The old year just left and it’s already time to tweak your social media strategy for the new one. Have you evaluated your social media efforts from 2011?
What worked? What didn’t?
For 2012, we offer these tips to improve your social media strategy and keep it humming along.
Claim your name
Have you claimed your business name on all social networks? Don’t stop with Twitter and Facebook. You’ll need to claim your name for Google+, create a LinkedIn company profile, and add your business to the directories of relevant professional industry associations and product/service directories.
This is an excellent link-building exercise. Links from professional sites often are of high quality and are valuable for SEO. Even if you won’t be creating a full presence (which, with a registered account, you might as well), making your claim will keep someone else from using your business’ name.
Set a goal and make your plan
You’ll be measuring, so you need to define what your goals are with respect to your social media strategy. Each goal should be something that can be measured and provide actionable information. Create a monthly plan that outlines goals, implementation and metrics along with assigned resources to ensure completion.
Measure, measure, measure
Without monitoring the change in metrics, there is no way to track how your strategy is working. Use tools such as Google Analytics to find out how many visitors come to your site, where they came from, and what keywords they used to get there. There are other tools on the market right now, as well as an upcoming one from us at Social Strategy1, specifically built for small businesses using social media.
It’s OK to outsource
Executing social media strategy takes time - and expertise - that you and your staff may not have. Ask your web designer or content management system provider if they offer such services or if they can recommend someone else. Always hire by recommendation since these services can be offered by anybody who wants to call themselves an expert
The best way to adjust your social media strategy for the New Year is to evaluate the one that has just past, and adjust accordingly. Don’t only focus on the places where your social media strategy failed, however. Pay attention to the techniques that worked well, and apply their example to the rest of your strategy. If you’re still lost, get in contact with us at Social Strategy1 for help in updating your social media strategy for 2012.