Do you need a Social Media Strategist?

Do you need a Social Media Strategist?

Social Media is a word on the lips of every marketing professional and business owner across the globe, yet there is a world of difference between someone who just posts some updates on a Facebook page and a social media strategist who can craft social campaigns targeting specific audiences.

First of all, it is important to understand what a strategist does. Yes, they will get involved in the social activities, but ultimately they will research your target demographic, plan actions on how to gain new followers, develop implementation programs, show ROI and most importantly, socialise.

OK, so that is a very broad look at the strategists role, but even without looking at the nuances involved, this is already much more involved than simply posting updates to different platforms.

Communication Styles

Probably one of the biggest failings of many with poor (or no) social media plans is the lack of personal communication. Many will just post a link to their website, fire an update out over Twitter and think they are engaging in Social Media – and this is just not the case! You have the platform in place, but all you are doing is just saying “Look Here” and then walking away.

Never be afraid to engage with people on a personal level. Find industry specialists and target posts towards them asking for input, but never just throw up a link and ask for feedback as that will net you the result of zero squared. Craft your posts and updates thoughtfully while being mindful of how this would sound if you received it and how you would respond.

If someone does reply, never ignore them – reply, discuss the subject then perhaps find other specialists and ask them to engage.

It’s all about finding and understanding the opportunities for engagement and leveraging as much as you can from them.

Don’t Run

Wikipedia has a great analogy for this: Social Media is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes time and understanding to actually gain anything useful. Remember the adage “Rome wasn’t built in a day”? Well, the same applies here. Try rushing your social activities and you will falter before you reach the second hurdle.

Research

Take time to understand your demographic; failure to do so will result in missed opportunities, incorrect target markets, poor ROI and lack of ‘buzz’.

For example, if you manufacture sports exhausts for cars, you want to target the age bracket that will be interested here, and that is unlikely to be anyone over 35 or under 18. Your audience are predominantly male, frequent specialist forums and discussion boards, attend car shows and rallys, post pictures to give them bragging rights with friends, watch videos and clips on YouTube… By now, you should be building a picture up of possible platforms where activity can net the best results.

• Industry Bloggers
• Forum discussions
• Instagram, Flickr, Pinterest
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Twitter

Look at the bigger picture and keep asking yourself more questions and you will come up with more answers. Write things down rather than trying to go through everything in your head.

ROI

This is what every prospective client wishes to know – how much will I get back from this?

We all know that Social is going to be more awkward to associate a cost with an activity; after all, how much is a ‘Like’ or a ‘Follower’ worth to you?

Social Media is much better measured in activity levels allowing you to see just what any engagement has done for your website traffic. For example, if you post a special offer, you are able to craft a URL that will allow for precise tracking through to the completed order or action. You might find you have had a flurry of activity but only 5 actionable results.

Your strategist will be able to look at at your post, ascertain success levels and suggest changes as you move along. They should also:

• Monitor competitors and trends
• Be responsible for internal training
• Always be proactive, not reactive

Remember, Social Media is something of a strange beast to conquer and these are just a few of the primary pointers that any strategist should undertake. Like SEO, you are never assured results, but those results you gain are determined by your ground work and understanding of your target market.

So do you need a strategist?

…. Only you can decide that!