Are you searching for a New Year’s resolution? And I don’t mean the standard options most people opt for this time of year. I’m talking about one that will help grow your business! (HINT: No gym membership required.)
Do I have your attention yet? Keep reading.
Here are the facts headed into 2020:
- Gen Z will account for 32% of the global population by next year. And where do you think these consumers of the future will be doing product research?
- 74% of consumers rely on social media when making a purchasing decision. Surprised? I’m not! And, that’s a number that continues to grow.
Despite both of those resounding details…
- Fewer than half of companies doing social media marketing have a documented social media strategy.
Guess which half you’re going to be in once you finish reading this blog post. That’s right — the half with a strategy! Here is my three-step process for creating a simple, attainable social media strategy:
Step 1: Plan
First thing’s first, you need a plan. The very basic first step here is to stop winging it when it comes to your daily social media posts. Sit down once a month and map out exactly what content you will be posting on each day. This plan would contain the date and time you intend to post, the photo/video/article you will be sharing, the caption that will be accompanying said content piece, and any hashtags you’d like to include. This plan can be in a fancy content management tool like this, it can be in Excel/Google Sheets, or it can be plain old pencil and paper for all I care. The method does not matter! Just get yourself a plan. That’s 2020 resolution number 1.
Content calendar templates like this one are perfect for planning your social strategy!
Step 2: Implement
So I’ve convinced you to create a content plan. Next up is implementation. Seems simple enough, but it’s so easy to put your social strategy on the back burner when you’re in the trenches. Especially when, as is the case for most of the jewelers we work with, you wear so many hats. When you’re the bench jeweler, the CAD designer, the salesperson, and occasionally the janitor, it can seem impossible to also become the social media marketer. When it feels that way, I ask you to please remember the plan you have in place. If you did the work during Step 1, you should be able to allocate 10 minutes a day to executing. Ten measly minutes! Block yourself out for the same time every day and get it done. That’s 2020 resolution number 2. (Pro Tip: Explore scheduling tools like Creator Studio that allow you to schedule your Facebook and Instagram posts ahead of time.)
Step 3: Measure
Whoop! Whoop! We’ve reached my favorite part of this three-step approach — measuring. At this point, you spent time thinking up great post ideas AND you got them out on the appropriate channels at the intended time. Kudos to you! The third and final step, which you will see loops the whole strategy together, is to measure the success of these posts.
It’s important to note that success can look different to each of you reading this, depending on both your business model and subsequent business goals tied to your social media efforts. For example, a store with an online shopping experience should use social media to drive traffic to their website. That means you would look for metrics such as clicks to your site and conversion rates once consumers land there. For a brick and mortar store, you should try to drive traffic to your physical location. Keep an eye on metrics related to “Get Directions” or “Call Now” buttons if this is your goal. Some of you may decide that you simply want to generate interest in your products and services using social media. Comments and private messages could be monitored to see if you are reaching that goal.
I personally think it’s pretty neat that no matter your goal, social media will be here to help in 2020. This step of forming your social media strategy is really just deciding how to use these innovative tools to your business’s advantage.
Adjust and Repeat
Now that you’ve made it all the way through my strategy building process, the last thing to do is remind you to adjust and repeat. Meaning, that as you begin to measure your social media performance based on the success metrics you’ve determined, you’re going to learn SO MUCH. You’re going to learn about your audience — what content types they like to see, how they like to be engaged within the space, what product categories resonate most with them, and so on and so forth. It’s going to be a gold mine of data, and it would be a miss if you didn’t take advantage of it. So, adjust your strategy as you learn more about your customers, and take it from the top!
Well, there you have it — my TOP 3 social media resolutions for the new year. This is my last blog post in 2019, so I thank you all for reading. I hope you have a wonderful holiday and a very “social” 2020!
Are you up for these challenges? If one in particular (or all three) social media resolutions resonated with you, let us know by leaving a comment down below!