3 quick steps to plan your social media

Placing random updates on social media is like facing Roger Federer's serve with a blindfold on... more often than not your going to miss your target.  



So establishing  structure in your social media will allow you to create better quality posts and find it quicker and easier to create and curate relevant content.

Now for those of you who are new to this blog please understand that this 3 step plan is a BARE MINIMUM  for small business who don't have a social media plan and don't have a clue where to start. It can be daunting trying to establish a starting point, but planning your social media isn't rocket science and this post is all about simplifying the process and getting SOMETHING happening, which in my opinion is better than NOTHING.  

So here it is in 3 easy steps to help those of you who are scratching your heads trying to keep up with all your social media accounts.

1. Remember the big picture

Now it should be said at this point that your social media should be a part of a larger
online/offline strategy, you really need to have a "big picture" approach to your marketing. Social media is simply another channel for communication. Your social media message should be consistent with all of your current communications or at the very least compliment them. 

Integrating your promotions across all your communication channels will provide a  more comprehensive broadcast of your current message. Imagine a choir of 30 people all singing 10 different Christmas carols at the same time, each song would be indecipherable. Now picture that same choir singing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" together, all the voices complimenting each other to create a powerful and easily understood message. 

Your marketing is far more powerful when all the voices work together, your website should echo your current offline promotions, with your social media providing context and relevance by fleshing out your message. 

2. Break it down

Small bite size pieces makes a huge task seem easy.

1. Have a theme established for each month, this should coincide with any advertising or promotions you have going at that time (see point 1). 

2. Break each months theme into weekly topics. 

3. Each weekly topic gets broken down into its key points and VOILA... you have something to work with!

  

3. Fill the Gaps 

Now you have some structure, its time to flesh your plan out. Having a plan that determines your content allows you to focus your online search, minimising the time spent down the Google search rabbit hole and provide you with more meaningful and relevant ideas to post.  Not only that but now you may feel inspired to create more of your own content knowing that it is apart of a bigger picture and has a greater purpose than simply posting another random inspirational quote.



Real World
OK... ...lets plan December for a Florist and flesh it out as an example. 
Obviously the December message will be all about Christmas and the holidays, I've geared the weekly topics into sales type ideas, Flowers as Presents, Christmas Flower arrangements and Flowers for Parties. Lots of images to compliment each post will give the updates a more natural delivery, remember that social media is a communications channel, and keep the tone relevant to your brand.  




Week 1
Flowers as Presents

Monday: Establish the Blooming Christmas presents topic...

Tuesday: Flowers in season for Christmas...5 images 

Wednesday:Christmas promotion linked to website: Enter the draw to win $250 worth of Christmas table bouquets by simply ordering flowers as a gift for somebody else.

Thursday: Message: Delivering right up until Christmas Eve...Christmas delivery image

Friday: Message: We deliver to nursing homes...image of elderly lady with flowers 






Week 2
Flowers for the Christmas Table

Monday: Message: Christmas order deadlines...don't miss out...image of a Christmas calender

Tuesday: TOPIC: Table arrangements for Christmas...4 images of table settings.

Wednesday: Announce winner of promotion

Thursday: Beautiful table decoration ideas, picture posts all day

Friday: DIY Christmas arrangement video... 
  
   

Week 3
Flowers for Summer Parties  

Monday: Message: Last minute table flower ordering... image of the promotion winner picking up flowers

Tuesday: Message: Planning your flowers for new years...

Wednesday: Summer party ideas...8 images of summer dinner party ideas to inspire
 
Thursday: Message: Christmas delivery times

Friday:  Perfect party flower arrangements...4 images of summer table arrangements

SO...

• Planning your social media will save you time in the long run 
• Giving your social media direction and focus will develop better content, more likes and increased leads  
• Please remember this is a quick 15 minute plan its not going to be perfect...but it is better than not having a plan at all.

Do you already have a social media plan in place?

 

How do you keep on top of your social media updates? 

Id love to hear from you, feel free to comment below. 

NEXT WEEK: I continue on the Social Media trail and discuss the huge range of social media options available for small business other than Facebook.

(Image from "http://www.freeimageslive.co.uk")

"Cry Poor Syndrome"

“I can’t justify spending money on a website yet”

“Last Christmas was a slow one so we had to halve the marketing budget”

It is an epidenmic growing at an alarming rate, in fact its been present in small business for as long as i can remember...what I call the “Cry Poor Syndrome”... owners too “poor” to spend money on their business.

The other side of cash flow

Every business owner needs to control their business spending; cash flow management is a top priority for everyone. But you have to remember there are two sides to ever story and concentrating too heavily on where your money is being spent and not on where its coming from is the root of the "Cry Poor" problem. Just as your outgoings need to be managed, your revenue streams need to be managed just as meticulously.

Please correct me if I’m wrong,  but all your income is generated from your customers is'nt it? Your customers essentially put a roof over your head and food on the table...they paid for your nice car and your family holiday.  Without them your STUFFED. So you need to find a balance between being thrifty and being a tight ass to make sure they still put money in your till and not someone elses.

How do you attract more customers?

What can you do to bring in more customers?

