Social media isn’t as straightforward as it used to be. Not by a long shot. A succinct strategy will help your brand tackle its goals with a sense of purpose. Here is a step-by-step social media marketing guide to help you engage customers and optimize your results.

1. 11 Tips to Build Social Media Marketing Plan
That Wins Customers
HipSocial by 500apps

2. 1. Define meaningful social marketing goals
First things first: you need to figure out what you
want out of social media at large. Because coming up
with a social media marketing plan means having an
end-game in mind.

3. 2. Learn about your target audience
Survey your audience to better grasp their pain points
Look carefully at their demographics
Take part in conversations on forums filled with your target audience
Respond to comments on your blog, and comment on other blogs with
the same target audience
Reply to all comments or questions on your social media channels
Collect feedback (using one of the many user feedback tools available)

4. 3. Select Your Social Media Platforms Wisely
Instead, research and plan your social media marketing
presence that aligns with your goals and appeals to your
target audience. Focus on the platforms that are preferred
by your targeted demographic.

5. 4. Establish your most important metrics
Reach
Clicks
Engagement
Hashtag performance
Organic and paid likes
Sentiment
What metrics are we talking about, though? Check out the
breakdown below:

6. 5. Analyze your competition
Looking at your competition’s social channels will directly inform
your own social media promotion strategy. The goal here isn’t to
copycat or steal your competitors’ ideas. Instead, it’s to
determine what’s working for them and what conclusions you
can draw to adapt your own campaigns accordingly.

7. 6. Let The Tools Empower Your Strategy
The tools you choose will determine the strength of your entire
social media marketing strategy. You’ll need to decide which
social media management software you’ll be using to schedule
your social content. Weigh up your options – every business has
different needs and requirements.

8. 7. Create engaging content
You can also use the art of storytelling. It’s the stories that sell,
not the product! We, humans, connect to stories, it is the
emotional attachment that your brand builds with their
audience. They inspire ideas and encourage interaction.

9. 8. Timeliness should be a top priority
You might see some recommending times to post late in the
evening, for example. But if your brand isn’t there to
communicate, what’s the point of posting at the “preferred”
time?
Instead, try to ensure your social media or community managers
are available and ready to answer any product questions or
concerns when you tweet or post. It’s smart to learn the best
times to post on social media. However, it’s just as critical to
engage after posting.

10. 9. Assess your results and optimize
Without continuously analyzing your efforts, you’ll never know
how one campaign did over another. Having a bird’ eye view of
your social media activity helps put things into perspective. This
means looking at your top-performing content and fine-tuning
your campaigns accordingly.

11. 10. Humanize Your Brand
By the term ‘humanize your brand’ we mean, go beyond the
glass tops of these digital screens. Show your audience what
goes in your office, introduce them to your employees, show the
humans behind your brand. This should an integral part of your
social media marketing strategy.

12. 11. Embrace Your mistakes
We are all humans, and we make mistakes. This is especially
essential to accept in the fast-growing world of social media.
Instead of being ignorant of your mistakes, accept and apologize
for the same. Work on them and tell your customers about it.
They’ll love you to hear that you worked on your mistakes to
provide them with better services. This should be key in your
social media marketing strategy.

13. Thank You!