Let’s take a look at all the various social media services and tools we can name in 30 seconds:

Feel overwhelmed yet?

It seems that every single day we are hearing about the next big thing, but this is making it more and more difficult to represent oneself or one’s brand. That is the benefit of implementing a top level social media strategy as you promote yourself. Here are 3 easy steps to get started.

1. Identify your ideal customer

The first step is to really identify your target customer beyond, “anyone who is interested in my services.” Who are your current customers and what characteristics do they share or purchases do they have in common? Are they men age 18-24, business professionals age 25-54, or do they have a particular household income? Your goal here is to get as specific as possible because there are similar potential customers who could also benefit from your products and services.

2. Identify your customer’s social networks

With this ideal customer in mind, your next step is to identify their social networks. A younger ideal customer may favor Instagram and Twitter, while an older ideal customer may favor Facebook and Pinterest. The main takeaway here is you don’t have to be active on every social media platform. Just those where your current and potential customers are, as well as those that just make sense for your business. For example, a restaurant may be more successful with social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to share photos, specials and engage patrons to then share their photos and dining experiences. A B2B company however may see more success with Facebook and LinkedIn to humanize their brand and share industry news and content.

3. Plan a post a week calendar

Planning your content is critical to your overall message, and it will also save you time and headaches in the long run. You won’t be in a time crunch and prone to push out less than thoughtful content, and you can also work ahead as time permits. If you have a monthly special or theme, craft your posts around it. This also allows you to create a balance of information, entertainment and sales. People don’t frequent social media to be sold products, so be mindful in giving them what they want with just a sprinkling of sales on top. Humanize your business and create a community of followers that are loyal to your company and brand. You want to create brand ambassadors who will share your content and message. Sales will naturally follow this.

With this top level strategy in place you’re positioning your business to reach customers where they already are, and that’s half the battle in what is becoming a more cluttered digital market every day. From here the possibilities and data available to you open up. You can begin to see trends in time, topic and demographics. But that’s for another day. For now take a deep breath and get going on these 3 easy steps. No interest or time for social media management? We can help, just give us a call!