Social Media Strategy - does Your Business need one? (Part 1)

Humans devise strategies every day. Some can be mundane as how to pass and exam or can be as complicated as how to land on the moon. If there is something to be achieved at the end of a task, then having a strategy for how to execute that task is your best bet for success. As the popular saying goes “failing to plan is planning to fail” - hence planning and strategizing constitute important elements of every and any endeavour you plan on going on.

As an entrepreneur who is toying with the idea of having a social media presence, the first most important thing to do is strategize on what your social media pages must achieve and portray (and you need to have a clear 'why'). This point cannot be overemphasized enough since a good percentage of businesses do not seem to know or care about the management of their social media pages. It not quite uncommon to visit the official social media pages of some businesses to find old or abandoned telephone numbers and a plethora of broken links.

What is a social media strategy?

There are no express definitions of social media strategy. But, it is well observed that “plan” can be substituted for the word “strategy” to make understanding easier. Simply put, your social media strategy must be a formal written- down plan of how you intend to manage the social media pages of your business for effective client engagement and revenue mobilization. This 'definition' for a social media strategy, covers the key metrics that any entrepreneur must consider when thinking about social media.

Why social media strategies?

#1. First Impressionsr
Your business needs a social media strategy because “what goes up never comes down” and first impression(s) do matter indeed. The first experience that a visitor or a potential business lead have with your social media pages is stuck with him/ her forever.

In this era - where consumer choices is largely influenced by social culture, celebrities, sports icon and supposed social media “influencers”- social media is an extremely important revenue generator for businesses.

Sometimes just a “tag” or “mention” by an influential celebrity to your social media page can lead to a sudden rush in traffic to your social media page or website. Therefore imagine that very moment arriving and your social media page is in a mess: these visitors will surely not return. On the other hand, when your page is filled with engaging content, helpful information and the right contact numbers and emails, you sure can bet you will generate some quality sales leads.

#2. Loss of Revenuesr
Loss of revenues is a major downside to poor or haphazard social media management.

Imagine a scenario where a visitor does not get the intended benefit that s/he had hoped to derive from your social media page. This has led to a loss both in customer and potential revenue. Inaccurate information or haphazard social media management in your business can have a dire consequences on the revenues of your business, considering the fact that when visitors like or follow your social media pages they will constantly see your updates and possible buy from you in the future.

I had a very terrible experience with the social media pages of some businesses when I was looking for a flashmob company to engage with for a non-profit project. Almost 90% of the social media pages I visited had dead mobile numbers and broken email links and addresses. I therefore ruled them out and concentrated on the few that had correct details.

#3. Unified Brand Messager
Social media pages are an extension of your brand. Whatever brand experience that a visitor had on your website must also be reflected in your social media efforts.

Different brand messages can be confusing to visitors therefore consciously creating and curating content to suit your product or service is ideal. It is not uncommon to see a business such as a technology consulting firm share news, updates and articles that are in no way related to the field they are in.

Such postings do more harm than good to the brand and gives visitors the impression that the company does not take its craft seriously.

In Conclusion

Having a social media page for your business is a good way for engaging prospects and visitors but having a detailed social media page with great content, quality links and accurate details is even better.

In the next part of this article (tomorrow) we will share with you how you can come up with a good social media strategy for your business.

Thank you Good Luck,

Spiros

About the author: Spiros Tsaltas is associated with a unique Customer Loyalty Startup : HireLoyalty ( www.HireLoyalty.com ) which is coming out of stealth mode in the next few months.

As a NED (Non Executive Director) Spiros is also associated with HIREghana (www.HIREgh.com) and can be hired via them.

Spiros welcomes all your comments/ remarks/ feedback at Press@HireLoyalty.com

© 2017 Spiros Tsaltas and © 2017 HireLoyalty