How to build an SMM strategy_ a step-by-step plan for promotion in social networks

Step 1: Write down the strengths and weaknesses of your product

A SWOT analysis is a summary of your business's strengths and weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. When you do this, it will be easier to understand the goals of your presence on the Internet, determine your place in the market, figure out what else you need to work on, what kind of USP put it first.

Here is an example of a SWOT analysis of a conditional construction company that builds eco-buildings.

Step 2: Decide on your goals

Now we need to define the goals that we want to achieve with the help of SMM. As the main task, you need to choose one thing and put it at the forefront. Keep in mind that the chosen goal will affect literally everything: the content, settings for targeted advertising, the method of communication with the audience, and so on.

Here's what your goals might be:

• ROI – reduce or cover the costs of maintaining communities in social networks;
• traffic – increase the number of transitions to the site;
• profit – sell more goods;
• PR – increase brand awareness;
• customer loyalty – to strengthen trust between the brand and customers;
• scaling – to launch a new product, service, expand the sales market.

When a big goal is chosen, break it down into stages. This will make it easier to adjust the strategy in case of any changes. Small tasks are easier to work with: they are easier to understand, correct and achieve.

If the goal is to sell more goods, then the sub-goals will look something like this:

• think over the design and adjust the content;
• test advertising campaigns and platforms;
• attract new subscribers;
• increase sales to... (quantity of goods in units or monetary terms) or by... (specify a percentage of the current number of sales).

The goals may be different, but the rules for setting them are the same.

• Concreteness. What is more important now: subscribers (to be known about you) or customers (to increase sales)?
• Measurability. How many subscribers, targeted appeals, orders do you need? What profit should I make? Answer this question by considering the first principle of goal setting.
• Time constraints. How long does it take to achieve the goal?
• Accessibility. Set realistic goals. Do not expect that in a month you will get worldwide fame and the corresponding number of leads.

Setting a realistic goal will help the specialist Cotech Agency for promotion in social networks.

Step 3: Conduct an analysis of competitors and target audience

See what social media strategy your competitors are following. It is most convenient to do this with the help of special services.

• Find out what ideas worked for competitors and adapt them to your advertising campaign. This will help to save on promotion, get to know your customers better, and make the right strategy.

• Check the social media metrics of competitors to roughly understand what you need to move towards. If within the geography of your work, even the strongest competitors have no more than 10,000 subscribers and low engagement, you should not count on a million audience. And do you really need it?

Step 4: Find promotion channels and follow the trends

Channels. Have you analyzed competitors and target audience? So, you already know where your potential customers "sit". Most often today it is "Facebook" + Instagram, sometimes in conjunction with them are Facebook and "Odnoklassniki".

Trends. Try newsjacking and generally engage in situational marketing – create content in conjunction with current phenomena. Track resonant, hype stories and adapt them to your product. A little life hack: watch how others do, get inspired, and do even cooler.

Step 5: Create Creativity

Creativity is a phrase that unites the entire concept of the brand. It is simple, clear, and easy to integrate into all promotion channels.

For example, the phrase "... for everything else there's Mastercard" and "... while my favorite ketchup is flowing" are short, memorable, and versatile: they can be tied to almost any agenda.

Step 6: Make Quality Content

You have analyzed the audience and found out its interests and desires. Now think about the concept of a community: an online magazine, a blog with useful information, a personal brand of an expert.

Create a content plan. The main thing is that the posts are useful for subscribers and easy to perceive.

Publishing "as much as possible" and relying only on quantity is a bad strategy. It is better to take time not for quantity, but for quality. The budget won by reducing the number of posts, letting it go into the promo.

See also: Finding "your own", fighting chaos and a lifeline: why you really need a content plan

Step 7: Promote services in thematic communities and niche leaders

Advertising from bloggers is one of the most effective ways of promotion. Bloggers are focused on a specific niche, are considered industry experts, thematic specialists, and have a dedicated fan base. Their advice is listened to by subscribers, among whom there are your potential buyers.

Community Ads – Find communities where your audience sits and post there. We advise you to plan advertising in several publics at once.

Step 8: Create Viral Content and Run Contests

Viral content. No one knows whether the idea will "go viral" or not – no one has yet come up with a universal solution, although there have been attempts. The more diverse content you make, the higher the chance of once "hitting the bullseye" and at once recouping all the failures: users will begin to share your posts with friends themselves.

Contests. A good contest will bring not only a certain number of likes and reposts, but also attract a new audience, and at the same time introduce it to your services and concept.

Step 9: Monitor the success of the strategy

A large audience is great, but it is impossible to take into account only the growth of subscribers, assessing the quality of SMM promotion.

• Coverage. It is important that your publication is seen by as many potential customers as possible. The better users respond to your post, the more coverage the social network gives.
• Clicks. They help you understand what interests users, how they navigate your marketing funnel.
• Organic and paid engagement. For example, on VKontakte and Instagram, good content will help to achieve organic engagement, but on Facebook, it is almost impossible to get it in this way.
• Mood. Shows how users react to your content, brand, or hashtag, what emotions your posts evoke in them, whether they find them offensive, and if so, why?

Step 10: Strategy doesn't work

If you are thinking through a strategy for the first time and at the time of implementation you saw inconsistencies do not be afraid.

A beginner will have to sweat and stuff bumps before promotion become effective.