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Tuesday, May 24, 2016

#DevelopStrategy – Planning for Engagement


All the work put into your social media marketing strategy this month will be in vain if you forget to incorporate the last essential element of the plan. Many small businesses and entrepreneurs end up failing to get any ROI on their social media because they are missing the most vital aspect of their strategy – social engagement.

Sure, investing in boosting and creating ads will help get more followers or viewers, but once you have their attention – how are you planning to keep it? The creation or curation of consistent content is appealing, and even necessary, but it’s not the answer either.

The whole purpose of social media is to be… social.

Followers are not ignorant. They can spot a sales page from miles away. If you are scheduling content and not checking your social platforms for engagement, it will be readily apparent to anyone paying attention.

Twitter is all about the conversation and no one wants to have a conversation with themselves. If you do not have a plan in place to monitor and respond to messages and comments, you are missing valuable opportunities to develop a connection and build a business relationship with your audience. 

Sharing posts on Facebook means little if there is no one around to see it. In fact, if you aren’t actively engaging on the pages of your partners and clients – they won’t even see the Facebook posts you are working so hard to create and schedule. They will simply be a wasted effort.

To grow a following on Instagram, you need to be actively in there commenting on and liking the posts you are tagged in and following the people who have taken the time to follow you.

LinkedIn is a networking site. What is the point of connecting with hundreds of people if you have no plan in place to communicate with them?

Now that you can see the need for engagement, what should your social media engagement plan entail?

Monitoring

Be certain that on whatever platforms you are using that you have notifications set up, both on your computer and on your smartphone. That way you are sent information when your audience is attempting to engage you.

Don’t assume that people will tag you. Google Alerts are handy for rooting out your brand mentions and notifying you. Set up alerts for your company name, your personal name, and the names of your major branded products.

Response Speed

Not only does the public pay attention to how quickly you respond, the platforms will often track and display your response rate and time.  75% of social media users are expecting companies to respond in an hour or less. This could mean the need to be constantly connected unless a plan is developed.

Not a Solo Effort

Keeping up with everything happening online can be daunting task. You don’t have to do it alone. Get your team involved. Make social media a group function.  If you don’t have team, it might be time to hire a social media manager to assist you with engagement.


Many companies understand the importance of social media marketing but neglect the essential nature of engagement. Having a plan in place for this is just another element of developing your social media marketing strategy. Need help or advice? That’s what we specialize in here at The Social Media Advisor. Let us help you #BeAwesome with your engagement!

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business.  Don't get left behind ~ 



Be sure to Follow us and Let's Engage!


Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedInFacebookTwitterBlogGoogle+,YouTubePinterestInstagram and the tools to manage them.







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