You're a small business owner and have spent some of your hard earned money on social media marketing, hired people to setup your Facebook Page, Twitter account, YouTube Channel and LinkedIn Business Page. You've even hired a social media "expert" to post on your social media channels a few times per week. You're also thinking that maybe you should start pinning some pictures on Pinterest because your sister in-law said it was the next big thing.
The only problem is that although everyone seems to be doing it, you just don't get it! You're not really getting new business from it and you can't help wondering if you're wasting your money on this social media "thing."
Sounds familiar? If you've jumped blindly into social media and have no clue WHY, might as well get out now because you're doomed to fail!
By not setting goals and objectives, you can't effectively measure your success which will leave you frustrated and disappointed. Clearly defining and understanding what you're attempting to accomplish with social media should be your first step.
Start from the Beginning
Setting social media goals should be a reflection of your overall business goals.
Find the Answers
Before jumping into social media, you need to do your research and ask yourself several questions.
- What are your competitors doing
- Who are you trying to reach
- Where is your audience
- What resources are you able to allocate
- What's your budget
- How much time can you dedicate
- How much should you handle yourself or who's going to be responsible
- Should you keep it internally or outsource
- Do you need a social media policy
- What are your obstacles
- What are your strengths
- What image do you want to project
Keep it Realistic and Achievable
Here are some Social Media goals:
- Increase your brand recognition
- Increase website traffic
- Improve search rank
- Generating Leads
- Increase sales
- Provide customer support
- Reducing marketing costs
- Reducing client support costs
- Market Research
- Educate
- Become the go-to expert in your field
The more specific you are at setting goals, the easier it will be to measure the effectiveness. Example: increase website traffic by 30% in the next 6 months.
Time
The truth is Social Media takes time and is a long term process. If you're not fully committed on spending regular time on this, it's going to be very difficult to see any progress. Determining the amount of time that you can realistically spend on your social media marketing will help you decide where you should spend your efforts.
Educate Yourself
You may not need to know how to set up a Facebook Page but it's important to at least understand the big picture. As a small business owner, you may choose to stay away from the details but you should understand the process, be involved in the planning stages and keep track of the results.
If you're responsible for all aspects of your social media campaign, you'll obviously have to understand and learn the process as well as being familiar with the different tools.
Remember
By setting realistic expectations, time-frame and clear goals, you'll be able to better focus and have direction for your social media campaign. Keep in mind that reviewing your efforts and making appropriate adjustments is also part of the process.
It's also important to note that social media is not there to replace all other forms of marketing; it's only a small piece of the pie which works best in conjunction with other channels.
Image source: slworking2 via Compfight