{"id":8437,"date":"2020-01-22T06:00:33","date_gmt":"2020-01-22T14:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/supercoolcreative.com\/?p=8437"},"modified":"2021-05-02T22:08:29","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T05:08:29","slug":"social-media-isnt-magic-takes-hard-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/supercoolcreative.com\/social-media-isnt-magic-takes-hard-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Media Isn\u2019t Magic – It Takes Planning and Hard Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you\u2019re a brand promoting products or services, a business trying to increase awareness of and interest in what you\u2019re selling, or a startup clamoring for attention, you\u2019ll need to be involved on some level with social media.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the bad news. It isn\u2019t magic. You don\u2019t flick a switch and turn it on and off. That\u2019s advertising.<\/p>\n

Social media has the potential to far outweigh the power of ads but effective\u00a0social media marketing takes planning and hard work. Plain and simple.<\/p>\n

Good old fashioned ground and pound, elbow grease, put your back into it hard work.<\/p>\n

You have to be smart about your planning, tactics and strategies, but too many marketing professionals believe that social media is this supernatural, set-it-and-forget-it miraculous wonder that happens when you post updates on Facebook and Twitter.<\/p>\n

Posting updates is only the 1st step. Well, actually it\u2019s the 10th step, after:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. establishing your social media goals<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. setting short and long term objectives or milestones<\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. planning your strategy, tactics and approach<\/strong><\/li>\n
  4. defining your audience<\/strong><\/li>\n
  5. developing your online voice<\/strong><\/li>\n
  6. determining which types of content your audience will be interested in, respond to and share<\/strong><\/li>\n
  7. creating the content (video production<\/a>, graphics, photos, infographics, memes)<\/strong><\/li>\n
  8. deciding if there will be a paid promotional component<\/strong><\/li>\n
  9. writing and scheduling the updates and corresponding content<\/strong><\/li>\n
  10. Posting updates<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    YOU: What? I have to do all those things first?<\/p>\n

    ME: Yes, if you want it to work. Or, you could just post Instagram photos of your waffles every morning and tell people how excited you are to eat them.<\/p>\n

    YOU: Mmmmm waffles.<\/p>\n

    Now in the words of Buddy Ackerman, \u201cshut up, listen and learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

    YOU: Who\u2019s Buddy Ackerman?<\/p>\n

    Assuming you\u2019ve taken care of 1-10, here\u2019s what\u2019s next:<\/p>\n

    Manage Your Community<\/b><\/h3>\n

    The next step is community management. Circle back and see if anyone is interested in what you posted. Has anyone replied, commented or shared? Do they have questions? You need to act on that, and fast. People absolutely love it when they hear back personally from a brand, business or startup they follow.<\/p>\n

    Jack The Trends<\/b><\/h3>\n

    On a daily basis, take a look through the news and upcoming events. Are there ways to tie them into your agenda using hashtags? Are you ballsy enough to \u201cnews jack\u201d like\u00a0 Kenneth Cole and run the risk of a media backlash, or are you the play it safe type?<\/p>\n

    Aggressively Find New Audiences<\/b><\/h3>\n

    Actively go after and engage your audience on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube and don\u2019t forget Google+, which happens to improve the search ranking of the content you post to the channel, especially among people logged into Google which is a lot of them.<\/p>\n

    Advertise<\/b><\/h3>\n

    YOU: What? But this is social media.<\/p>\n

    ME: I know, but you should do some paid promotion too<\/p>\n

    Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn Google and many more channels all have various ways to promote your updates, videos and other content on a cost per impression or cost per click basis. This extends your reach and brings in new fans from outside your immediate social media networks. You don;t need to break the bank on this. Start slow, do A\/B testing, \u00a0and measure results.<\/p>\n

    Analytics \/ Tie Social Media Activity Back To Sales<\/b><\/h3>\n

    This is the last step. You have to look at not only the numbers of followers and likes but how did this activity impact your bottom line… sales? Draw lines where you can between the activities that are working and increases in sales. Double down on the things that work and stop the ones that aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n

    YOU: But what about those books that say I can do social media for one hour per day?<\/p>\n

    ME: They\u2019re not factoring in the time required for steps 1-10, plus team meetings to discuss direction, go over analytics, make adjustments, create new content, look for new opportunities<\/p>\n

    Successful social media requires a significant investment of time and you can go one of three ways:<\/p>\n