An SMM strategy for your business: How to make social networks works

Social media marketing has long been an independent field, with designers, copywriters, storytellers, content managers, and marketing strategists, each with their own meaningful roles. How do you make sure everyone is played like actors in a classic play? The correct answer is an SMM strategy, which is needed for promoting both the Best IOs app for betting and a new flower store. It will help achieve measurable results.

Who Is Involved

There are several people involved in developing a comprehensive strategy: an SMM manager, a targeting specialist, a copywriter, a designer and an analyst. It’s hard to prepare a strategy alone, because each block requires specialized expertise. Here are four areas of the strategy that we emphasize: marketing, design, targeting and context. One single marketer, even if he is talented, is unlikely to be able to fully meet all these challenges.

Goals and Objectives

The first step in creating a strategy – goal setting. Set goals by the SMART method:

Here’s an example of a SMART goal: Attract 400 new customers through social media by the end of 2022, keeping the average check at least $100.

In order not to be disconnected from the strategic goals of the company, we set goals and objectives within the SMM strategy in three planes: SMM, brand, sales.

This allows us to see how systematic work with social networks will influence the brand and what we need to do to achieve the goals of sales. When the goals are defined, then we move on to the main thing: the strategy of achieving them.

Analysis of the Product, Market, and Audience

The first step is to study the product in detail, its specifics. If the brand already has social networks, they need to be analyzed according to these criteria:

The same should be done with competitors: identify 5-10 companies represented in social networks, and analyze these profiles according to the listed criteria. It’s necessary to identify the channels and tools that competitors use for promotion, and assess the effect of these methods.

Finally, you need to study in detail the audience of your product. Take as a basis the users subscribed to the accounts of the company or competitor.

Work with the audience according to this algorithm:

Using real data about your target audience, try to picture the potential customer in his or her normal life: what he or she does, what kind of lifestyle he or she is into, what concerns he or she has in his or her day. Be sure to identify the triggers and pains – what drives him or her when he or she is interested in a company product.

By the way, in this case, it will be useful to study the subscribers in the social networks of the company or competitors – usually there are real users among them, whose image can serve as the basis for the target portrait. Use such examples: study their profile, see what they write posts about, what photos they publish.

Promotion Concept

When all the raw data is collected, you need to focus on the brand you want to promote, to connect the creativity. At the second stage, a concept is formed – the strategic basis for promotion in social networks.

One product can be presented in different ways. For example, an elite complex can be promoted as an ideal place for families with children. Or as a location for noisy private parties. Depending on the option chosen, there are messages and images, benefits and differences in the product, which will be broadcast in the brand account. Meanings, images, and benefits are the concept of promotion.

It should be interesting for the target audience, attractive, and provoking to purchase. This is why we need to know the interests and triggers of the audience. At the same time the concept must be unique, making the brand stand out among competitors. That’s why it’s important to understand what promotional tools and methods they use.

The concept can be formulated in a few sentences, for its more specific definition within the strategy is prescribed:

It’s good if by the time of an SMM strategy development the brand already has a formulated positioning, mission, values – this will help to direct the brand social networks in the same direction, so that all communication with the target audience was built in a single key.

To develop an interesting big idea and key message, you can use different creative techniques: for example, the method of brainstorming and associations. The result of the development – 1-2 phrases, revealing the uniqueness and attractiveness of the product.

This wording does not have to be used directly in further communication with users: it serves primarily for internal work and understanding of the promotion strategy.

For a more complete expression of the idea we not only formulate it verbally but also select a visual moodboard – a set of graphics and photos that convey the atmosphere and character of the brand.

Now that the concept and direction of social media profiles are clear, we can move on to developing a specific list of tools to help achieve the goal.

Elaboration of the SMM Strategy

All the following sections of the SMM strategy are also related to the concept of promotion, but we separate them into a separate stage. In the second stage we formulate the direction in which to move, and in the third – we consider the specific techniques and ways of implementing the plan.

This part of the strategy looks the most interesting, because it serves as a kind of instruction for business promotion in social networks. Except that without the first two research and creative stages, it is impossible to describe the third one qualitatively.

What is being worked through at this stage:

Content matrix is developed, namely: topics of future publications, headings, formats of posts, requirements for photo and video materials. Tags are chosen which allow additional promotion of publications, a unique system of navigation on the account for the convenience of users is developed.

As we think through promotional tools, we are developing engagement mechanics: games, drawings, contests, and other ways to entice subscribers. The rules for working with bloggers are formed: the desired portraits of bloggers are described; a selection of promising profiles for cooperation can be formed; the interaction formats that will bring the best results are described.

The targeting strategy includes the selection of prospective audience groups that should be targeted with advertising creatives.

One way to find an audience is to develop a mind map. In the future, the effectiveness of the targeting for each of the groups will be checked by testing

Also the budget of campaigns is calculated to achieve maximum efficiency, KPI are defined, by which the work of executors should be monitored. The indicators can be:

The final part of the SMM strategy is the development of design recommendations. Prescribed wishes for the design of the profile as a whole, individual posts, photo and video materials, and graphics. In the future, according to these recommendations, and following the selected wise board, design will be developed for communities.