You have been hearing about social media for a while now. You know that you just have to start using it for your business. You can’t wait any longer or else you will be too late. With all of the talk about social media, you may feel that you have to rush in and get going immediately. Before you jump in, stop and think first.
You will save yourself time in the long run if you strategize in the beginning. Coming up with a plan will help you narrow your focus and save your precious time. Before you make the leap, consider the following 5 things first:
1. Determine Who You Want to Reach – A vital part of an effective social media plan is understanding who your target market is. Who are you talking to? Is it first time homebuyers? Move Up buyers? Buyers who are downsizing? Narrowing down your focus to a specific market will help you fine tune your message and save you time!
2. What Information is your Market seeking? What are their questions? What are their problems and concerns? What information do they need to know and understand before they buy? By getting to know your target market, you can create content and share information that answers their questions and solves their problems. This will make your content creation much easier. As well as providing your clients, customers, and fans with the information they are searching for.
3. Where do your target customers hang out online? Do some listening and research to find out where your customers are spending their time. Maybe there are specific forums or niche social networks that cater to your potential customers? Doing this research ahead of time will allow you to focus solely on the communities that are most beneficial to you. Since there is never enough time in the day, choosing where you need to spend your time online is an important decision.
4. What do you want your target customers to do? Think about your sales process. As you bring more potential clients into the funnel, how do you want to direct them. Should they sign up for an email newsletter? Should they visit your blog or website? How does social media fit into your current sales process? You want to focus your social media efforts in such a way that directs your potential customers to take an action.
5. How are you going to measure success? Once you know who you are trying to reach, where they are hanging out, what you want them to do, you want to be able to measure your results. So decide on how you will measure your progress. Maybe it is to track newsletter sign ups or website visits. Whatever the measuring stick is, you want it to be in place when you start.
By spending some time strategizing up front, you will keep yourself from spinning your wheels in the long run. So, set aside some time and work on these 5 questions. You will be happy you did!
