A Social Media Game Plan For Your Business

By 5hmg In Local Online Marketing, Social Media On February 7, 2011

You often hear about how necessary it is nowadays to use social media to beat your competition, but do you really know how to get this done? What can really help you achieve a strong online presence is a game plan on how you can use social media to increase your business profits. Here are some tips on how you can make this possible.

1. Know your budget.

Having a plan on how much money and time you could dedicate to implementing a social media strategy is crucial. You need to analyze how much are you ready to spend on ad campaigns and whether you need to hire someone to do the job or do it yourself. Hiring a social media manager who is knowledgeable in using social networks for your business advantage may be a good investment. However, you may be limited by your resources at the moment, so it may be wiser to simply decide on how much time you could spend a week to do your own social media campaigns. Check you budget and see how many resources could you allocate for your social media tasks.

2. Research on your target market.

Remember that without doing a comprehensive research on your target market, you may simply be doing a lot of guesswork. It is better to understand the psychology of your niche market – what drives your target consumers to buy the products you are selling, which social networks do they prefer to use, and even what tone can best be used to deliver your message. Not doing your research prior to starting your social media campaign may only prove to be unproductive in the end.

3. Select the right social platform for your business.

Try to avoid the big mistake that most businesses have made in the past – joining several social networks and ending up losing focus and failing to meet their business expectations. Know the nature of your consumers and find out which of the social networks available can be the best platform for your business messages. For instance, most consultants would prefer to use LinkedIn, while a singer or an actor may choose to use YouTube videos to create an online portfolio. Pattern your social media strategy according to your business needs.

4. Create a social media policy for your company.

As your network widens, you would be able to reach more followers, which means you would have to be more tactful and cautious about what you “tweet” or post on your Facebook wall. If you have a Facebook page for your company, where your employees could post, for instance, you would have to enforce a social media policy which restrains your employees from posting offensive remarks or any message that can be detrimental to the company’s reputation. Remember that what you are trying to build is a good online reputation that can help you succeed in your business.

Social media are tools that you can use to your advantage and can help you create an online presence that can help you reach your business goals. However, it is only by creating a social media strategy that you can see the full potential of these social networks in helping your business succeed.