New Waves Best Practices for Social Media Marketing Strategy

A great social media marketing strategy is one that is built on a deep understanding of your audience, their needs and the platforms they use. Whether it’s through organic posts, paid advertising, influencer partnerships or social media stories, the key is to create engaging and valuable content that resonates with the target audience and drives them to take action. Additionally, it is important to consistently track, measure and adjust the strategy based on performance and audience insights. ― Ahmed M Hassan, New Waves

1- Define your goals:

Determine what you want to achieve with your social media marketing efforts. Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, or generate leads?

Defining your goals for a social media marketing strategy is an important first step in developing a successful plan. Here are some steps to help you define your goals:

1. Identify your target audience: Determine who you want to reach with your social media marketing efforts. Consider factors such as age, gender, location, and interests.
2. Determine your business objectives: Think about what you want to achieve with your social media marketing efforts. Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, or generate leads?
3. Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals: Create specific and measurable goals that are achievable, relevant to your business objectives, and have a specific time frame for completion.
4. Identify key performance indicators (KPIs): Determine which metrics will be most useful in measuring the success of your social media marketing efforts. Some common KPIs include reach, engagement, website traffic, and conversions.
5. Regularly review and adjust your goals: As you progress with your social media marketing efforts, regularly review and adjust your goals as needed to ensure that you are on track to meet your objectives.

2- Identify your target audience:

Determine who you want to reach with your social media marketing efforts. Consider factors such as age, gender, location, and interests.

Identifying your target audience is an important step in developing a social media marketing strategy. Here are some steps to help you identify your target audience:

1. Define your buyer personas: Create detailed profiles of the individuals you want to reach with your marketing efforts. Consider factors such as demographics, interests, and pain points.
2. Research your current audience: Use tools such as analytics and social media insights to gather data on your current audience. This will give you a better understanding of who is already interacting with your brand on social media.
3. Look at your competition: Research what other businesses in your industry are doing on social media. This will give you an idea of who they are targeting and may help you identify untapped audience segments.
4. Consider your marketing goals: Think about what you want to achieve with your social media marketing efforts. This will help you determine which audience segments are most likely to help you meet your goals.
5. Test and refine: Once you have identified your target audience, test different strategies and tactics to see what works best. Continuously gather data and refine your targeting efforts as needed.

3- Research your competitors:

Check out what other businesses in your industry are doing on social media. This will help you get a sense of what works and what doesn’t and give you ideas for your own strategy.

Researching your competitors is an important step in developing a social media marketing strategy. Here are some steps to help you research your competitors:

1. Identify your competitors: Make a list of businesses in your industry that are active on social media. This may include direct competitors, as well as businesses that offer similar products or services.
2. Follow them on social media: Follow your competitors on social media platforms to see what they are posting and how they are interacting with their followers.
3. Analyze their content: Take note of the types of content that your competitors are posting, including text, images, and videos. Consider what is resonating with their audience and what is not.
4. Analyze their engagement: Look at how your competitors are interacting with their followers. Are they responding to comments and messages? Are they using hashtags or running contests to engage their audience?
5. Look at their social media presence: Consider the overall tone and personality of your competitors’ social media presence. How does it compare to your own?
6. Gather insights: Use the information you have gathered to identify areas where you can differentiate your own social media marketing efforts and better serve your target audience.

4- Choose the right social media platforms:

Not all social media platforms are right for every business. Identify which platforms your target audience is most active on and focus your efforts there.

Choosing the right social media platforms for your business is an important step in developing a social media marketing strategy. Here are some tips to help you choose the right platforms:

1. Identify your target audience: Determine who you want to reach with your social media marketing efforts. Consider factors such as age, gender, location, and interests.
2. Research platform usage: Look at the demographics of the different social media platforms to see which ones are most popular among your target audience.
3. Consider your business and goals: Think about the type of content you will be posting and the goals you want to achieve with your social media marketing efforts. Some platforms may be more suitable for certain types of content or goals.
4. Evaluate your resources: Consider the time and resources you have available for managing your social media presence. Some platforms may require more frequent posting or more in-depth engagement with followers.
5. Test and refine: Start with a few platforms and see how they perform. Use tools such as analytics to track the performance of your social media efforts and make adjustments as needed.

It’s also important to remember that you don’t have to be active on every social media platform. Choose the platforms that are most relevant to your business and target audience, and focus on building a strong presence on those platforms.

5- Create a content calendar:

Plan out the content you will post on social media in advance. This will help you stay organized and ensure that you are consistently posting engaging content.

To create a content calendar for your social media marketing strategy, follow these steps:

1. Identify your goals and target audience: Determine what you want to achieve with your social media marketing efforts and who you want to reach with your content.
2. Determine your content themes and types: Plan out the types of content you will post, such as blog posts, images, videos, and infographics. Consider creating themes for different days of the week or months of the year.
3. Schedule your content: Use a calendar or scheduling tool to plan out when you will post your content. Consider factors such as the best times to post on each platform and any upcoming events or holidays that may affect your content calendar.
4. Create a content calendar template: Use a spreadsheet or other tool to create a template for your content calendar. This will help you stay organized and make it easier to plan and schedule your content in advance.
5. Review and adjust as needed: Regularly review your content calendar to ensure that you are staying on track and that your content is resonating with your audience. Make adjustments as needed to ensure that you are meeting your goals.

