This is part 2 of the blog post “Build a robust social media strategy with the help of 6 professionals“, which explores using the skills of a detective, strategist and policy maker to build a robust social media strategy for business. Together with part 1, this post will discuss why we need to think like a head hunter, builder and judge if we want to implement a successful social media strategy.

Robust Social Media

Head Hunter

You have done your planning and you know what your end game is with social media. It is time to put together a team of people with right skills and knowledge to execute the plan. So like a head hunter, think carefully about the following:

  • Who can bring value to my social media team? Are we looking for someone who can put out quirky and fun contents or are we talking about someone with insights for technical posts? Do we need someone who knows how to work with images?
  • Does my team members know their roles and responsibilities? Are they familiar with social media policies and procedures?
  • Can my business manage this whole social media campaign or should we outsource some of our social media work? Outsourcing your social media effort may not be cheap, but at the same time, it may help you reach your goals quicker if get expert to help.

Builder

If you have reached this stage, congratulations! You are now ready to think about building your social media empire. We are talking about operational here and you will need to consider the tasks below:

  • Create an action list with a timeline so you can set up your social profile on whatever platform you have chosen to use.
  • Turn the data from your research into meaningful tasks paying particular attention to building and publishing regular and consistent contents, promoting your social presence, inviting people to follow you and engaging with your followers.
  • Stay on the course, follow your plan and execute your social media strategy. Remember, social media is a long-term investment. So make sure social media is embedded in your business operation to avoid the risk of investment failure.

Judge

If social media is an investment for your business, you will want to know how it has impacted on your business outcome. So put on your judicial hat and focus on monitoring and improvement at this stage of your social media strategy. Because benefits of social media can often be intangible and hard to measure, it helps to think about how you can monitor your social media effort before its commencement.

Some key concepts to think about are:

  • What and how do you want to measure the impact of your strategy? Consider what your social media end game or goal is as it will determine how you can measure your strategy. For example, if your social media goal is to drive traffic to your website, Google analytics may be a good tool to help you measure website traffic.
  • How do you know your social media strategy is effective? You will not know the answer to this question unless you have gone through the “Detective” and “Strategist” exercise, which is designed to flush out your needs and expectations in relation to your social media campaign.
  • Can your strategy be improved to get a better result? Don’t forget to put on your detective hat and compare what you are doing with your competitors. Don’t forget to check if your customers have changed their expectations. Regular monitoring of your social media landscape will enable you to refine your strategy further.

Social media can be a fantastic way for businesses to promote themselves and grow customer loyalty. To have a positive social media experience, it is important that businesses adopt a structured approach. Once you are ready to put your strategy together after reading part 1 and part 2 of Build a robust social media strategy with the help of 6 professionals, use this FREE Social Media Strategy template to bring everything together. If your business needs some advice designing and executing your social media strategy, Notonos Global is here to help.