Use the Kiar Media Social Media Planning Checklist to Help You Get Focused
Now that it’s not 1978 anymore, it’s pretty apparent that social media is part of your business’s marketing efforts. If it’s not, then put a fresh coat of wax on your AMC Gremlin and pop in your Queen eight track and get a move on. However, most businesses do have a social media presence with one or more of the following: a Facebook page, Twitter account, LinkedIn page or maybe a Google+ profile, but don’t have a plan to go with them.
While the AMC Gremlin is not in vogue very much anymore, having a sound social media plan is always in style. One of the first things I do is to look at your marketing goals first. Such as, what are my current marketing promotions, when is the next sale period, when do new products roll out and what does this all look like on a calendar. I like to print out or write a calendar of my marketing tactics on paper to start with. For me, getting everything in perspective in front of me is a great way to make sure I don’t miss anything. So, before I go off on a tangent, here is my list of weekly social media goals.
1. Check all social accounts for visitor comments or posts
2. Respond to all comments and posts (like, share, comment or whatever it takes) in a timely manner
3. Make sure all scheduled posts are in a system like Hootsuite or Buffer for each day
4. All images for posts are in a folder marked with the month and year on my computer or shared cloud drive
5. All copy for next week’s posts are written and in the approval process
6. Check for last minute promotions or news items that pertain to your industry
7. Find a fun, non-business focused post or two to include in the week’s list of posts (this keeps people from getting bored with your content)
8. Check last week’s social analytics in your Google Analytics profile and see what posts brought in more traffic
9. Track your last week’s social analytics in each social profile such as Facebook Insights, Twitter stats, etc. to help gauge effectiveness
10. Use a spread sheet to compile the previous week’s social wins and failures based on likes and sharing
While this list isn’t an end all, it gives me good perspective on how each of my clients are doing and what needs to be done. I use some third party social analytics products that are paid, such as Social Report that help me compile all of the information I want to look at in one place for all of my social media accounts and profiles.
I still recommend being very fluid in your approach to social media planning, as things can change on a daily basis and you need to be able to react quickly and respond right away to anything that may come up. So, get back in your Gremlin, crank Bohemian Rhapsody and rock on my friends, rock on.
Kiar Media is a full service interactive advertising agency specializing in mobile apps, website design, search engine optimization (SEO) and social media. For more information on how Kiar Media can help your company grow its online presence, visit kiarmedia.com or call 920-403-0576.
About the author: Kiar Olson has been at the cutting edge of advertising, media, websites and interactive strategy since 1996. His love of 80’s hair bands and all things from that era make him well versed in being made fun of by his wife and two teenage children.