THE PRACTITIONER

Social media channels continue to expand in ability, reach and popularity. As a result, many executives find themselves overwhelmed by the options and uses of these channels, and have struggled to utilize them effectively. After all, it’s tough to find the time to pull together a strategic social media plan for your company when the focus remains on the bottom line. But what happens when there is no strategy for getting social? We all have heard about social media blunders that were made with a simple click by one person, costing time, money and even customers.

It’s easy to avoid these mishaps with a solid, well thought-out social media plan. Below I outline three things to focus on when building a social media plan for any company or brand.

Research

Like all conversations, social media begins and ends with listening. Chances are, the conversation has already started. Although it’s tempting, resist the urge to jump in without a plan. Start listening to key influencers, brand mentions, blog comments and your competitors. Listening is perhaps one of  the most important elements of your research.

Following research, you should be better informed to understand the existing online presence of your brand, what values and benefits you should promote, the targets and audience you should engage, the channels you should utilize, and the perceptions and attitudes you want to change. Once you answer these questions, and build upon them, you are ready to move on to the next step.

Strategy

The great thing about social media is it’s free. Right? Wrong! Social media costs time. And without a proper strategy, it can be a very expensive undertaking. However, this isn’t meant to scare you. It’s meant to encourage a well-thought out strategy. It’s necessary to set parameters that will help to drive the business forward. How many hours should be allocated to social media? Who will be on the social media team? What is the technical experience, and interest, of the staff? If you are going to blog, how many times will you do so? How many tweets per day? Is content available that can be repurposed to expedite the population process? And finally, but most importantly, what do you want to achieve?

Tactics

This is the part where you decide what social media channels and tools you are going to use to put the plan into motion. There are a myriad of tools, and many accomplish virtually the same thing, so choosing is sometimes a simple matter of personal preference. But oftentimes, a specific tool may be more effective than others in helping you accomplish your goals.  These were probably highlighted to you in the Research phase. Use them appropriately to yield desired results.

Remember, your social media strategy will differ from your neighbor’s, your partner’s, and your competition’s. Understand your goal and conduct thorough research to better comprehend your audience and how they engage with social media. When you’ve completed that, and you have a rock-sold plan, you are ready to master social media marketing.

Steve is President of Wunderkind Public Relations. He regularly comments on public relations strategy, social media and trends impacting the communications industry. You can follow him on Twitter or connect with him on LinkedIn.