Specific goal-setting is an absolute must-do for marketers. If you don’t know what you want, how are you supposed to achieve it? This goes for anything in life.
Not sure where to start? You’re not alone. We’ve compiled some tips to setting and achieving your social media goals.
Writing down your goals is paramount if you want to reach them. According to Forbes, people who vividly describe or picture their goals by simply writing them on a piece of paper are anywhere from 1.2 to 1.4 times more likely to successfully accomplish their goals. That’s a significant difference in goal achievement!
Begin with a Big-Picture Objective
It’s important to set goals that you can achieve. Setting a goal often starts with an idea of the “big picture” — the result you want to achieve. Plus, beginning with a big-picture objective makes the goal-setting process less intimidating.
Here are some examples for reference:
Small business: engage local followers and grow a greater community presence.
Startup: build awareness for a new product and generate leads for it.
Enterprise company: provide a timely customer service channel to boost customer loyalty.
With a big-picture objective in mind, you can start to break down your goals into smaller action steps that will directly inspire and affect your day-to-day social activities.
Set SMART Goals
Here’s where we get into the nitty-gritty.
Once you’ve gotten your big-picture goals figured out, it’s time to outline your SMART social media objectives.
The SMART approach has been around since the early 1980’s and it’s still a commonly used method today. SMART goals aren’t just labeled with this adjective because of their effectiveness — each letter corresponds with a different requirement of the goal itself. Not only is this an easy way to outline your aspirations, but it challenges you to think critically about why you’re making this goal, how you’ll do it, and when you’ll accomplish it.
So what does the SMART acronym stand for?
Specific: Your goals should be clear, simple, and defined.
Measurable: This is where analytics come in. You want a goal that has one or more metrics.
Achievable: Is it achievable, or is it not possible within your resources?
Realistic: With your current resources of time and money, is it possible to achieve your goals?
Time-bound: Every goal needs a timeframe, whether it’s one year or several months.
See how that works? This approach to goal-setting results in direct action that’s backed up by data.
Track Your Results Over Time
Whether or not you’re reaching your goals depends on your ability to monitor your data over time.
Are you generating more clicks and getting better engagement? Is your audience growing?
Whether the answer is “yes” or “no,” you’ll know for sure if your action plan is working. For our Social Creative clients, we use an automated reporting system called dashthis. The reports are straightforward and allow us to see what is working well and where we can improve. Monitoring your metrics is a must if you want to reach goals.
What are your social media goals? Let Social Creative help!
Goal-setting is the common trend between marketers who are successful on social media. From brand awareness to boosting revenue and beyond, we encourage marketers to set specific, achievable social media goals. With our help, you can reach those goals sooner rather than later!
Connection Builds Customer Relationships and Your Brand
Using social media to build customer relationships creates vast opportunities, including building brand loyalty and increasing your bottom line. Connecting with your audience is one of the keys to success when using social media. When consumers feel connected to brands, they are more likely to invest in that company.
How Connection Leads to Success on Social Media
Just like progress, not perfection, is the key to living your best life, connection is the key to success on social media. Here are five reasons why you should strive for connection instead of perfection to find your social media success:
CONNECTION ESTABLISHES A RELATIONSHIP.
Social media provides a platform for connection, and connection establishes a relationship.
Tell your story, be real, get people to connect with you. Once they feel they know, like, and trust you, they’re more inclined to follow you and believe in your brand. Followers who believe in your brand = SUCCESS!
PEOPLE DO BUSINESS WITH PEOPLE.
Connection is made when people buy into what you do and why you do it.
Ask yourself this: How are you improving people’s LIVES through your business?
As a business, it’s important to really speak to our clients’ hearts – their hopes, fears, and dreams. It’s also important to be honest and really lay out on the table why you do what you do. By doing that, you allow your audience to relate and create the connection point you need to get them on board with your business and your brand.
TAKE YOUR BUSINESS TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
You must be actively engaged and socialize with others to grow your audience. Connection is key! If your followers comment on your posts, start a conversation in the thread. Reach out on their posts as well to share your thoughts and start building that initial relationship.
Write helpful blog posts and share them on social media. This directs your followers to your website, where they can find your contact information and newsletter sign up form.
Encourage your followers to sign up to your email newsletter or join your private Facebook group. You can offer an incentive for doing so!
BUILD A LOYAL TRIBE.
Social media is flooded with new businesses every single day who are all trying to find their audience and be heard. Don’t let yourself get sucked into the comparison game. Instead, celebrate the success of others and embrace your uniqueness.
EXPAND YOUR NETWORK AND INFLUENCE.
