BLOG 3: Social media strategy

How can you create a dynamical and effective social media strategy?!

Some of our major point of discussion are on how to deal with difficult customers, how to map out social media plans and how social media has transformed almost every facet of the online world. It is about learning how to use social media channels strategically. The foundation of a successful social media strategy, will be flexible and dynamic and therefore the foundations won’t change.

Social media channels are communication channels that can be used to solve business, marketing and communication challenges. Organisations need to incorporate social media into their marketing strategies, as more time is spent by consumers online. Unlike other options, social media offers brands an effective two-way communication and real time broadcast channel. Therefore it is becoming a highly effective public communications tool for businesses, governments and other organisations. Social media platforms are built around communities, this feature can be used to build and maintain a community around, or supported by, your organisation. It is not only participating but also actively lead and guide conversations around your company. Social media is used as customer service channel, for queries about problems or questions. It is even becoming collaborative, with customers helping each other and so, reducing the reliance on the organisations support. Brands can also use social media in two ways to manage their online reputations. Firstly, monitoring what customers and fans are saying to identify issues proactively. Secondly, as a way of communicating by getting two sides of the story. Social media platforms and communities are also sales generators , applications can even allow transactions or lead generation within the environment. Social media is also a major player when it comes to search engine optimisation. It provides additional assets that can be optimised so that a brand owns the results page for searches for their brand. It can be a powerful insight and research asset when judged in the right context. This data can be very valuable as it is both qualitative as quantitative, but must therefore be treated wisely. Planning is the foundation of success when it comes to creating a social media strategy.

A well-known and used method to approaching social media strategically follows 7 major guideline steps. The listening and understanding of the landscaoe of the potential social spaces. The analysis of all the gathered data. Objective setting of the desired outcome for your strategy, which should be made according to the SMART guidelines. The creation of an action plan on how, what and when to execute your objectives. Implementing your action plan, by setting up platform, alerting stakeholders, monitoring mentions and responding to messages. Finalizing it with tracking, analysing and optimising of your implemented strategy. Good documentation and processes are the foundations of social media success. As well as a privacy policy and terms and conditions, it is a good idea to establish guidelines for the community you manage. It helps set the tone, and is useful to refer to should members behave undesirably. Content plans help you to plan your community conversations, but more than that, they are also useful, centralised planning documents that ensure that communications are integrated. Planning the conversations helps to keep momentum, especially in the early days of building a community. The use of social media has equipped consumers with a voice and a platform, and the ability to amplify their views and truly inform their decision making. Brands that are successful in communicating with their audiences are constantly on the lookout for opportunities to propel their brand forwards, and are keeping their eyes peeled for risks that may threaten their reputation. Criticism need not necessarily only come from customers, but it is important to be aware of it. Respondence should be quick and formal. And if it involves false information, it should be corrected in a polite manner. If the criticism is true, it should be dealt with as such. Responding involves recognising that customers hold the upper hand in the relationship. Therefore, be transparent, be honest and treat the person as you would like to be treated. And remember at all times it is engaging in a conversation, not a dictation. Recovering from an online brand attack is by following five steps concerning; being prepared, acting immediately, looking at the falsity or trueness of the attacks and making sure the negative pages are kept out of the search engines. Social media strategies should always account for the risks and challenges of interaction, and should incorporate a protocol for dealing with these risks.

By Mayke Johannes

Source: Stookes, Rob and the minds of Quirk (2018). EMarketing: the essential guide to marketing in a digital world (5th ed). Quirk eMarketing (Pty) ltd. (Ed.).