Social media is one of the most cost-effective tools currently available to marketers and, if approached correctly, can support and achieve a company’s business goals.
Of all adults connected to the internet, 71% use social media for, on average, 2.4 hours a day. Although this doesn’t necessarily mean your audience is scrolling through their feeds this frequently, it does highlight the potential social media marketing holds.
Setting and achieving social media marketing goals is a lengthy process that requires identifying your business goals and applying appropriate social media strategies in line with those goals. Here’s what other social media marketers are frequently aiming for:
By using different approaches and techniques, these large-scale company goals are pursued through savvy social media marketing.
Setting and achieving social media marketing goals can seem daunting and complicated, but a meticulous and patient approach is sure to reward your efforts.
1. Align your micro strategies with your macro goals
What is your company’s main goal, and how can your social media marketing efforts help achieve this?
For example, a common goal is to increase brand awareness— but turning that into actionable social media goals is more challenging than it first appears.
The age-old SMART approach often used in traditional marketing is also applicable— and incredibly useful when developing social media goals. Take a look at this SMART approach to brand awareness:
Specific: Increase brand awareness among young adults aged 18-25.
Identify your specific goal and make sure it’s precise- don’t aim for something too broad.
Measurable: Increase followers in this age group by 10% and have content reshared over 500 times.
Be able to gauge the success of efforts using KPIs; we’ll circle back to that.
Achievable: Yes
Don’t set yourself up for disappointment; set achievable and realistic goals.
Realistic: Reach your desired audience via targeted ads using strategically created link bait.
The actions required to achieve the goal.
Time-sensitive: 9-month deadline with check-ups every three months.
An end-date is essential, as is checking your progress regularly.
Now you’ve got actionable goals that you’re confident are realistic and achievable, it’s almost time to put the plan in motion— but not quite yet.
KPIs, or key performance indicators, allow you to measure your campaign’s success using social media metrics. However, selecting the appropriate KPIs to track is individual to each campaign, so choose wisely.
Some of the KPIs to look out for throughout a brand awareness campaign are:
- Follower count
- Post impressions
- Post reach
- Social mentions
These individual KPIs are then broken down into specific metrics, such as likes, comments, and shares, contributing to your overall social media engagement rate. Different goals require different approaches and social media measurement tools, but a solid foundation is crucial for any campaign.
2. Create informed content with the platform in mind
The next step in turning your social media engagement goals into a reality is to develop a content plan for your campaign. It needs to reflect and support the decisions you’ve made until this point and aim to achieve your desired goals.
When creating content, it’s hugely beneficial to understand your users and your competition. User research enables you to better understand your audience and what drives them, and competitor research allows you to differentiate your efforts from others in your industry. A combination of the two produces well-informed, unique content. Later Media do this really well with their Instagram account.
Another great approach to creating a content plan for your desired goals is social listening. It allows you to listen to the online talk around your business and identify pain points and potential gains.
It’s also important to consider each platform’s strengths and weaknesses when designing your content plan and create content accordingly. Different platforms offer distinct opportunities and tools; choose the ones that play to your product/service’s advantage and support your social media goals.
Both time and effort are necessary to create an informed content plan, but it’s essential for social media marketing success. Plus, the data collected during your research will undoubtedly help provide a consistent and personalized service to your customers and support your long term customer retention goals.
3. Stay agile with data
The ongoing success of a content plan is dependent on your ability to read and react to the data provided by your chosen metrics that measure social media success. Depending on your social media marketing campaign’s length, choose how often to check your data and allow time to think of and implement changes.
While there are plenty of free social media analytics tools, social media management platforms are better equipped to provide you with the data you need when you need it. Your data is collected and analyzed, then turned into easy-to-read graphs ready to inform your social media marketing plan.
For example, upload your content plan to the post scheduling section for minimal hassle when implementing your campaign. Social media management platforms often provide insights into optimal posting times and days and allow you to simultaneously view and manage multiple platforms, all on one social media metrics dashboard.
View data from various stages of your campaign and compare specific posts to better understand exactly what’s working and what isn’t.
Alongside data analysis, continue your user research to understand your community at the different stages of your campaign. Nobody can better inform you of your client’s needs than them themselves.
There are many ways to research your users further; a feedback form is a reliable and efficient way of quickly and smoothly gathering information. Typeform has a ton of feedback forms available, including this customer feedback form.
A combination of quantitative data analytics and qualitative user feedback is an excellent foundation for measuring social media impact and providing crucial information for reactively improving your content plan.
Wrapping up
Setting and accomplishing social media marketing goals is complicated and intricate— it relies on meticulous research, informed content plans, and agile implementation, often guided by feedback received throughout the campaign.
Your online presence is as significant as your in-person operations; both work together to achieve your business goals, and one is no less than the other. An engaged online community helps achieve social media marketing goals as much as it is a goal in itself.
However, Rome wasn’t built in a day. The process, from research to implementation to re-evaluation, will take time and effort. Research the various social media engagement tools available and find out what works best for you and what you hope to achieve.
Commit to the process, trust your research, and focus on the data— every audience is unique, and it’s so important to understand yours. Once you have, you’ll be able to measure and create social media engagement campaigns that excel.