When you build your tribe, you’re essentially expanding your network. Not only can you create brand ambassadors, you are creating influencers who will help sell your products or services.
Let Your Inner Perfectionist Go
Business is not solely about spreading information about what you’re selling exclusively. You should seek to share a little of yourself with your audience every day because, after all, we’re all human. And humans crave connection, not perfection.
Who doesn’t want free advertising and exposure on Google?!
Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool that helps businesses manage how they appear on Google Search and Maps. It provides you with the ability to list your business location on Google Maps and local search results. You can display important information about your business, including the opening/closing times, contact phone number, and a link to your website.
Google Reviews
If you want to rank higher in search and map results, ask customers and clients to leave reviews. Google reviews are critical. They act as real-world signals of what people think about a business and are vital factors in ranking in local search. Not only this, but they act as social proof to your potential customers and help them decide on whether to do business with you. You can even send them a link to leave you a review. Here’s a sample of the one we send clients:
Have you claimed your business on Google My Business?
By simply creating a Google My Business listing and completing the verification steps, your business location will start to pop up for local searches. If you’re having trouble claiming your business, give us a call, and we can help. Simply put, you need to be in control of your listing.
Get Down to Business
When you grow your followers, you want to make sure that you are cultivating a community around your brand. And a vital tool to help boost businesses’ online presence is Google My Business. On your GMB listing, you can post similarly as you would on Facebook. You can post offers, links to your blogs, and even videos. When people search for a business like yours, they will be shown the content you are posting. If you post quality content, it can set the stage for your expertise in your industry.
Our clients are seeing a lot of success in keeping their GMB listing updated and regularly posting content. If you aren’t already taking your listing seriously, now is the time. It’s free, and it’s a way to stand out from other businesses in your local area.
According to research by the Content Marketing Institute, the vast majority of marketers are using content marketing. Content marketing has proven to be beneficial and can be integral to building trust. But, like most other digital-marketing techniques, content marketing isn’t something you want to jump into blindly.
Much like football isn’t just catching the ball and running, content marketing isn’t just creating and distributing content. It is an entire strategic approach that allows you to attract and engage a clearly defined audience and, ideally, generate profitable customer engagement.
What’s more, content marketing levels the playing field, allowing small businesses to compete with much larger ones with a smart, well-thought-out campaign.
So, how do you create an effective content marketing strategy?
A content marketing strategy must include a few key elements to be effective: brand positioning, owned media value proposition, business case, and strategic plan. Below is a list of steps that encumbers all of the key elements necessary to create an effective content marketing strategy:
Define Your Content Marketing Goal
Research and Understand Your Audience
Set Up Your Blog (If You Don’t Already Have One)
Update Your Current Content (If You’ve Already Been Publishing)
Start Building an Email List and Know How You’re Going to Use It
Brainstorm Content Ideas and Use Keyword Research to Find Opportunities
Decide Which Format of Content You Want to Produce
Outline Which Content Marketing Strategies You’ll Experiment With
Let Social Creative Help with Your Content Marketing
Developing a unique strategy for your brand will save you a lot of time and frustration, and enables you to get the results you ultimately want.
While the methods used to deliver content to prospects are continually changing, the core principles remain the same⎯develop a top-notch content marketing strategy. If you’re interested in our help, call us today. We’d love to help!
Just because you’re a small business doesn’t mean you can’t rock Facebook.
As consumers increasingly rely on social media, it’s no surprise that if you’re a business owner, you already are or thinking about being on social media. The questions you’re probably asking are, “Can I manage this on my own? How much time will this take? What should I post?”
Another concern could be cost – and you have to determine if the return on investment is worth it. We say, yes, for sure. Remember, not all business budgets are created equal. When you’re on a tight budget, it’s even more critical to plan, plan, plan.
Strategies that Work (TRUST US)
1. Use a Content Calendar. Plan your work, work your plan.
2. Optimize Your Page. Improve the audience’s ability to find your page.
3. Create a Facebook Group. Not for promotional purposes, but to allow for an exchange of information related to your business.
4. Daily Facebook Story Posts. Engage with your audience–this usually equates to a higher number of clicks on your profile.
5. Interact With Your Customers. Let your customers know they matter by communicating with them online.
6. Post With a (Small) Budget. Add a paid budget, even a small one, to ensure that content gets in front of your valuable customers and prospects. Make sure you target the right people.
Social media doesn’t have to be scary. It is a fantastic tool that allows you to connect with customers like never before. If you’re already on Facebook, always look for ways to engage with your followers creatively. If you aren’t yet using it like you want to, what is holding you back?
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