More than two-thirds of businesses plan to spend more time and money on social media this new-year.
According to a study by Ignite Visibility about digital marketing spend, businesses sized under 1 million invest the most of their budget towards social media marketing. Businesses between 1-5 million invest the most towards SEO and businesses between 10 and 20 million invest the most towards email marketing.
Businesses of all sizes found social media to be the most difficult marketing channel to manage.
So what does this mean?
Is a digital marketing plan really necessary for your business? If you have an online presence at all, a plan for it is always a great idea.
You do not need a long-winded document outlining every step of your plan. Digital marketing seems like an extremely complex idea, but, we promise, it doesn’t have to be that hard. At the very least, you need to ask yourself the following questions. From here, we promise you will have a clearer idea towards what to do with the new year.
Have I “Googled” myself?
Before you think about anything else, just do this first step real quick. Google search your business name, brand, or whatever it may be.
Are the results what you want them to be?
If you Google search the product or services you provide and a location, is your business on the first page?
All of these things can be adjusted using an SEO-driven content strategy, ads, the right social media profiles, and many other options. Talk to someone who can help you figure out which of those options make the most sense for your business to pursue.
Is what I’m currently doing working?
What is NOT working out for your right now? Are you getting any leads from your online efforts?
Are you paying for ads that aren’t converting? This is not unusual, as running an ad campaign is almost always a form of testing. You will always be adjusting your targeting, content and budget based off of what didn’t work the last time. Keep trying and keep testing, just be smart about it.
Do you spend more than 15 minutes on each social media post? If so, that’s also totally normal, but maybe it’s time to pass on the duty to someone else so you can focus on running your business. As content creators, we understand the amount of time it takes to manage an active social media profile. Call us biased, but more often than not, it is worth the cost to hire someone to save you that headache.
Am I tracking metrics?
Setting up Google Analytics for your site is very easy. Once you do that, you can see how many people visit your site daily, the pages or posts that get the most traffic, and so much more.
On top of that, almost all social media platforms have free insights showing you audience analytics, which posts are doing the best, and much more.
If you haven’t been tracking things, this can be step one of your plan. Set up the metrics, test them for the month of January, and analyze next steps from there. You may learn things about your audience that you never knew before.
Am I getting any engagement on my social media posts?
We know what it’s like. You can work on a quality Facebook post for 30 minutes, only for it to reach five people and get one like. Maybe it’s time to try a different platform or revise your content.
Engagement is important because the more engagement you have, the more likely Facebook is to give your posts more reach (also known as impressions). Share posts that people want to share, or that will elicit more reactions than a “like”.
Am I doing anything with the visitors on my website?
If you can see people are visiting your site, you need a way to acknowledge them one way or another. Are you encouraging them to sign up for your newsletter? Are you directing them to your main call to action?
Take a look at your website’s content and ask yourself if it is answering the questions that potential customers most frequently come to you with. If not, revise it.
Do you know where your customers spend their time online?
What is your ideal customer’s age range? What are their interests? These types of things determine which social media pages you should dedicate your time to. If your ideal client is hanging out on one online space, follow them.
Do you want to advertise?
Remember, there is a difference between boosting a post and having an advertising campaign. How heavy and how frequent do you want your ad campaigns to be?
Your answer to this question will help you determine a budget for your digital marketing plan.
Do I need help with any of this?
As a business owner, you know better than anyone the types of projects you have time for and what you don’t have time for. Getting outsourced help can accelerate the process of any digital marketing effort you want to take on.
Now what?
Congratulations! By reflecting upon these questions, you are already on a clearer path than you were before. If you feel overwhelmed, know that there is help out there.
You can start by prioritizing your business goals, then decide which digital marketing tactics fit those goals. Think about which areas you want to put more effort towards, whether you can (or want to) take on those tasks on your own, and you’re on your way to a more successful 2019.
Contact us for an evaluation of your social media pages.
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