Why you need a social media strategy

Remember when we used to memorize our friend’s phone numbers? Chances are good that you’ve probably forgotten most of the digits you swapped – we won’t mention how many years ago – but you can probably name the social media handles of everyone in your circle…and then some!

There’s no disputing the importance of social media in your marketing strategy (just like there’s definitely no better way to hang up a phone than flipping it shut).  It’s called a “strategy” for a reason: having a structured plan for your social media involves far more than just posting.

A successful social media strategy requires consistent, thoughtful engagement with your customers. Otherwise, you risk losing them to your more present competitors, who have already started reaching out to millennials who are #mostlikelytospend.   With that said, your business should wield social media in a “pen is mightier” fashion- by creating and implementing plans and goals that solve problems specific to you. 

You probably can’t get 1 million Twitter followers in a year, but what you can do is use your strategy to increase brand awareness, create a loyal fanbase, or increase your sales by reaching your core audience faster with targeted keywords or phrasing.

Want to improve your ROI? See what your competitors are doing successfully? Identify your current customers' demographics? Yep! There’s a social media strategy for that. With the abundance of platforms that exist currently, (Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr…and those are just the most popular) it can be overwhelming to know where to start if you’re a little late to the game.

It’s important to keep in mind that a good strategy is about quality, not quantity. Can you create an account on every platform? Probably. Should you? Definitely not. Writing down your goals and priorities in the beginning will help you develop a strategy that creates both short term results and long term success. 

Even if your company is exclusively a brick-and-mortar store, or has been in business since before the internet (a big achievement if so!), you need a social media strategy to stay relevant, keep your customers coming back, and attract new ones. Yes, even you.