Every business is different. Even though we’re all in the social media marketing, content marketing, and overall online marketing world – our goals are different. Depending on what type of business you have, what type of clientele you have, and what you want to accomplish – your strategy is going to grow and change.
So, what are your goals? The first step in setting goals for social media marketing is to assess what type of business you have. Are you a retailer? Are you looking to sell actual products on your social media platforms or are you someone who is selling a service? Is the purpose of your social media presence simply to connect with your customers and offer them another avenue for customer service? Once you figure out what your business is actually offering through social media marketing, then you can set your goals.
Your goals should be a good balance of realistic, but also not too modest. Maybe your goal is growing your email marketing list. How many addresses do you hope to add each month? Break large goals up into smaller ones to create checkpoints and make it easier to reach each step. There are endless possibilities for types of returns you can hope for.
These include: growing a following, collecting email addresses, gaining new customers, increase in # of sales, having people use a coupon or special, having people call to schedule appointments, encouraging customers to leave reviews, and more.
Your needs are unique to your business. The point is that social media marketing should have goals. It can be easy to feel like it’s obligatory to be on social media at this point (and it is), but you also have to understand that there is a purpose for the time, money, and energy spent into building a social media presence. Maybe the “return on investment” isn’t going to be hard sales. Maybe it’s going to be increasing the visibility of your business or creating a platform to receive feedback from your clients. You know what your business needs. You have to create a social media marketing strategy that supports those needs.
What are your goals for your social media marketing campaign? Do your actions support those goals? When you look at what you’re actually doing on social media for your business are you truly working towards those goals? What can you change? Comment below!
