Not unlike other marketing planning activities, social media planning requires a strong Strategy, Implementation Plan, and Evaluation Scheme.
And not unlike a communications plan, we need to identify our audiences, our optimum channels, and the tools with which we can best convey our message in an authentic, meaningful, and trackable fashion.
It’s really not unlike any other plans of this kind: we’re just focusing on social media, that’s all.
GETTING STARTED
Be Reflective
Know who you are and where you came from. What does your brand stand for? What are your values, your mission, and your purpose. Revisit these important pillars and continue to use them as a guiding force in your strategic endeavours.
Activate Your 3rd Eye
Look beyond your business, your suppliers, your customers, your “known” target market. Look deeper. Do you see it? Can you hear it? There are voices out there who are murmuring your praise, trashing your reputation. You need to bring into the fold stakeholders that you likely never considered in the past:
- Key public figures
- Online influencers (eg. bloggers)
- Complementary firms
- Advocates
Where are you going to find them? Start with industry sites, then check newsgroups, then blogs, then Facebook, then YouTube, then Twitter, then…well, you get the picture.
How do you find them? Try free listening tools & paid listening tools:
- Google Alert
- Pipes
- Addict-o-matic
- Technorati
- Google Trends
- Social Mention
- How Sociable
- Twilert
- Radian (paid)
- Scout Labs (paid)
- Sysomos (paid)
Really, REALLY S.M.A.R.T. Objectives
Set expectations early. Be specific. Know your business outcomes. And measure, for the love of all things techno-esque, MEASURE!
(credit: Developing a Social Media Plan)
