How to create a successful social media strategy and how it can help your clients grow their businesses.

Electronic communication dates back to the telegraph that used Morse code to send messages long distance over wires. After that, the electronics industry added the wired telephone, the wireless radio and television. Since then, the industry has exploded. People are now living in the Information Age where people now share information with each other anywhere, anytime and in many ways, via – email, mobile phones, tablets, text and instant messaging, social networks, video chat, websites and more. 

In particular, SOCIAL MEDIA has revolutionized communication in the modern world. It is important for people to understand the power of social media and how it can help your clients grow their businesses. Here are top tips and tricks to doing social media marketing for your clients. 

1. Create a Social Media Strategy: Set goals for your client. Don’t just deal with metrics like “likes” and “retweets”. Also focus on generated leads, conversion rates and referrals to your website. Use the SMART principle when defining goals: goals should be specific, measurable, appealing, realistic and timed. Conduct a social media audit by identifying who your client is already connected to on social media, which networks your client uses, and how your client’s social media presence compares to the competition. 
2. Determine which platforms are best suited for your client. Not every social media platform is suitable for your business or set goals. Here is an overview of some of the more popular platforms, including pros and cons, and number of users.
   • Facebook: The world’s most popular social media network with more than 2 billion users. It has the largest reach and thus is the most competitive (many advertisers). Facebook is more social. It might be perfect for your clients in the apparel industry but not used by your clients in the financial services industry. 
   • YouTube: If your brand has the resources and budget, the best way to take advantage of the power of video. YouTube has almost 2 billion users. As you know, YouTube has had a very successful campaign for their client Tony Robbins. Our most recent video, Tony Robbins Keys To Massive Success – TOP 13 IN 2019, has 8,572 views and 150 likes as of today. YouTube is a necessary social media network for many of your clients; such as authors, influential speakers, and famous people. 
   • Instagram: Instagram owes its success to its visual approach and has around 1 billion users. Successful marketing, therefore, has a lot to do with the appealing aesthetics of the shared content. 
   • LinkedIn: With over 300 million users, the platform is the world’s largest careers network. LinkedIn is not a place for selling, but you can generate and nurture leads.
   • Twitter: With a limit of 280 characters per tweet, Twitter is known for brevity and spice. Twitter also has over 300 million users. It is priced and requires a lot of content for multiple and regular tweets. However, it is good for directing users to a client’s website and social media platforms. 
   • Snapchat: The platform, with almost 300 million users, has content which disappears. This feature is especially popular with younger users. If your client wants to reach a young audience, this might be a good network for them. 

3. Work with your client to determine which social media platform(s) work best for their business. Then set-up new accounts and/or complete existing ones for each client. 

• Get inspiration by looking at competitors’ content from our client’s industry. Adopt and evolve successful strategy of other brands. Get inspiration from social media brands inside and outside the client’s industry and globally. Track what your client’s competitors are doing. 

4. Create a social media calendar for your client. The calendar is central to your client’s content marketing plan. It should include the day and time we want to post and to which networks. There are many tools which can assist you in doing this. Hootsuite for example, can help schedule and measure posts. 

5. Lastly and very importantly, test, evaluate and correct our client’s strategy. Adjust the strategy over and over again using performance metrics. Analyze facts such as the number of clicks per post, the reach of our campaigns, and the number of page views made through social media. 

Social media, when used strategically over time, is the most powerful form of marketing the world has ever seen. There are 2.62 billion social media users worldwide and this number is growing rapidly. Unlike some other traditional marketing methods, social media advertising does not cost a fortune. For these reasons, small, medium, and large businesses are increasing their social media marketing budgets. Fitting with our firm’s culture of “Clients First”, it is your goal to create a successful social media strategy for every client.