2020 was a wild ride. If there’s one thing that we need to take away from it – then it’s the need to be prepared, for both the expected and unexpected. The Covid-19 pandemic ushered in a new normal, and it looks like there’s no returning to the “old normal.” We all have to agree that the pandemic has changed the way we do business forever.
As one of the top digital marketing companies in Gurgaon, here at Webfries, we’ve refined our social media strategy to adapt and thrive in the new normal. In this guide, we share our insights on how to build a robust social media strategy for 2021, that will keep you miles ahead of your competitors.
The key to successful social media marketing is to have a well-planned strategy. Without a strategy, you’re likely to be shooting in the dark. Without understanding your goals, your target audience, and what they want, you cannot achieve the desired results with social media marketing.
How to create a winning social media strategy for 2021?
Before we help you figure out your social media strategy, let’s first understand what it is:
A strategy is where you’re headed. This shouldn’t be confused with the plan. The plan helps you get there.
You can set up a social media strategy for each of the social networks you’re on. Alternatively, you can create an overall strategy and apply it to each social media platform. First, let’s focus on the overall strategy.
Step 1: The Why – Why does your business want to be on social media?
The first question is to answer the why. This will help you discover your social media goals. Broadly speaking, social media goals are of nine types:
- Grow revenue – increase sales, sign-ups, etc.
- Drive traffic to your site
- Increase brand visibility/awareness
- Generate new leads for your business
- Boost engagement
- Provide customer service via social media
- Build a community of followers for your brand
- Listen to what people are speaking about your brand
- Increase mention in other media platforms
Tips for social media success
You can have one or more goals – that’s okay. But, assign different teams/people to focus on each goal. This way, they don’t feel overwhelmed and lose track of what they are hoping to achieve. For example, at the top digital marketing agency in Gurgaon like ours, we assign separate teams to monitor different social media goals for our clients. Our marketing team uses social media to increase brand awareness, and drive traffic, while our customer support team offers timely customer support via social media. Our sales team focuses on generating leads and driving sales.
Step 2: The Who – Who is Your Target Audience
Once you have identified the why, the next step is to identify your target audience. Answering who will help you figure out the answers for the next steps – what, where, and when. You need to work on building customer personas in this step. Here is our favourite approach to identifying your target audience. Ask these questions:
Who are they? – age, gender, location, job title, salary, etc.
Where are they? – Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Tik-Tok, etc.
What are they interested in? – What do your audience like – educational content, informative articles, behind-the-scenes video, etc.
When do they consume content? – During their commute, weekends, after office hours, etc.
Why do they consume content? – To stay up to date, to become healthy, to purchase something, to improve career prospects, for entertainment, etc.
How do they consume content? – Read social media posts, watch long/short videos, interactive polls, etc.
Step 3: The What – What are you going to share?
Since this is an overall strategy you don’t have to think minutely about the types of content you’re going to share – videos, polls, stories, live videos, etc. Instead, you need to work on the theme of the content you’re going to share. Will it be?
Photos from customers using your product
High-quality, advertorial style photos
Memes related to your brand
New products
Latest information about your brand
Tips for social media success
You can have more than one theme so that your audience doesn’t feel bored with the same type of content. Take a look at competitor profiles to get an idea of the types of content they are sharing. Keep in mind that the type of content you share should match the customer personas you devised in the previous step.
Step 4: Where – Where are you going to share?
The next step is to decide where you want to share the content – which social media platforms do you want your brand to be on? Here are a few points to keep in mind:
You don’t have to be on every social media platform out there.
It’s a good idea to list out 3 to 5 platforms frequented by your target audience.
It’s recommended that you have an active profile on the top four – Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. These platforms show up on Google search results when users search for your brand.
Consider your brand’s X factor and choose a platform that matches it. For example, if you shoot long-length product videos/tutorials often, then having a channel on YouTube can help a lot.
Don’t forget to consider smaller niche platforms like Strava etc.
Step 5: When – When are you going to share?
The final part of your social media strategy is to figure out when the best time to post is. Before you work out the nitty-gritty, time, and day to post, here are a few points to consider:
When is your audience most likely to be on social media?
For example, fitness enthusiasts are most likely to browse social media while cooling down after a workout.
Stay-at-home moms are likely to use it while kids are away at school.
There is no universal best time to post – it all depends on the behaviour pattern of your target audience.
Finally, how will you execute your Social Media Strategy?
Make sure to note down your answers for each step. Refine it. You may have to spend some extra time researching the answers to a few questions. Once you have worked your way through each step – you have a clear-cut social media strategy for your brand.
This brings us to the crucial part – how to execute it? For this, you need a plan. A plan will give detailed insights like:
How to set up your social media profiles?
What tone to use?
Which tools to use?
You can handle social media on your own. But, remember that for the best results – you need to be consistent. Posting randomly with no strategy will not fetch you the desired results. At Webfries, we help you build a robust social media strategy aligned with your marketing goals. We also help you execute your strategy with the right plan. As one of the top digital marketing companies in Gurgaon, we can help you handle the A – Z of social media marketing. Get in touch with our friendly team by dropping a line at sales@webfries.com or giving us a ring at +91 124 4382 633 to set the social media ball rolling.
P.S. You might like these related resources:
- 7 Best Digital Marketing Trends to Embrace in 2021
- Social Media Growth Hacks for 2021
- Key Ingredients to have in your Digital Marketing Strategy