A social media strategy defines how your business will use social media to achieve its communications aims and the supporting platform and tools it will use to achieve this.
- It outlines goals, measurable objectives for using social media
- Targets the outcome you want to achieve
- It does it in the context of your overall business and communications plans, as social media works in parallel with your other channels
Even if you are not actively involved in social media, other businesses are, including your competitors and most likely a significant proportion of your customers. Social media is where many people hold conversations. If you’re not part of the discussion, and you can’t influence what happens.
You need a strategy. Deciding how to connect with customer is not a tactical decision, it requires strategic thinking. Social needs to align with the other communication channels so its role is defined and understood, and there are processes and tools in place to cope with demand. If you let a social marketing team simply get on with it, without the strategic vision above it, you risk inefficiency and inaccuracy.
Here are five key reasons why your business needs a coherent social media strategy and plan.
- The social web still is growing fast
- Purchasing decisions are influenced by social media
- Lack of strategy hands the advantage to competitors
- Your customers are active on social media
- There are key influencers in every social network