6 Tips to Guide Your Social Marketing Strategy

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Whether your brand’s social media marketing is in full swing or if it’s just getting started, it’s important to have a focused strategy with clear goals about what your business is hoping to accomplish.  Because there are so many social networking sites, it’s easy to get lost in the world of social media and the last thing your company wants is to waste a lot of time without getting much done.  Here are six tips to help guide your brand’s social marketing strategy:

1.  Track your progress- Find a way to measure and record your social media results from the get-go.  Ask new clients how they found out about you and ask old clients if they’ve been using social media to keep track of your brand.  This will help you to see which networks work best for your business and where your social media efforts have and have not been successful.

2.  Allocate your time- Sit down, determine how much time you are willing to spend on social media, and stick with it.  Break down how much time you will spend on each platform and then decide how often you will do it.  Sticking to a schedule keeps you on track- it prevents you from neglecting your sites or from getting stuck in the social media time suck.

3.  Have clear goals- Your brand should know from the beginning what it’s hoping to accomplish through social media- More clients?  Greater exposure?  Knowing what your business is hoping to accomplish will guide your social media strategy and ensure that you are always working toward something.

4.  Concentrate your efforts- This is a classic example of quality over quantity.  You’re better off focusing your attention on a small number of platforms than trying to spread yourself thin on a bunch of them. One well-managed Facebook page is more effective than Twitter and Google+ profiles that you rarely post to and a neglected blog.

5.  Repeat content- Don’t be afraid to use the same content on multiple platforms.  Tweet about your blog posts, use your blog posts in newsletters, etc.  Not only does this save time, it sends a unified message across multiple platforms.

6.  Promote yourself- Ask your clients to check out your social media sites at every available opportunity.  Place links to Facebook, Twitter, your blog, etc. on your website and in e-mails to clients and ask them to follow or like you.  On the flip side, place the links to your website on all of your social media platforms.

Does your brand have a focused social marketing strategy?  How do you keep yourself on track?

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