Contents
- What is an SMM strategy
- Why an SMM strategy is needed
- What an SMM strategy consists of
- How to create an SMM strategy
What is an SMM strategy
An SMM strategy is a detailed plan for promoting a business on social media. This document clearly outlines the goals that the organization aims to achieve through social media, as well as the methods and approaches that will be used to reach these results. This strategy includes not only the choice of platforms for promotion but also the definition of content types for publication, as well as the budget allocated for managing accounts. Ideally, it's best to develop the strategy first, and then move on to brand creation and hiring SMM managers. However, even if a company is already actively using social media, creating a strategy at any stage will help systematize and organize the work more effectively.
Why an SMM strategy is needed
An SMM strategy addresses several key tasks, including:
- Defining the goal: Instead of randomly posting content, it is important to understand what results the company expects. This can be increased brand awareness, sales growth, or strengthening market positions. For example, if the goal is to boost awareness, collaborations with popular bloggers should be considered.
- Promotion planning: A clear strategy includes specific steps for a month, a year, or even several years. This allows for advance knowledge of planned events, such as special projects in Telegram or advertising campaigns on VK.
- Identifying problems: The strategy fixes desired outcomes for specific timeframes, allowing for prompt recognition if social media efforts are not yielding expected results.
- Resolving disputes: The strategy serves as a basis for decision-making and allows for determining whether to accept unexpected offers based on previously established goals.
Overall, a well-developed SMM strategy becomes an important guide for all participants in the process. It helps SMM specialists better understand what content to create and for whom, while also allowing clients who are not familiar with SMM to see the results of the work and their objectives.
What an SMM strategy consists of
A completed SMM strategy is usually presented in the form of a presentation or PDF document and includes the following key elements:
- Analytics results: Starting work on SMM requires a deep analysis of the market, competitor behavior, and target audience. It is necessary to study how many followers competitors have, their activity, and achieved results. This can be done using specialized services like TGStat.
- Brand description: It is important to determine how the brand positions itself, its values, and its communication style with clients. This will help create a unique brand voice.
- Goals and objectives: Goals are formulated based on business tasks and divided into specific steps. For example, various activities such as contests or publications may be planned to increase awareness.
- Content strategy: Defines the types of content that will be published, including informational, entertaining, and promotional content. It's important to establish the frequency of publications and the ratio of different content types in advance.
- Promotion channels: The choice of social networks is based on analyzing the preferences of the target audience. This helps determine where the company should be best represented.
- Promotion strategy: Describes the methods and tools that will be used for promotion, including paid and free methods. Key performance indicators (KPIs) and budget allocation are also defined here.
How to create an SMM strategy
The process of creating an SMM strategy includes several stages:
- Set a goal: Use the SMART methodology to formulate a clear and measurable goal. For example, "gain at least 1000 subscribers on Telegram in the next 6 months."
- Analyze competitors: This will help understand what content will be interesting to the target audience and which approaches work best.
- Choose platforms: Rely on the results of the analysis and choose the social networks where the most representatives of the target audience are found.
- Develop content: Generate content ideas based on the interests of the audience and the promotion objectives.
- Develop a promotion strategy: Determine where and how you will advertise, and allocate the budget accordingly.
- Select KPIs: Determine the key indicators by which you will track the effectiveness of the work.
With this structure, you can create an effective SMM strategy that will help achieve set goals and improve results on social media.