Planning helps; a marketing plan in place allows you to know who your target market is and how to effectively communicate to them. If your not willing to invest in marketing, are you guessing your target market? Is your advertising really reaching them and making an impact? Customers can be fickle, and if your business isn’t in plain view...or cannot be heard customers will head to your competitor instead... 

"I can't justify spending money on a website..."

Thats OK your competitors already have, and they are getting the rewards.

 

If you dont have a website, or a website that is mobile phone friendly, how many people will find you?  Can you still justify not having a website while your losing sales? And im not talking about purely online purchasing here, im talking about the woman from Lismore heights looking online for a $2000 wedding photography package, or the guy from Goonellabah who is comparing $1800 HDTV's. So how much money will end up in your competitor’s pockets before you stop crying poor? 

"...we had to halve the marketing budget."

If last christmas was a bit slow, how effective was your advertising? Would halving your advertising have a positive impact on this coming christmas? If you stop communicating with your customer, they will stop listening. But then they start listening more to your competition who are still communicating with your customers; but now they have the customers undivided attention.

SO.. 

• Keeping business spending under control is very important... but a balance needs to be found in order to maintain your current revenue which is provided by your customer. 

• "Crying Poor Syndrome" can cripple your business and prevent it from reaching its fullest potential.  

 Cut too hard into the marketing budget, or skimp on your website and you will find a steady number of customers purchasing from the busines down the road.Its not because what they sell is any better or that the products are any cheaperIt's because while you have your lights turned off to save electricity, the competitors have left theirs on...and they are attracting all the moths.  

Does Social media always work for small business?

Without a doubt social media is the most cost effective way to establish ongoing contact with customers. It allows new and existing customers to have direct interaction with your brand and enables you to provide something them with something of VALUE, even when your doors are closed. But what if social media was actually harming your business...?!

Here are a few reasons why you really need to look at the viability of social media for your small business...

1. Social media may not be a good fit for your business.

Every marketing guru in the world just pulled out the daggers...but please hear me out.

Social media works extremely well for businesses that are SOCIAL in nature... florist, hairdressers and cafes are a perfect match for sites like Facebook, Instagram and Pintrest, kind of makes sense, customers meet there...they are social places, there is a never ending supply of what i call immediate content...that is..... general content that most demographics can relate and engage with.....like this pork belly photo (YUM).

But a local accounting firm that specialises in business taxation....should be spending more time creating  engaging and informative email updates that better meet the needs of their target audience; busy business owners. Managing social media accounts may be a waste of company resources (although Linkedin would definately fit in this case).

Your target audience should be at the

 centre 

of what social media you choose

 for your business. 

Real world....
Define Design Deliver is not on twitter because small business owners who i talk to are simply not on twitter...most small businesses in the northern rivers and (as a guess) most of regional Australia DON'T HAVE TWITTER...so why spend time managing content that won't be seen by my target audience? The hour spent managing my content each week is better spent calling a past client to touch base or take the time to introduce myself to a new business...i hope that all makes sense now...(you can put your daggers away).


*** NOTE ***
Since this post we have created a twitter account for the Define brand...it is going quite well, although it must be said that our overall business strategy has changed which created a need for a global business voice. I.e. Twitter   

 You can find us here...  @DefineLismore 

2. Social media takes time... and time equals money

Let’s not kid ourselves, social media is not an easy task. The amount of time and effort required for social media is definately part of the reason more than 70% of Facebook business accounts are inactive.

Quality content is what you should always strive for; quick updates are okay, but they need to be supported by structured content. Ask yourself, what are you able to achieve without a clear social media strategy and well planned updates? 

ALL your posts must be consistent to your brand message, focused on your target audience and they must provide VALUE. Simply broadcasting a message is not enough anymore. Your social media needs integration into your overall marketing plan so that ALL your communications complement each other and meet the objectives of the business. If your running a newspaper promotion....you should utilise social  media to boost engagement with the promotion, regularly post links to the promotion page on your website and maintain a consistent message delivery.

3.  Social media needs consistency

Consistent posts maintain attention, but if your business gets busy, social media is usually the first thing to go. Why should customers follow you if you don’t regularly update and the value you aim to create is sporadic? Without consistency your social media account could actually do more harm than good.  

The other big no-no is that small business really needs to reconsider using social media if they regularly fail to acknowledge follower comments in a timely manner. Not responding to a Facebook message or ANY social media comment, share or mention is the same as if a customer walks into your store and you completely ignore them! Social media requires planning and foresight, but more importantly it requires you to understand that it is an important communication link that needs to be maintained. Getting back to a customer enquiry needs to happen within 24 hours; feedback should always be acknowledged and complaints should always be addressed ASAP.

So... 

Social media is here to stay, but it really needs to be viewed as PART of your overall marketing strategy (both online and offline)...Social media is not the be-all-and-end-all. Social media can play a positive role in your communications strategy and it is certainly great for maintaining customer relationships, but time, planning and management are required in order to make it truly effective. Small business really needs to develop the marketing fundamentals of social media in order provide customer engagement and lead generation. If you can’t commit the time and energy into your social media maybe it’s time to get a professional in to manage your social media accounts ...or look at dropping your less productive or wayward accounts in order to increase the quality of your content overall.