Social media marketing is an increasingly important element of business promotion and therefore should be on the list for review when a business is preparing to implement strategies for fundamental change.
As all businesses change and develop over time, so must its core support tools, which means everything including production, marketing, management and reporting.
So it is worth revisiting the key questions that should have been addressed when a social media campaign was first launched.
Questioning the social media marketing fundamentals
No marketing is likely to work if it is trying to sell the wrong product to the wrong people, worse still if a business has not researched whether there is actually a demand for whatever it is planning to offer.
No matter whether a product or service was well received when it was launched, it may be that it has outlived its usefulness or that there are now more competitors in the market.
It is worthwhile, therefore, to revisit the question of whether it is something people want before making any adjustments to the marketing plan. The best way to find out is to actually ask real people what they want or need. Getting to know them as people is crucial.
The answers may not only give a business clues as to how better to refine its offering but will also give a more accurate picture of its target audience and where best to find them.
Armed with this information a business can make changes if necessary to its product or service so as to provide a solution to what its customers need NOW, not that they needed when it was first launched.
Providing the right products and services is key to growing a business. Marketing them is basically all about making sure customers know about them, where to buy them and making it easy and friendly for customers to deal with your business rather than a competitor. Social media can be used by itself or be integrated into a strategy that uses many different ways of communicating with customers.
Of course, developing and implementing a social media marketing plan may include creating message templates, ensuring any written content is to the point, sparkling and engaging to that specific market, and that images support the message. Testing alternative messages and posts is also necessary determine which works best.
Get it right and a business can use social media to support its growth plans, get it wrong and the best social media marketing plan will be a waste of time.