A Roadmap to Social Media Strategy Development

A Roadmap to Social Media Strategy Development

Sila Sahverdi, July 2012

1. Overview - Strategy Development 2. Evaluation of Current Social Media Presence 2.1 SWOT-Analysis 2.2 Current Social Media Presence 3. Target Audience 3.1 Mass-Marketing vs. Market Segmentation 3.2 Market Segmentation 4. Objectives 5. Content 6. Social Media Channels 7. Social Media Policy & Guidelines 8. Social Media Plan 9. Integrate Social Media Strategy 10. Measure Social Media Strategy

A Roadmap to Social Media Strategy

Development

Agenda

1. Overview – Strategy Development

Set strategic foundation for all social media efforts

A Roadmap to Social Media Strategy Development

Objectives Target

Audience

Content Social Media

Channels

Integrate Social Media Strategy

Measure Social Media Strategy

Determine

Develop Social Media Policy&

Guidelines

Evaluate Current Social Media

Presence

Strategy Elements

Customize

Social Media Plan

An

alyze, re

evaluate

and

adju

st con

stantly

2.Evaluation of Current Social Media Presence 2.1 SWOT-Analysis


Development

Strengths, e.g.:

- Presence on several social media channels

- Reputation and familiarity

- Company website is prepared for social media attention

Weaknesses, e.g.:

- Current social media presence is not maintained regularly

- Lack of consistent and relevant content & interaction with audience

- No coordinated efforts for existing social media presence , channels are not strategically integrated

- No ongoing attempt to monitor competitors, relevant industries and social media developments

Opportunities, e.g.:

- Reach wider audience/penetrate new geographical market

- engage in interactive environment & create dialogue with audience

- Positioning as expert in field and innovation leader

- To be perceived as technologically and socially up to date

- Cost-effectiveness of social media

Threats, e.g.:

- Lack of control over publicly exchanged messages

- Keeping up with continuously evolving social media landscape

- Translate social media engagement into real business benefits

Internal Factors

External Factors

Conduct SWOT-Analysis to evaluate Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

2.Evaluation of Current Social Media Presence 2.2 Current Social Media Channels

0

500

1000

1500

LinkedinFacebook

Twitter

1325

268

9761

1510

Social Media Channels by members & activity

Members

Activity 1)


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1) Posts, updates per week

Evaluate current Social Media Channels e.g. by measuring current members & activity:

3.Target Audience 3.1 Mass-Marketing vs. Market Segmentation

Definition of Target Audience


Development

Reach the largest audience possible with generalized content

Deliver highly targeted content that is relevant to most profitable customer segments

Mass-Marketing -Market segment differences are being ignored - General social media strategy for whole market

Market-Segmentation -division of market into groups of individual submarkets with similar wants and needs

2 Approaches

Market Segmentation

Build social media strategy around target

audience needs and wants

Geographic

Demographic

Psychographic

Behavioral

Understand target audience

•International? •Countryspecific? •State/region?

•Industry? •Sales? •Size? •etc.?

•General believes& attitudes? •Corporate culture? •etc.

•Social media usage ? •Information search & evaluation? •Purchase decisions ? • etc

Variables

3.Target Audience 3.2 Market Segmentation


Development

Public Exposure

Grow & Maintain Member

Base

Customer Interaction & Feedback

Promote Services &

Events

Reputation Management

Brand Building

Community Building

Define objectives aligned with target audience Break down objectives into short-term goals and benchmarks

Increase website traffic

Improve Search Engine

Ranking

Generate Leads

4.Objectives


Development

Determine Objectives

What is relevant to Target Audience?

What do we want to communicate?

News

Free Content

Interaction & Feedback

Promotion of Services and Events

Promotion of Partners and Members Services &

Events

• Engage with group members/followers (join conversation, answer questions)

• Ask Audience for feedback (polls, surveys etc.)

• Offer free content that is relevant for target audience: excerpts of industry reports, e-books & whitepapers, webinars etc.

