Why Social Media Strategies Are Necessary
What attracts us to brands initially? I am willing to bet it was a social media post or story. Behind this enticing content is some variation of a social media manager. What most people do not realize is this role is a 24/7 job. Managers are often required to develop social media strategies, post and engage with consumers, report analytics, and more. This position has become an asset to organizations globally. So, why is a social media strategy needed, and how does one become an expert at this?
“A social media strategy is a summary of everything you plan to do and hope to achieve on social media.” — Hootsuite
Posting for the sake of posting will seldom generate the results organizations are expecting. In order to be successful, a plan of action is needed. This plan is a roadmap of daily tasks to achieve organizational goals, the target audience, and metric analytics. Social media strategies are used for brand awareness, building engagement, increase revenue, provide customer service and more. This is why strategies are a necessity.
Before introducing social media to an organization, these questions should be asked:
- Why are you on social media?
- Who are you on social media?
- Who is the target audience?
- What metrics will help define success?
Once these questions are answered, managers can take the next step in developing a social media campaign. Social media strategies are needed for the following reasons:
- Increase in social web users — in 2020 over 3.6 billion people globally use social media
- Social media influences purchasing decisions
- With no strategy, competitors win
- Consumers are more active on social media — in 2020 Q3 ecommerce increase by 36.7% based on 2019 comparison
- Accessibility to key influencers on social media
- Reputation Management
In the traditional marketing funnel, the AIDA model is used — Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action. Managers can map social media activity against this to evaluate success. For example, in the awareness stage, managers can track ad clicks and social media clicks. They can then monitor consumer behavior through the interest and desire phases by tracking e-mail opens, social media shares and views, SEO traffic, and review read. Finally, in the action phase, managers can determine how many consumers purchased the product or service via website traffic. Social media strategies rely heavily on data to determine who, where, and when to display campaigns. These strategies should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.
When a strategy is executed successfully, organizations will see growth in brand awareness, an increase in web traffic, or an increase in lead generation.
What Happens When There is No Strategy?
When organizations do not have a social media strategy or team, challenges will arise when generating consumers and revenue. Pre- Covid, and currently, e-commerce has been a game-changer. This is primarily due to organizations increasing their online presence and social media being the most cost-effective way to target consumers. If there is no strategy to reach the target audience, organizations will miss out on easy revenue opportunities. Additionally, it will be hard to retain customers if brands are not actively engaging or posting. This all boils down to consumers’ access to brands. Social media provides this landscape for consumers to connect with their favorite brands directly for products, customer service, updates, and more. Without this, organizations do not have a standing chance.
A lack of strategy will create a space of missed opportunity and overall impact on business goals. Aimless posting with no regard to consumer voice, social awareness, or out of desperation will end up doing more harm than good. When content is rushed or not thought out, organizations do not win. Furthermore, managers need measurable results to show c-suite executives and ownership to justify investing into social media.
In looking at upcoming trends for 2021, it is evident relationship-based social media marketing will need to work harder to maintain engagement and growing followership. In a study reported on Hubspot, 75% of people do not believe in advertising alone and 71% of consumers are more likely to make purchases based on social media referrals. For a social media manager, this is a challenge to develop new ways to reach a new audience and gain brand loyalty through content.
In conclusion, a social media strategy is always needed if the goal is to generate consumers and increased revenue. Being a Social Media Manager is not an easy job and requires analytical, organizational, and time management skills. When organizations hire qualified candidates it is a win/win and will reflect through social media performance.
