Having a robust, engaging social media presence, or lack thereof, can make or break a business and its reputation.

According to the Pew Research Center, in 2018 more than 70% of the public uses some type of social media. This has increased from just 5% in 2005. YouTube ranks at the #1 social platform spot with 70% of adults using it, followed by Facebook at 68%, Instagram at 35% and Pinterest at 29%. Roughly 3/4 of Facebook users, and 3/5 Snapchat and Instagram users visit these sites at least once per day.

It’s also reported that 74% of shoppers make buying decisions based on social media rankings and reviews.

If you don’t have a social media presence, you are declining to reach a significant percentage of potential customers. Many people use social media channels, like Facebook and YouTube, as they would Google to research companies, brands, products and services. They use engagement on the channel, timely and informative information, and customer reviews to make purchasing decisions.

That’s why it is important to have a social media marketing strategy in place to ensure consistent and quality posts and engagement.

But where to begin? Developing a social marketing strategy isn’t as easy as writing a few Facebook posts and sharing a few articles or videos. It involves an in-depth analysis and strategic planning.

Following this step-by-step process can help you outline the best strategy for your business.

Do your research.

First, complete a SWOT Analysis. This analyzes your business strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It also maps out marketing strategies your company has implemented in the past, your target audience, and where gaps or opportunities lie for future marketing tactics. A few questions to ask yourself include:

1. What advantages does your organization have?
2. What do you do better than your competitors?
3. What is unique about your business or product?
4. Where could you improve?
5. What opportunities can you spot?
6. Are there industry trends you can take advantage of?
7. What obstacles do you face?

Doing an in-depth analysis of your competitors will provide insight into what your business is doing right, or where you can improve. What types of content are they producing? What channels are they active on? What are they posting? What are people commenting or leaving in reviews?

It may also be helpful to analyze your industry. What are industry bloggers writing about? What are your potential customers looking for? What questions do they have? What solutions are already out there, and where are there gaps in information? What are other industry leaders posting on social?

Map out your goals.

What are you hoping to accomplish with your business and how can you do this through an active social media strategy? Are you hoping to tell your brand story? Build an email subscriber or blog following? Increase brand awareness? Build brand loyalty? Generate leads?

Write your goals down somewhere where you can see them every day.

Determine your objectives.

This outlines what you are going to do and when you are going to do it. Figure out, in general, what you are going to do and what your deadlines are.

Develop your strategy.

Work out a three, six and 12 month strategy. What days of the week and times of the day are you going to post? Who is your target audience? What kind of content, images and videos will you share? Will you focus on brand campaigns? Content campaigns? Product or event promotions? What do your posts look like?

Use this as the opportunity to outline – in detail – how you are going to accomplish your goals on social media.

Work through your tactics.

Use this section to add detail and specifics to your strategy. If your strategy is a paid campaign, what is the budget? Who is the target audience? What do the images and messaging for this campaign look like? For your daily timeline posts, who is writing and/or approving content? What links will you use? What type of imagery?

Round out your measurement strategy.

Spend some time thinking about what success looks like. Is it a certain number of engagements or impressions per week? Clicks to your website? Calls to a dedicated phone number? Thinking about what you are going to measure is an important part of your planning. You must set goals so you know how your campaigns are performing and how to improve.

Once you get through the planning phase, it’s time to take action. Set three, six and 12-month timelines and deadlines. Using a content or seasonality calendar, plan out what you will post when and begin writing them. As your campaign develops, you may find that certain words, images or links do not perform as well as others. Use these insights to optimize your strategy.

Also, make sure to coordinate your social media paid campaigns and organic posts with your other traditional and digital marketing. Consistency is key in promoting your brand and making your business a staple in your industry.