• Introduce new additions to service portfolio

• Events: link to website for registration, event photos, videos etc.

• Relevant market updates, trends & issues • Link to most recent e-newsletter

5.Content


Development

current social media channels

new social media

channels

Understand how new social media channels can fit into

social media strategy and if they add value to current social media presence

6.Social Media Channels


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Blogs & Microblogs Social/Professional

Networks Mulimedia Content

Sharing Social

Readers/Bookmarks

Wordpress Linkedin Youtube Digg

Blogger Facebook Slideshare Reddit

Flickr

Twitter

High Time and Effort Required Low

Use social media channels actively to achieve objectives und dispense certain kinds of content, catered to target audience

Enhance and fully leverage existing social media channels by extending reach and engagement

7.Social Media Policy & Guidelines

• Review and adjust company policies & regulatory processes that may need

consideration • Create “Employee Social Media Guidelines”: - decide whether to leverage personal employee profiles (ask for employees willful participation in social networks while respecting their

rights or not allow employee access to social media sites) - clearly state forms of content that are not allowed for posting (profane language,

solicitations of commerce, inappropriate and rude comments etc.) • Train & educate employees on use of social media • Define how to share social media policy and other updates with team, department

or the whole company (e.g. monthly/quarterly reports/presentations)


Development

8.Social Media Plan

Translate social media strategy into tactical plan of action, specify:

Timetables

Short-term objectives & actions

Campaigns

Roles and responsibilities

Policies and procedures

Budgets

etc.


Development

Sample Social Media Plan Social Media Channel: Facebook Time invested: 2 hour daily Short-term objectives&actions: - Increase engagement:

• Content: 1-2 Posts a day • Responsiveness: reply to comments within 24 hours -Increase number of Facebook group members : •Encourage members to promote group •Participate in other groups several times a week to create buzz for own groups

Campaigns: - Questions &answers live chat(moderated) e.g.: „How to successfully enter the US-Market“ Roles & Responsibilities: - Social media coordinator:

•Oversee & manage social media presence -Other employees: •Provide input & support for social media content specific to department

Policies & Procedures: refer to Social Media Guidelines

Budget: 0 US$

9.Integrate Social Media Strategy

• Create Integrated Social Media Presence across all Social Media Channels:

o publish the same content across all social media channels whenever possible (promote one event simultaneously on ALL Social Media Networks)

o Interconnection and mutual promotion of social media channels (refer to Linkedin Campaign on Twitter, post Youtube videos on Facebook etc.)

maximize exposure, safe time & effort and be consistent

• Integrate Social Media Presence & Website:

o bring user traffic from social media sites to website and vice versa:

Integrate social media into website:

- Links to social networks placed clearly visible throughout website

- allow visitors to share website content e.g. events, news on their social networks or via email

lead target audience from social media channels to website: convert social media audience into leads and members

make it easy for visitors to stay connected via social media channels

• Integrate Social Media Strategy into existing Strategies/Departments, e.g.

o Marketing:

use social media as a PR & marketing communications outlet

o Consulting:

Use social media feedback (polls, surveys) from target audience to adjust/improve service

Communicate service issues communicated through social media channels to team & ensure follow up

Provide customer support through social media channels

o Career Services : post job offers in social media channels


Development

Fully leverage social media capabilities

10.Measure Social Media Strategy

Measure:

• Status: followers, friends, group members , number of posts etc.

• Engagement activities e.g. a person commenting on a blog post, liking a Facebook or Linkedin update, sharing a blog post, re-tweeting messages

• Activism: number of people who are affirmatively taking the action that is suggested, such as sharing a link

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Number of conversions (e.g. prospect to lead, lead to opportunity)


Development

Measure Social Media Strategy to determine: • Effectivity of social media strategy • Strength of online presence • The return on investment (ROI) of social media (time, effort etc.)

Analyze and reevaluate social media strategy based on findings

A Roadmap to Social Media Strategy Development

Business

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