You’ve got your business running and you should be proud, but something’s missing — an equally amazing social media plan. With 72% of the public using some form of social media, getting the most out of your business’s social accounts is critical.
Social platforms are a great way to connect with current customers and reach those who may not have discovered your business yet. Your posts must be strategic and in line with your company’s goals. Improve the value of your efforts by creating SMART social media goals to knock out of the park.
What is SMART?
Because goal setting is a helpful way to see growth, you’ll want to create a clear roadmap to guide you to the finish line. Using the SMART acronym makes defining, planning and executing goals easier.
- Specific: Make your goals clear and specific to make planning the steps to reach them easier.
- Measurable: Define what metrics will show that progress is begin made. Those same metrics will also send up red flags to reevaluate if necessary.
- Attainable: Goals should be reasonable to accomplish within the desired timeframe.
- Relevant: Make sure goals are in alignment with your company’s values and long-term objectives.
- Time-Based: Set realistically ambitious deadlines that motivate and assist in task prioritizing.
When it comes to measuring your growth, don’t let the word “metric” shake you up. You don’t have to be a numbers pro to take it head-on. Thryv’s Social Media Manager, Chandlor Wright encourages small businesses to dig in deep with their social strategy.
“There are tabs on insights or analytics,” she explains. “Get into the habit of paying attention to them. See how content performs week-over-week as you develop new strategies and start to implement new methods.”
Before you build out social media goals for your business, start by defining your objectives based on your type of company.
Small Businesses Social Media Objectives
- Increase brand awareness
- Grow community presence
Increased brand awareness is at the top of everyone’s list when it comes to the “why” you should be using social media. In the U.S., people spend at least 2 hours on social media every day, making it the go-to for those looking to snag the attention of potential customers.
Social media has also made it easier than ever for brands to have a real understanding of where they stand when it comes to their social presence. Tapping into features like Instagram Stories is a game-changer when branding your company. Most platforms provide insights on how your business’s page and content are doing.
Ask yourself:
- How many followers do I have?
- How many people could I potentially reach in a day? week? month?
- How many people are mentioning my brand on social media?
- How many shares and retweets am I getting?
Growing a community around your business might seem like an odd suggestion, but it’s actually a deeper dive into growing your following. In other words, this is where you turn a fan of your product or service into your family.
Ask yourself:
- How many posts, likes and comments are on your community Facebook page?
- How many people are involved in your hashtag chats and threads on Twitter?
Don’t feel the need to jump into lofty social media goals for your small business just for the sake of pushing yourself. As Wright says, small, incremental, achievable goals will have the biggest payoff. Whether it’s hopping on a live stream on Facebook or Instagram monthly or highlighting 2-3 customer reviews on your page, do it.
Small, incremental, achievable goals will have the biggest payoff.
Start-up Companies Social Media Objectives
- Drive traffic to your website
- Generate leads
Driving traffic to a start-up’s website is a step from having a presence on social media. It’s using your skills to shift eyes from your posts to your website in hopes of gaining customers. The more eyes on your website, the higher the chance of gaining customers.
Ask yourself:
- How much traffic is coming from social media?
- What percentage of traffic comes from social media?
- What percentage of traffic comes from each social media?
- How many clicks are received on social media posts?
- What is the bounce rate of the social media traffic received?
Lead generation through social media isn’t a common route, but it works. Because potential customers are checking out your social media, it’s a great way to get on their radar and get them to share a bit about themselves.
Ask yourself:
- How many and how often are leads collected through social media?
- How many clicks are you getting on lead generation posts?
- What is the conversion rate on social media leads?
- How many visitors came to your site from social media and downloaded gated content?
- During social media contests and events, how many people shared their information with you?
This might sound like a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to be a bore. Wright suggests taking advantage of fun features in innovative ways. Companies using Instagram should regularly pop in polls, quizzes and ask their audience purposeful questions.
Twitter and LinkedIn, while very different, are also great platforms to test out polls. Wright’s tip to success with polls is simple — keep it simple. “Make sure they’re not too word-heavy. Remember, people are there to mindlessly scroll, catch up on what’s going on and go on with their day.”
Take advantage of the fun ways you can engage and interact with your audience on various social channels.
Franchise Social Media Objective
- Improve customer service
- Boost customer loyalty
Improving customer service through social media is a great way to raise your customer satisfaction score and boost customer retention. This is not only a way to provide service around the clock. It also provides transparency by allowing customers to see where your company fell short but properly addressed the negative review.
Ask yourself:
- What is the current demand for social media customer support for your businesses?
- What is your response time?
- How satisfied are customers with the social customer service they receive?
Boosting customer loyalty is in line with customer retention. Social platforms allow businesses to build a unique personal connection with those who frequent their business by resharing their content, giving them behind-the-scenes looks at upcoming products and surprise rewards.
Ask yourself:
- What is the repurchase ratio on purchases made from social media?
- What is the upsell ratio?
- Where do I fall on the customer loyalty index?
- What is the customer lifetime value?
- How many customers are sharing what they’ve purchased online?
With social media, there are limitless possibilities to the strategies you can create to reach your goals. Don’t be afraid to switch up your game plan, but make sure you allow enough time to actually test and gather data. Not sure which route to take? Consider a/b testing your social posts to discover what works best for your company and its customers.
