-network content, branding, SEO optimisation and comments on the photo and video assets that are required to truly succeed. Many of these reports run to over 60 pages, (and having read several, it's hard to avoid cynicism about broad strokes of copy and paste in many cases), however, the real problem is that while the suggestions and recommendations are sometimes relevant and useful, the most difficult challenge is actually getting the job done.
Many small companies or start-ups are 100% focused on the day-to-day job and keeping cash coming in. Anyone who's worked in social media knows just how much time it takes to create a strategy, plan and schedule content, to be interactive with followers and to react to unscheduled events. Some businesses pay thousands to have a marketing agency produce a social media strategy for them, only to find that they don't have the resources, time or experience to follow through on recommendations. They fall at the first hurdle, which is demoralising and an expensive circuit back to where they started.
My advice to anyone starting out is to think about 2 things first - your brand and your voice. Your brand is not what you think or say it is, rather it's what people think or say about you when they are asked about your brand, (admittedly, not always a comfortable space). Your voice is the tone you set in social media - are you business-like and formal or is it more conversational and casual (and it could be a mix of both on different platforms for your various audiences).
Your content should follow the 80/20 rule - 80% "other" content and 20% product or sales-based. Think of the 5 work days and build 4 posts around the 80% 'other' - the where, why, who, how of your product story - and the other can be product information or sales offer. Remember to use video - it doesn't need to be professional, or long and your phone is technically all you need. Just 15-20 second clips, that feel authentic and tell your story. Video can be about product, 'how to' tips, 'did you know' questions or just a recent experience that's relevant.
Set up an account on a social media scheduler platform (many are free, just google it and see what suits your business). Note your day 1 base control line, i.e. how many followers have you got on each platform? How many average impressions and reach do your posts get? Set a goal (e.g. grow followers by X%; average reach by Y%) Plan it out 2 or 4 weeks in advance. Give yourself 3 months and then use the analytics to see how you are performing against your base line, i.e. what posts get the best reaction or most engagement? Which videos are working well for you? Then you can plan the next 3 months based on your results. Remember to like and reply to any personal engagement that you receive from followers and thank people for interacting with your posts.
I won't deny it's time consuming - you'll need at least a half day a week and if you are going to have to spend time creating photos and videos, you'll need more. However, like anything else, if you schedule your time and block out your calendar you'll get it done and you'll also become more efficient as time goes on.
Good luck!
(published to LinkedIn on 14-05-23)