Are you the owner of a small (but mighty) business?
With a load of spare time to execute a complicated social media strategy? Just like the not-so-small businesses do?
Do I ask dumb questions?
I have been told that before, so get in line.
However, I am also here to help you with an absolute-bare-minimum social media plan.
So you could go from feeling overwhelmed, dumb and numb to sharp, focused and ‘I got this’.
You are such a wise business owner. Now, use your business savvy to make a social strategy to attract more leads, have more conversations, and win more sales.
Why may you need a paired down strategy?
Since you have got a business to run. You have got to do things like…
Hire, fire, train, and handle. Improve sales, decrease costs, and enhance profits. Launch a site, or new services or products. Read a book, attend a seminar. Purchase software programs to run your business. And all the other activities to make a buck, so you could live in your home, and vacation with your family, while working for yourself—not others.
Okay, I am projecting on that last one.
It’s simple to focus excessively on a social media strategy. Which eats up your time when trying to make more $$$.
Yes, social media is vital to:
- Assist others to know you exist
- Gain new leads from your site
- Enhance your search engine rankings
However, be smart about how much time and sweat you apply.
How to create a minimalist social media strategy
Some easy tips for a simple strategy.
Set your digital marketing goals
Before setting your digital sail, know where you want to go. Better you select then leaving it up to the e-wind.
Know your audience. Are they Millennials, single musicians, older parents who want to send their children away to summer camp? Do a little thinking, and write a few notes, to understand what to share, and on which networks.
Begin with any current customers. Got some people who have already purchased from you? Consider finding new leads with a few of the same traits. Like: their age, where they live, their income, how they spend their spare time, stuff like that.
Choose a couple of channels
You have set a few objectives and selected a few demographics for your audience. Good job.
Now select two networks to show and share your posts. No need to spread yourself thin across many platforms.
Which networks to select?
Are you utilizing some now? If so, which ones are working greatest? Consider the number of followers, likes, shares, and comments to help you pair down. Integrate that along with your objectives, to make a great choice.
Not utilizing any networks yet? Fine. Learn which demographics matter to marketers. It will assist you to make a smart choice.
LinkedIn is the backbone of my social media right now. I have got good at sharing articles twice a day in my feed, inviting new connections, planning and sending messages to these connections over a couple of months, and asking them to talk with me on the phone.
Get good at a few. Later on, add a few more. Iterate.
Create a social schedule
Because when you do not, you will waste precious time by:
- Responding to comments longer than expected
- Spending hours creating social media images
- Reading fascinating content that does not benefit your business
- Doing things others could be better at
There are all types of ways to get lost in a sea of social surfing.
Instead, make a couple of schedules to do particular social tasks. Say, every day for 30 minutes, some combination of:
- Read (or scan) a fascinating post for your business
- Save it to share later with your followers
- Reply to comments
- Like posts from others
- Update your profile picture and text
- Write a new post (even when it’s just once a month)
Then, 30 minutes every Monday morning, log in to Hootsuite to schedule these 10 helpful articles a week (2 a day).
You get the idea. Develop your own schedule to stay focused. The keys being:
- Develop a new habit
- Block out some time
- Don’t answer calls
- Shut down email
Another factor, you do not have to do everything yourself. Hire a VA to do some of the above. Or hire an expert to make a video, write a post, or record a podcast. Put it in your schedule to find and interview one of those experts.
Publish awesome content
When paring down your social activities, your number one priority needs to be content—content worth sharing, because it’s worth reading.
By this time you need to have some great notions about your target audience:
- What do they want?
- What pains or issues are they experiencing?
- What are the root causes of those issues?
- How does the above make them feel?
- How could you solve these issues?
- How will their life enhance after solving their issues?
Ponder and answer these questions with your posts and content.
Keep in mind, creating good content—whether it is an Instagram post or a long-form blog post—is more about your readers than you and your business. Too many companies use ‘we’, and ‘ours’ -vs- ‘you, and ‘yours’. Actually, count the number of times you utilize these words.
Change your content accordingly (do the same for your web pages, too).
Make your readers the hero in the story, like Luke Skywalker. Positioning you like the guide, like Yoda.
More people will listen, respond, like, and share your posts when it is about them.
Track your results
Choose one or two KPIs for each network to understand how your social strategy is performing. See what is working and what isn’t. It will assist you to gain insights for what to change and test.
What’s a KPI?
It’s a kind of metric to measure performance deemed valuable to your business. Track it over time to measure progress (or not). It will assist you to understand if you’re achieving your goals and targets.
What are some KPIs worth tracking?
Right here are a few:
For reach: How many people may see your posts across all of the social media
- Audience development rate: Rate of development for your social media fans
- Post reach: Number of people have seen your post since it went live
For engagement: How people are interacting (or not) with your posts
- Applause rate: How many people like your posts, relative to your total followers
- Average engagement rate: Just like above, but for likes, shares, and comments
- Amplification rate: How your fans care and share your content with their people
For conversions: How effective your campaign is performing
- Conversion rate: Number of guests that take the action you asked them to
- Click-through rate: The rate people click on your call-to-action (CTA) links
- Bounce rate: The rate people are leaving without finishing your CTA
There’s plenty more. That’s only a few social media KPIs you could select to track for your social media strategy.
Whichever ones you select to track, here’s a social media report template to input your outcomes month-over-month.
Create a backlog of images and content
Some times are busier than others for your business. I get it. So once you are on a writing-content-creation groove—roll with it.
Perhaps you could write two (or three) posts this month or week, though you only publish one piece during that time. Write and create when you could, to build up an inventory of content and ideas.
You will be glad when your workload is high, and time to write low. When all you must do is hit the publish button. Better than always writing under pressure.
While this piece is about a minimal strategy for your small business, it’s still critical to act just like the biggies, to get an ROI for your effort and time.
Be focused. Be consistent. Measure outcomes. Lather, rinse and repeat to do better this month than final, better this year than last.