7 Tips to Create Content Strategy for Social Media

Today, it is imperative that small businesses have a presence on social media. That sounds great, but how do you make it happen?

Having a presence is more than creating an account on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. You have to post content….relevant, interesting and educational content….on these social media platforms. You need to have a planned content strategy to be effective. Here are 7 tips for creating your small business social media content strategy.

Determine Your Goals

What do you want to achieve from your social efforts? Be specific. Keep in mind that each social media platform is different and has its own unique audience, so create separate goals for each individual social network you plan to use.

Create Your Brand’s Identity

Social media is a great place for small businesses to strengthen their branding. Know what your business’ unique story is.

Check Out Your Competitors

See what your competitors are doing on social media. What is working for them? You can be inspired by what they do and take it to the next level.

 

Use an Editorial Calendar

An Editorial Calendar will help you determine when and where to post your content. Decide which social media platforms will get certain posts, videos, and visuals, and when.

Take a look at an entire year so you can plan some posts for holidays and any sales you plan. Then, work on your content one month at a time.

 

Which Platforms Are For You?

Don’t jump into social media and join everyone out there. You’ll be overwhelmed and your social media marketing will fail.

Take a look at where your customers are. If they are on Pinterest, then you need to be there too. Are they on Facebook? Perhaps your company would only benefit from being on LinkedIn.

When thinking about which social media platforms you should be on, don’t forget that you should also be blogging. Blogging will establish you as an expert in your industry.

 

Be Social

Part of being on social media is being social. So monitor your comments and respond when someone comments on your post.

 

Analyze and Optimize For Best Results

Make sure you’re not wasting your time with the wrong posts or even the wrong social media platform. Check out your analytics to see how well your posts are performing. Most social media networks provide analytics for business pages so you should be checking them often to understand which posts were popular and which weren’t.

Do You Have a Social Media Calendar?

You have created your marketing plan and social media is a large component of that plan. You know that stellar content is important. Creating and publishing great content can get overwhelming.

You need to get organized and determine a schedule that works for your small business. Once you’ve created a social media content calendar, your social media marketing becomes a lot less intimidating.

The calendar

What does a social media marketing calendar look like? This calendar can be an actual calendar or a spreadsheet…whatever works best for you. The social media calendar should organize your content and help you develop and editorial strategy.

Your calendar should note which social media channels you are publishing which posts to. You can have a separate sheet for each month or day, depending on the volume of content you plan to publish. 

Track topic ideas

Use your social media calendar to plug in topic ideas that you want to write about. When you have an idea, post it on your calendar so it’s there when you take the time to write the content. This is one way you can avoid ‘writer’s block’ and have a list of topics that are relevant to write about.

Don’t miss important dates

When you have your social media calendar completed, you won’t miss important holidays that could affect your business. Just like your personal calendar, you’ll be able to see what dates are important and post appropriately.

Use Facebook as Part of Your Marketing

Today, the internet is one of the most popular places for businesses to advertise. If you've got a business and you wish to effectively market your product or services, you are able to virtually advertise anything online and the web is open for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

One great place for small businesses to advertise is Facebook. Facebook is one of the biggest social networking websites around today with over sixty two million members and it is still growing.

Facebook is a free and simple way to market your products and services. You can post information about new products or services you are offering, specials you are running, introduce new employees to your current customers and much more.

Need help setting up your business Facebook page and with other social media? Contact Blue Dog Marketing! We specialize in helping small businesses with their marketing efforts. 

Most Popular Social Media Sites

There are many social media choices for a small business to use to promote its products or services. Which one, or ones, you use depends on your business. Here are the five most popular social media sites.

Facebook:  Share posts on your personal and business pages.

Twitter: Schedule your posts on Twitter 2-3 times a day.

Pinterest: Create a board specifically for your business. Post pictures several times a week.

LinkedIn: Share your blogs on your personal LinkedIn profile, your company LinkedIn page and in groups you belong to. Just get permission from the group owner.

Google+: Share your posts with your circles and publicly on Google+ for added SEO benefits. 

Social Marketing

What is "Social Marketing"? Simply put, it is marketing your goods and/or services through social media. Today, social media is the fastest growing platform for business marketing. Facebook is the largest and most popular. 

Your customers and potential customers are communicating to each other, and the entire world, through social media. Why not join them?

Facebook is a very strong marketing medium. This is a great place to start by creating a page designed for your business or niche.

Another social site that is really gaining in popularity is Google+. Like Facebook, Google+ also gives you the ability to setup "pages" with unique headers and profile images. You can setup as many as you want and they are all separate and unique with their own circles.

LinkedIn is the social media site that really is designed for business. This site shares your business profile information and connects you with others who are either like-minded or looking for your type of business

When you start marketing on social networks, be sure to read the terms of service agreements of each site you intend to market on and be sure you follow the terms. This way you will not get blocked or banned.

Remember, it’s social media, so be social. Interact with your followers. Respond to posts and engage your followers in a social conversation. Social media helps you build trusting relationships with your customers and potential customers.