The world of social media has gone from a friendly communication tool to a full-blown marketing platform for every business. Having a presence and making an impact online is key. And in order to do that you need to be consistent.
Being online doesn’t just mean having a profile, it means using it, using it well and using it OFTEN.
Luckily, we got your back. We’ve put together a straightforward, how-to on how to build a social media style guide for your biz.
One: Who is your brand and what do they stand for?
Get an idea of who you are as a brand: Ask yourself and answer:
- Who are you?
- What do you do?
- What is my brand philosophy and what do I want to say?
These are all questions that are going to tell people what makes your business unique. Usually, this stems from your brand philosophy or mission statement.
Take Warby Parker’s mission statement “Warby Parker: To offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially conscious businesses”
They are not just an eyewear company, they are an eyewear company who sells glasses at revolutionary prices that lead the way for a socially conscious business.
Two: What is your brand voice?
Having a strong social media presence is all about sharing who you are through how you relate to your followers and customers.
- Who is the personality behind your brand?
- What do they sound like?
- How do they speak?
This is the character behind your brand – the zest that brings it all to life online… and in an authentic way.
Three: Outline social media goals
Ask yourself:
What are your social media end-goals?
Do you want to:
- Engage – Attract people to your page and get them involved
- Educate – Teach them about you, your business and your industry
- Keep – Keep people engaged and interested in coming back
The first two are done by pushing curated content and the second is done by answering customer enquiries, helping with issues, answer questions and engage in conversation.
Clearly setting online goals will give you a better idea of which platforms you’ll want to post, push and promote on.
Four: Choose your social media networks
Twitter – Using 280 characters to share interesting or relevant information, articles or links
Instagram – Photo & Video sharing platform that allows you to edit captions and comments
Facebook – All-inclusive and robust platform that allows you to share information, create business pages, share links, chat with clients and post and push advertising
LinkedIn – Specifically for the business community, a platform that allows you to network with people currently in your roster or build networks with people within your industry
Pinterest – A photo-based search engine that allows you to share ideas and advice on beauty, travel, home decor and much more.
Outline the social media networks you are using and which ones you see yourself using in the next year. This will help you turn your big shiny goals into mini, bite-size pieces and narrow the scope of your plan to each platform. Also, remember that content is multi-purpose; It can be reused across a number of platforms.
Start small and work your way up. Decide which platforms are most important right now and start dreaming about the content you want to be sharing on them. Here’s our little insight to deciding which platforms you should use for your business.
Five: Make a strategy
Once you know which platforms you’ll be on, ask yourself:
- How often will I post?
- How many times a week?
- Which hashtags should I be using?
- What is my turnaround time on customer enquiries and replies?
Use this to keep your content on brand and consistent. Creating a monthly content calendar helps give you an overview of your strategy and make tweaks where necessary.
Six: Creating and sharing social media content
When sitting down to think about how often, what kind and where you’ll be sharing your content it’s important to map out a plan of the TYPE of content you’ll be sharing and what your month will look like.
Some questions to think about:
- Will you be sourcing information from external links, blogs or articles or creating and writing content yourself?
- How much content will be sourced vs original
- Have you created a social media calendar where you are recording and tracking your posts monthly?
- What websites will you source information from?
- Which scheduling tools will you be using?
This may seem like a colossal project, but once you sit down and sort through the details, it will be a lot easier for you to stay consistent online. After-all consistency is key friend, so make a plan, focus on a goal and work every day to deliver the best content you can. You got this.
Want to get the scoop on our savvy insider secrets? Click here for our 6 best social media marketing secrets to increase your following and leave impactful impressions!
