Social media strategy
Discussion
Hi all
I'm looking at launching a business which has a few existing, albeit new players already doing what I'm looking at doing. The market is enormous and the companies already operating are barely scratching the surface.
That said, they're up and running and appear to be profitable within a year. My business would be competing with them.
It'll get almost all the traction it gets from Instagram so the social media strategy needs to be absolutely robust.
How do I go about formulating this strategy? Who can I get to advise who isn't going to cost more than I can possibly afford?
Any insights gratefully received
Thank you
I'm looking at launching a business which has a few existing, albeit new players already doing what I'm looking at doing. The market is enormous and the companies already operating are barely scratching the surface.
That said, they're up and running and appear to be profitable within a year. My business would be competing with them.
It'll get almost all the traction it gets from Instagram so the social media strategy needs to be absolutely robust.
How do I go about formulating this strategy? Who can I get to advise who isn't going to cost more than I can possibly afford?
Any insights gratefully received
Thank you
The success of Social Media marketing (in my experience) comes down to three things.
1. Content. What you post has to resonate, be eye catching and evoke an action. The same considerations you would apply to a print-based campaign apply here too. If it is not within your capability or capacity to create high quality, appropriately creative content yourself and you have limited budget then spend what budget you do have on this with a good design company because even if you have a kick-ass strategy, it will be wasted if the posts get overlooked.
2. Campaign. Create a 'series' of content that is linked in terms of message and visuals.
3. Target. Select your audience carefully.
I'd also say not to confuse strategy with tactics. Strategy describes the overall objective and the reasoning behind the approach you're going to take. Tactics are the tools you'll use. They overlap but you can easily change tactics but not the strategy.
And remember that different platforms appeal to different sectors of your market so content that goes on one platform won't necessarily work on another.
A very common observation I've made is that many smaller businesses approach social media as a willy waving exercise; posting content that impresses themselves in the hope that it may impress the owner's mates or their competitors. This is completely pointless. Content has to focus squarely on delivering a message that results in an enquiry and sale; something that is not achieved with photos of someone "off for another meeting" or "what's your favourite biscuit for meetings" posts.
There are some very good tutorials on how to run Ad-Manager and Campaigns on Social Media and Facebook themselves offer a one-to-one tutorial that I've found to be excellent - and free.
If you are going to out-source this, select wisely. There are no shortage of social media marketing service companies out there. The vast majority you will encounter are one-man/woman enterprises who service 'kitchen table top businesses' - home bakers, dog walkers, etc. Nothing wrong in that of course but you may find your needs better served by the more structured and dare I say it, professional, providers who are a little more thin on the ground - and more expensive when you do find them. But you get what you pay for.
HTH
Good luck.
1. Content. What you post has to resonate, be eye catching and evoke an action. The same considerations you would apply to a print-based campaign apply here too. If it is not within your capability or capacity to create high quality, appropriately creative content yourself and you have limited budget then spend what budget you do have on this with a good design company because even if you have a kick-ass strategy, it will be wasted if the posts get overlooked.
2. Campaign. Create a 'series' of content that is linked in terms of message and visuals.
3. Target. Select your audience carefully.
I'd also say not to confuse strategy with tactics. Strategy describes the overall objective and the reasoning behind the approach you're going to take. Tactics are the tools you'll use. They overlap but you can easily change tactics but not the strategy.
And remember that different platforms appeal to different sectors of your market so content that goes on one platform won't necessarily work on another.
A very common observation I've made is that many smaller businesses approach social media as a willy waving exercise; posting content that impresses themselves in the hope that it may impress the owner's mates or their competitors. This is completely pointless. Content has to focus squarely on delivering a message that results in an enquiry and sale; something that is not achieved with photos of someone "off for another meeting" or "what's your favourite biscuit for meetings" posts.
There are some very good tutorials on how to run Ad-Manager and Campaigns on Social Media and Facebook themselves offer a one-to-one tutorial that I've found to be excellent - and free.
If you are going to out-source this, select wisely. There are no shortage of social media marketing service companies out there. The vast majority you will encounter are one-man/woman enterprises who service 'kitchen table top businesses' - home bakers, dog walkers, etc. Nothing wrong in that of course but you may find your needs better served by the more structured and dare I say it, professional, providers who are a little more thin on the ground - and more expensive when you do find them. But you get what you pay for.
HTH
Good luck.
Great stuff from SB as usual.
In addition; how are you going to compete? Notwithstanding your point about the opportunity being huge, if you’re to at least try to achieve some longevity in the sector, then you need to find your own place. If not, then it’ll simply be who comes up first (which of course has its place).
So how, if at all, are you going to differentiate? Cost, speed of response, quality, after-sales etc, etc. whatever it is, this needs to be at the heart of your strategy.
Good luck!
In addition; how are you going to compete? Notwithstanding your point about the opportunity being huge, if you’re to at least try to achieve some longevity in the sector, then you need to find your own place. If not, then it’ll simply be who comes up first (which of course has its place).
So how, if at all, are you going to differentiate? Cost, speed of response, quality, after-sales etc, etc. whatever it is, this needs to be at the heart of your strategy.
Good luck!
First port of call for me would be to punch in some competitors details into Facebook’s Ad Library so you can see exactly what ads they’re running.
Link:
https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_statu...
Next stop for me would be starting with the outcome
You wish to achieve.
For example, I use FB lead ads to generate newsletter sign-ups at a very reasonable cost for such a highly targeted defined audience.
Just bare in mind that Facebook / Insta is very much a pay-to-play platform and it’s incredibly hard to get anywhere organically in general these days. With that in mind, don’t get suckered into vanity metrics such as ‘likes’ and ‘reach’.
Give us a bit more details and happy to give you some more pointers.
Link:
https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_statu...
Next stop for me would be starting with the outcome
You wish to achieve.
For example, I use FB lead ads to generate newsletter sign-ups at a very reasonable cost for such a highly targeted defined audience.
Just bare in mind that Facebook / Insta is very much a pay-to-play platform and it’s incredibly hard to get anywhere organically in general these days. With that in mind, don’t get suckered into vanity metrics such as ‘likes’ and ‘reach’.
Give us a bit more details and happy to give you some more pointers.
Edited by Gilmore on Sunday 5th December 15:48
Wow
Some really useful insights which I completely missed until now. Sorry! And thank you
I spend too much time on PH but last few days has been all about one particular thread and I missed this
Thank you for your kind offer. Let me come back to you. Definitely will
Any more insights gratefully received but I do have plenty to go on already. Thanks again, genuinely really thankful.
Some really useful insights which I completely missed until now. Sorry! And thank you
I spend too much time on PH but last few days has been all about one particular thread and I missed this
Thank you for your kind offer. Let me come back to you. Definitely will
Any more insights gratefully received but I do have plenty to go on already. Thanks again, genuinely really thankful.
Social media is only half the work which you have to do.
And that workload is quite a lot. Create a nice profile, and then place publicity.
You also need a website, or do you have any company which has made it without one?
With a website you also get a mail server so it's wise to study the hosting offers. Not always the cheapest is the most convenient.
And that workload is quite a lot. Create a nice profile, and then place publicity.
You also need a website, or do you have any company which has made it without one?
With a website you also get a mail server so it's wise to study the hosting offers. Not always the cheapest is the most convenient.
Traffic said:
Where are your customers and more prickly... where are they in the buying stage?
Better to go with PPC
There are click networks out there which created quite a mess with the PPC business.Better to go with PPC
Traditional advertisement has overdone it. No one reacts to ads any more, or definitely less than 10 years ago.
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