Creating a social media strategy is half the battle. The other half is the execution, upkeep and maintenance. Your social media plan has been designed with your company and brand in mind and looks great on paper. Your target market identified by developing the buyer persona, research has been performed of their buying habits and you have identified which microblogging or networking site would work best and now you are ready to get started. Ready, Set, Go!
The execution phase of any plan is always exciting but the excitement level tends to be driven by results. Social media is measurable in real time and begs the questions of How am I doing? How many people have come to the website or commented the blog? How many blog reactions are there? Everyone starting a new plan checks to see of our hard work is paying off and to see how we can further grow and/or to see if you are headed in the right direction. Having worked with clients on the strategic plan and execution, I have found some helpful tips.
6 Tips for Executing a Social Media Strategy
1. Set Goals. Goals for the overall plan have been set however goals for the the day to day execution need to be created in the execution phase. Be realistic as wanting to jump in an be around all the time is not always plausible.
2. Be Flexible. Even the best laid plans can go haywire. Be ready to make minor adjustments but not major alterations from the plan; unless revisiting the strategy.
3. Comment & Answer Questions. Set aside time that is dedicated to reading blogs, commenting, answering questions in forums and answering comments on your own blog. This does not have to be x hours every day but set aside enough time each week.
4. Organize Blogs. This will help with being able to easily access them when the scheduled time arises and you can read and comment. I use PostRank as all my blog subscriptions are easily accessed and I can see new posts easily.
5. Monitor Results. Monitor your own results as well as the trends and behavior of your target.
6. Stay Focused. This is probably the toughest as if results are favorable the first instinct is to push harder whereas if you are not getting immediate results you pull away. Stay on track and see if modifications needs to be made.
Executing a social media strategy is the a commitment that is on going. The initial plan may change a bit to but the ultimate goal remains the same. Like everything else there are ups and downs buy staying focused and committed will bring results. Social media brings us back to being social again and reaching out to people to provide value and benefit from each other.
What have you done that has worked?
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