With the events and losses of 2020, it’s time for every business to rethink their marketing strategy.
Are you looking to get ahead of the game? Maximize the power of social media this 2021!
Preparing your social media strategy as early as now puts you at an advantage to do better than your competitors.
According to Buffer’s statistics, 73% of digital marketers believe that social media has been a game changer in their marketing strategies.
Read more to learn how you can build an effective social media marketing strategy for 2021 in just 5 easy steps!
5-Step Guide On Building A Social Media Marketing Strategy For 2021
In the coming year, digital marketers are projecting a change in trends for social media, such as conversational marketing, use of automation, and video content marketing.
Knowing these projections will make building the right strategy for your 2021 social media campaign easier!
Looking for a quick guide? Here’s what you need to do:
Research your niche and your competition
Research always comes first before launching a big project.
You can start by gathering information about your target audience and the conversations around your niche.
It is vital to keep in mind that social media users on different platforms don’t behave the same way.
Based on Pew Research Center’s findings, Facebook and YouTube lead social media usage in the USA.
By performing cross-channel research, you can derive a formula to find the right type of content appropriate for your target audience.
Social media platforms use hashtags to make it easier to locate specific trends. This can be a useful tool to help you identify your ideal target audience.
It’s also good to consider checking on your competitions within the social media networks.
By studying your competitor’s techniques, you’ll learn from their mistakes and adapt what works for them.
Plan your content
Quality content is crucial for the success of your strategy.
From the data you’ve gathered, you’re well on your way to developing a solid social media plan.
The goal is to create content that would spark conversation across different social media communities.
For example, in the healthcare industry, effective healthcare content marketing prioritizes the blend between factual yet entertaining content.
Sharing vital information on social media can be done in a compelling manner by producing content in the form of video blogs or infographics.
When planning your content, remember to prioritize quality over quantity.
A few high-quality posts than a bulk of low-quality posts will always win better in engagements.
Visualized content, such as infographics, has also become a powerful material in social media.
According to Facebook’s latest research, posts with images are 75% more effective than those with just a plain text.
Luckily, with online graphic designing programs like Canva, you can now create aesthetically pleasing content in no time!
The time of posting also plays a crucial factor in your engagements.
According to Sprout Social, there are ideal days and time windows to get the best engagement, depending on the social media channels and your business type.
Scheduling tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, and Eclincher are popular applications that make social media management more efficient.
When used to their full potential, these online tools and software will save your marketing team a lot of time and effort.
Engage consistently and effectively
With a well-researched content planned and scheduled, you’re one step closer to a successful social media campaign.
However, it’s not enough to keep posting new content. It’s also essential to engage with your followers and actively spark conversations.
When connecting with your audience, it’s necessary to be both proactive and reactive.
If your accounts are getting a lot of mentions online, be reactive by making sure all these mentions are being responded to.
On the other hand, you should also grab the opportunity to join the conversation whenever someone mentions your brand indirectly.
Engaging even without getting tagged lets people know you’re being proactive online.
Answering your customers’ inquiries is also vital in maintaining a healthy and effective engagement.
According to Sprout Social, consumers are becoming more critical of a brand’s customer service responsibilities online.
49% of the respondents stated that they’d start unfollowing brands who show poor customer service on their social media.
When responding to your followers, don’t forget to show your human side with your response and make them feel at ease.
It may be best to dedicate a person in your team to be in charge of customer support through social media, so your brand can stay on top of every concern.
Monitor your performance
2021 is no different when it comes to prioritizing your social media metrics.
There are always going to be trend-changes in social media that can make your plan ineffective.
Some of the parameters you should always look into are sales conversion, engagement rate, and audience growth.
Find out what works and make necessary adjustments to get back on track.
Keeping an eye on your audience’s behavior across different channels should also be considered.
You can always pair up consistent social listening with performance monitoring to take control of your marketing strategy.
Plan Ahead To Succeed In 2021!
The 2020 pandemic has caused many changes in the world of digital marketing, and it’s projected to carry over next year.
Moving into 2021, adapting your strategy to the changing trends will ensure the success of your social media marketing efforts.
Starting with comprehensive research on your target audience and specific social media platforms is always a good first step to take in any social media planning.
Once you’ve laid down your plan, take advantage of the various online tools to design and schedule your posts.
Don’t forget to regularly engage with your audience about trends, stimulating their interest, and responding to queries.
At the end of the day, it’s important to keep a close eye on your performance to analyze whether or not your strategy is working.
With these core steps in mind, your social media strategy will surely weather any challenges the incoming year has.
