Three Tips For Planning Your Social Media Strategy In A Time Of Constant Change

How do you develop a social strategy that adapts to constant change? Here are three main considerations you should make during the planning process.

In the minds of many, social media marketing is simply updating social channels, a task that can easily be tackled with one in-house resource.

However, the deeper you dive into the space, the more you realize that it morphs almost daily, and you see how many facets of expertise it truly requires to pull off successful social campaigns and interactions.

Today, it’s tough for brand social media managers to keep track of where and how they should be engaging customers on social media. Social media ads continue to evolve as the fight for the best ROI rages on. The content medium has changed in recent years, with more emphasis on video, 360-degree views, and livestreaming.

But in social media marketing, content that resonates is still the primary driver of consumer interaction and increased organic reach.

In order to design a successful social media marketing strategy, you must consider the latest social media trends that are likely to have the biggest impacts. The audience is much wider and more diverse, and the way they interact with the various channels has changed considerably. For example, today’s audience is much more attracted to visual content. So brands, both big and small, are leveraging visual content to allure prospective customers.

More than one in three internet users say they go to social networks when looking for more information about a brand or product. Does your social media content represent the brand in a way that your competitive set doesn’t? This is probably the single-biggest mistake we see brands make on social media. And how, in a young, developing ecosystem, do you craft strategies that ensure maximum impact?

How do you develop a social strategy that adapts to this constant change? Here are three main considerations when planning your strategy in an industry full of changes and new opportunities.

Consider The Customer Journey

It’s important to first consider what you are trying to achieve with your social media efforts and how these efforts map to your brand’s broader customer journey. From customer awareness, consideration of purchase to purchase and consumer advocacy post-purchase, consumers need multiple social tactics and touch points to drive to a sale.

While channels and tactics may change, great social media marketers understand which ones can reach consumers at different moments as they are in different mindsets throughout their journey, and understand that the value of social may be measured in direct sales or by comparing social’s performance to other media being purchased.

Consider The Changes

According to GlobalWebIndex data, many users are active on six to eight social channels. Within these channels, they are bombarded with a variety of messages from friends to brands.

That’s why it’s even more important to understand what your target customer is consuming outside of the branded space. Where does this content live? How can you create similar or complementary content that doesn’t feel forced and overly branded? Find out how to deliver organic messaging that resonates with consumers.

Consider The Investment

It’s important to consider the investment social media requires. One way to plan these budgets is to plan your “always on” budget (the amount you need to maintain your social channels), your “amplification” efforts (the amount you need to ensure your content is visible), and lastly your “disruptive” efforts (the amount you need to capture new audiences or to test new platforms or tactics).

Brands that truly innovate in the space, invest in the space.