Social media marketing (SMM) has become a very powerful strategy for driving traffic and, by extension, revenue. Today’s social media platforms have evolved to offer not only fertile ground for building awareness but also very quantifiable and laser-accurate campaigns (such as those that use Facebook ads).
Targeting audience niches has never been so powerful, and now you can maximize budget efficiency better than ever. Speaking of laser-accurate campaigns, think of it this way:
Would you ever be able to measure the effectiveness of a billboard in a multi-channel marketing campaign? How would you measure attribution?
The answer is it’s not possible.
You’ll never know exactly how many paying customers a billboard has gotten you, nor which billboard design has gotten a better return on investment.
But even social media platforms have to be thought of as separate countries with their own local climate patterns, cultures, tastes, and laws. That’s why it’s important to identify the social media marketing goals, and align them with campaign strategies and channels, also called platforms.
Using the same techniques on different marketing channels is sometimes not possible, and often unwise.
- People who use and visit LinkedIn are in a work-oriented mindset. It’s a network aiming to connect people who share professional interests and business insights.
- Facebook is a very personal network that people use for nearly everything. As such, the company has a lot of data on their users’ preferences and interests. Tailor the PPC ads on Facebook to be personal rather than using sales pitch lingo.
- Twitter is a fast-paced network perfectly suited for maintaining mobile communication and following trends. Engaging with industry peers and audiences will certainly make an impact on building awareness as well as your follower base.
- Instagram has become the go-to platform for “influencer marketing” which is a type of marketing strategy perfect for certain types of products and services.
Social media channels provide open communication with potential and actual customers so you can learn what people want directly and therefore serve a better product. The demographics of different social media platforms are also wildly different so be sure to pick the appropriate ones for your target audience.
Like with any other marketing channel, building and maintaining a social media presence costs a lot of money. Thus, defining goals and audiences from the get-go will prevent your budget from being wasted on trying to cater to the wrong people on the wrong platform, with the wrong method.
Why Is an Executive Summary an Important Element of a Social Media Marketing Plan?
The executive summary is “the starting point that is best written last,” and it represents the bare-bone sketch-up of the entire marketing plan.
Basically, it’s an initial assessment of goals and methods to be used in a marketing campaign.
An executive summary should include:
- Key points, goals, and methods from the marketing plan
- Budget allocation
- Project time frame
- Information about the people behind the project, such as their expertise and background
Think of it as the hook that gets investors interested in hearing the full-length business plan. It should show enough of the intricacies to make the reader want to find out more about the project.
A great way to inspire confidence in the audience is to include sources that reference actual case studies or research for any claims that are made in the summary.
Social media research data is very valuable and there’s plenty of it, even from established world-class universities. Use it to your advantage!
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