Here is an example of a content calendar template:

You can customize the template to include additional details, such as the specific social media platforms you will be posting on and any relevant hashtags or calls to action.

6- Use hashtags:

Use relevant hashtags to make it easier for people to find your content and join in on relevant conversations.

Hashtags are a useful tool for increasing the reach and visibility of your content on social media. Here are some tips for using hashtags in your social media marketing strategy:

1. Research popular hashtags: Use tools such as Hashtagify or Keyhole to find popular hashtags related to your industry or content.
2. Use relevant hashtags: Include hashtags that are relevant to your content and audience. Using irrelevant hashtags can actually hurt your reach, as users may be less likely to engage with your content.
3. Don’t overdo it: Using too many hashtags in a single post can look spammy and may actually decrease your reach. Aim for one to three relevant hashtags per post.
4. Create branded hashtags: Consider creating your own branded hashtags to help build your brand and increase engagement with your audience.
5. Monitor and adjust: Keep track of which hashtags are performing well and adjust your strategy as needed.

Remember to follow the guidelines of each social media platform when using hashtags. Some platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram, have stricter character limits, so you may need to be more selective in the hashtags you use.

7- Utilize paid advertising:

Consider using paid advertising on social media to reach a larger audience and drive more traffic to your website.

Paid advertising on social media can be a useful tool for reaching a larger audience and achieving specific goals. Here are some tips for utilizing paid advertising in your social media marketing strategy:

1. Define your objectives: Determine what you want to achieve with your paid advertising efforts. Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, or generate leads?
2. Identify your target audience: Determine who you want to reach with your paid advertising. Consider factors such as demographics, interests, and location.
3. Set a budget: Determine how much you are willing to spend on paid advertising. Keep in mind that the cost of advertising can vary depending on the platform and the targeting options you choose.
4. Choose the right platforms: Not all social media platforms offer paid advertising options, and the options available can vary. Research the different platforms to see which ones align best with your objectives and target audience.
5. Create compelling ad copy and visuals: The ad copy and visuals you use should be attention-grabbing and relevant to your target audience. Make sure to include a clear call to action in your ad copy.
6. Monitor and optimize your campaigns: Use the analytics and reporting tools provided by the social media platform to track the performance of your paid advertising campaigns. Make adjustments as needed to optimize your campaigns and achieve your objectives.

8- Engage with your audience:

Interacting with your followers on social media is a key part of building a strong presence. Respond to comments and messages, and actively seek out opportunities to engage with your audience.

Engaging with your audience on social media is an important part of building a strong presence and maintaining a relationship with your followers. Here are some tips for engaging with your audience:

1. Respond to comments and messages: Make an effort to respond to comments and messages from your followers in a timely manner. This shows that you value their input and helps to build trust and engagement.
2. Ask for feedback and input: Encourage your followers to share their thoughts and opinions by asking for feedback or input on your content or products.
3. Share user-generated content: Highlight the content that your followers create and share. This helps to build a sense of community and encourages engagement.
4. Run contests and promotions: Hosting contests or promotions is a great way to encourage engagement and build excitement around your brand.
5. Monitor and adapt: Keep an eye on the tone and sentiment of the comments and messages you receive, and adapt your engagement strategy as needed. If you notice that your followers are responding positively to a particular type of content or engagement, consider incorporating more of it into your strategy.

9- Monitor and measure your performance:

Use tools such as analytics to track the performance of your social media efforts. This will help you understand what’s working and what’s not and make adjustments as needed.

Monitoring and measuring the performance of your social media marketing efforts is crucial for understanding what’s working and what’s not and making adjustments as needed. Here are some steps to help you monitor and measure your performance:

1. Identify your key performance indicators (KPIs): Determine which metrics are most important for measuring the success of your social media marketing efforts. Some common KPIs include reach, engagement, website traffic, and conversions.
2. Use analytics tools: Most social media platforms offer analytics and reporting tools that can help you track the performance of your content and campaigns. Make use of these tools to gather data on your KPIs.
3. Analyze your data: Use the data you have collected to identify trends and patterns in your performance. Look for areas where you are succeeding and areas where you can improve.
4. Compare to industry benchmarks: Use industry benchmarks to compare your performance to that of other businesses in your industry. This can help you understand how you stack up against your competitors.
5. Regularly review and adjust: Make a habit of regularly reviewing and analyzing your performance data to ensure that you are on track to meet your goals. Make adjustments to your strategy as needed based on your findings.

By following these best practices, you can effectively use social media to promote your business and achieve your marketing goals.