When setting out to establish a social program for your brand, it is important to have a strategic plan to ensure the greatest opportunities for success. Below are five quick tips to help you set up your social strategy for success.
- Define your goals – In order to be successful you will need to define what success means to your brand. Think about your brand’s purpose on social media and what you look to gain from a social media presence. You can work backward from these goals and outline what it will take to get there. The outline can be the basis of your social strategy.
- Identify your target audience – Understanding who you will be marketing to will help determine what social channels to focus on. Additionally, this will help you determine what type of content to publish and the tone of brand voice you should be employing.
- Define your Brand Voice – You brand voice is intended to embody and express your brand’s personality and core values. The four pillars of brand voice include:
- Character – How the brand is perceived by its audience
- Tone – How the brand speaks to its audience
- Language – The words and phrases the brand uses in social media conversations
- Purpose – The value that the brand is offering to the social community
You can have an internal discussion with company stakeholders to discuss the key attributes of the brand that represent the four pillars of brand voice listed above.
- Develop a social network strategy – Once you’ve defined your goals, your target audience and brand voice you will need to develop a strategy appropriate for each social platform. For example, on Facebook you might start by looking to drive consumers to your blog or website to create a deeper connection with your brand. However, on Instagram you might be looking to promote an influencer activation around an event appearance.
- Measure and optimize – Once you have a presence on social channels and are publishing content, it is important to measure the return of your efforts. Measuring against your social KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) allows for the ability to optimize strategies for owned content as well as social program performance against the competitive set. Competitive set measurement includes Share of Voice calculated by share of subscribers (number of followers on social channels) and share of engagement (average rate of engagement per content piece published). Competitive share of voice should be measured on monthly, quarterly or semi-annual basis in order to identify developing trends that might impact your brand strategy.
There are many facets of a social media strategy for brands. The five tips above are a basis of successful social programs, and as your social program grows there will be additional considerations including community management, proactive engagement and social advertising. Stay tuned to the Max Borges blog for future topics on social strategy.
