Happy 2021! (We made it!) If you are anything like us, you are feeling extra motivated to tackle some serious work goals this year. And that includes getting more strategic and ramping up our own social know-how in the coming months.
Looking for some ideas on how you can master your own social marketing strategic goals this year? Read on for 4 concrete ways to get started.
Conduct a Review.
Before you move forward, take a good look at where you currently are. Doing an audit of your social accounts and analytics is a great way to see what’s been working… and, equally importantly, what hasn’t.
Get a baseline of where you are at and make an effort to check these numbers monthly to ensure you are seeing some momentum. Some stats to look at include: follower count and demographics, most popular posts, which links are driving the most traffic to your site (is your SEO working?) and what types of content is getting the most reach.
Become an Expert.
Identify which topics and social channels you’d like to learn more about this year and then dig in. Need some inspiration? Simply look at what some of your favourite accounts are doing these days. Maybe you want to master Instagram Reels or really up your Pinterest game. Or, perhaps it’s finally time to get up to speed on all the latest ins and outs of Facebook Ads and your Business Manager account.
It’s time to subscribe to some new podcasts, dive into some blogs or sign up for an online class or two. Here’s a few that we recommend:
Blog: Later
Podcast: The Shine Online Podcast
Course: Canva
Be More Social.
This might sound like obvious advice for social marketing but it’s funny how often this step is forgotten. You need to remember that your followers are real people and so the more your feed feels and sounds like an actual person, the more engaged people will likely be. In addition to writing captions that really reflect your personality or the culture of your organization, remember that this also applies to responding to DMs and comments in a personal, meaningful way.
Make a Plan.
Now it’s time to make an actual plan. Here’s 5 tips to get you started.
This includes setting some goals for the year! After you’ve done a deep dive into your analytics (see step 2), identify your objectives for the year ahead. Do you want to grow your followers? Launch a new social platform? Drive more traffic to your website? Increase engagement? Maybe it’s all of the above. Regardless of what your goals are, by clearly outlining them, you can plan your time and resources accordingly.
Pro Tip: When outlining your plan, use a checklist format as it can make it much easier to complete the plan and will help prioritize the order in which you should complete items.
Still feeling overwhelmed? Might be time to outsource. We happen to know some people that specialize in creating comprehensive, tailored strategic marketing plans. 🙂
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, successful (+ strategic!) year ahead!
