It is well-known that social media is a fundamental component of modern business, but how to create a content plan that will help your business grow?
Let’s browse through nine essential topics to make it a success.
Which is the target customer?
It all starts and ends with the users: They choose what they want to see or consume, and as an entrepreneur, your priority should be that they choose you and decide for your products. For this to happen, you must take the time to find your target customers and delve into them until you define your buyer personas. You can create campaigns on all social networks, but it will be useless if you don’t manage to reach your specific customers.
Let’s start this adventure by creating the basic profile of your buyer persona. Grab paper and pencil and answer the following points to create a fictitious character that resembles your target as closely as possible.
Ideal customer file:
- Name.
- Age.
- Gender.
- Place of residence.
- Academic level.
- Income level.
- Cultural background.
- Marital status.
- Personality and distinctive characteristics.
- Personal goals.
- Behavior in social networks.
Remember that we are talking about people who, despite sharing tastes, may have different characteristics and needs. Repeat and refine this process to create as many profiles as you can. This exercise will allow you to write content that fits the needs of each target consumer and create successful campaigns.
The more accurate the profile of your buyer persona is, the more successful your campaigns and publications will be: Create compelling surveys and interact with your customers to delve into preferences and decision-making drivers.
In-depth research about competitors can teach you a lot about potential and actual customers, enabling you to answer the following question: What problems do my competitor’s buyers have that I can solve?
On which social networks should you participate?
While it might be tempting to have a presence on all social networks, the truth is that you should only focus on those where your buyers are. Hanging on platforms with no affinity to your target audience will make you waste time and money.
What are your objectives for social media content creation?
If you do not undertake your social media management with a well-defined goal, it can be hard for you to achieve successful results with your social networks. When a company decides to engage in these media, it usually has one or more of the following as its main goals:
- To gain visibility and generate engagement.
- To feed the database.
- Brand positioning and awareness.
- Attract new customers in social networks (Social Media).
- Increase traffic to its website.
Regardless of the goal, it shall go hand in hand with the company’s interests and be a SMART objective. But, what does it mean? SMART is a methodology for goal-setting, used since the 1980s, to define the pursued objective and performance indicators. According to its acronym, a SMART objective has the following attributes:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time-bound
How often should you publish content?
When talking about posting frequency, there is no fixed rule in Social Media Content Marketing: You can start by studying your competitors’ accounts to learn about industry trends. This way, you will have an initial idea of the best times at which others post; however, remember that the success of your content will depend on specific factors related to your brand’s buyers. Analyze your stats, audience reactions, and interaction peak hours to gather information about your followers’ activity patterns on the web.
Generally speaking, there seems to be a direct correlation between success and the frequency of publishing high-quality content. Take this cautiously: it is not just about the number of posts delivered but about ensuring that your content provides an edge. The optimal frequency will always be the one that allows you to write the maximum number of original and compelling content without sacrificing quality for quantity.
Whether a blog or a social media platform, statistics will vary. According to a recent HubSpot study, B2B and B2C companies with the best traffic rankings are those with 16 or more posts per month on their blogs. The optimal number and schedule for content publishing on platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook may vary significantly among them.
What topics do you want to cover?
There are three main factors to take into account when choosing which topics to publish:
- Buyers: They are your reason for being and your most valuable source of information to know which topics bring them value and which do not.
- The social network: Each social network has a defined scope; therefore, to succeed, you must tailor your publications to fit the tone of each platform. For example, LinkedIn is a professional site, while TikTok is humorous and informal.
- Company’s interests: The content must help you reach the goal that has been previously set. If you have already started publishing content, ask yourself the following question before continuing: Does this content bring me closer to the goal? If the answer is no, you should readjust it.
How should you structure your publications?
The structuring of content strongly depends on the goal to achieve. Versatility and innovation are critical to retaining the customer’s attention. Although it is not necessary to embrace them all, here are some ideas to consider.
- Valuable content: In addition to written content via a blog, you can include enriched formulas such as:
- Guides and tutorials with educational content (e-books, technical documents, user manuals, FAQs).
- An Audiovisual, e.g., via YouTube, has a high perceived value by the public.
- Configuration of groups and communities to enhance content visibility.
- Infographics and slides.
- Campaigns designed to inspire: Ad campaigns are highly effective for boosting traffic. Likewise, personalized e-mail campaigns help to encourage customer loyalty.
- Promotional sales to captivate: Who doesn’t like a bargain? Offering an attractive promo or discount for your target audience will give you great rewards.
- Contests and giveaways to enhance brand exposure: These are opportunities to gain new customers while not investing considerable resources since each follower may act as a spokesperson for the special event, thus attracting further visitors.
Who should be the author of each publication?
While it can be fun to come across different styles of posts and personalities within the same site, the decision on who will generate your content depends on the image you want to portray on social media. It can be done by an in-house team, outsourcing digital marketing agencies or freelance writers. The key is that each author understands their responsibility and provides unique, brand value high-quality content appealing to their followers.
How can you maximize engagement with your fans and customers?
There are many ways to ensure your customers’ loyalty to your brand and future projects, but they all stem from one key driver: INTERACTION!
Spend time getting to know your followers; get the most out of polls and surveys by asking interesting but easy-to-answer questions and answering your fans’ concerns through live broadcasts, chats or customized e-mails.
What are some helpful tips for creating social media content that works?
Here are some pointers to remember:
- Love at first sight happens: Humans are visual creatures. For this reason, you should not underestimate the power of an optimized and aesthetically pleasant profile; a striking and well-thought social media logo and audiovisual support with appealing designs can lead to more visits.
- Humanize your brand: Remember that people are the final destination of your message. Create brand value through a warm and relatable tone in your content that your audience will love.
- Users also generate content: Encourage your audience to share testimonials about the use of your products; host contests and special events where they can participate. People like being part of the story; take advantage of this condition and let your users be active players and not mere spectators in your profile.
In conclusion: Creating an effective content plan for social networks can be complicated, but with the right tools and techniques, you can make it possible!
