6 Components to Include in Your Social Business Plan
When developing a social business plan for your brand, there are certain components that simply must be included.
As social business becomes the norm, brands are beginning to understand that in order to succeed, there needs to be a comprehensive social business plan in place before getting started. Simply diving headfirst into social media is no longer an option. If a company is serious about transitioning into the social era, then a social business plan is a must.
While every brand will have a unique social business plan that suits their goals, there are certain components that every social business plan needs to include. These six elements should be included in every social business strategy, or at the very least should be seriously considered when drafting a social business plan for your brand.
Social Media & Strategy Audit
What does your current involvement in social media look like? In order to create an effective and useful social business plan, you first need to get a good look at what your current activity on social channels looks like, and give yourself a good criticism.
You might be doing some things right, but look honestly at your work, figure out what you want to accomplish and determine where you might be going wrong. Sometimes, this is a difficult task for a business. After all, we never like to think of ourselves as doing anything wrong. When this is the case, it is sometimes beneficial to bring in an unbiased third party to conduct the audit.
The SocialSandBoxTM
Where do you want to have a presence? Determine what your brand’s SocialSandboxTM is going to look like by evaluating major (and minor) social networks and determining how they can help you achieve your goals.
You might find that some networks are better for helping you achieve certain goals. A keen understanding of every network’s strengths and weaknesses is going to be a must-have when determining this part of your social business plan, so take your time to learn everything there is to know about the major players (and there is a lot to know).
Content Strategy
Social media is all about telling stories that people want to share with their circles. Your content strategy is how your brand awareness is going to increase and, ultimately, what is going to be the driving force behind the success of your program. Figure out what people want to hear about, when they want to hear about it and where they are most likely to pay attention. The answers are going to shape your content strategy.
Social Competitive Analysis
You are not talking in a vacuum. There are billions of conversations already taking place and there is a significant likelihood that at least a few of your competitors are taking part.
In your social business plan, you are going to want to do some research into your competitors’ social business strategies and determine how you want to stand out and what you would like to do both similarly and differently. Analyze what they have done, what they have achieved and set benchmarks that compare to your industry’s standards based on what you have observed.
Data Mining
‘Big Data’ is the buzz word of the day and it can be an invaluable asset to your business – if you use it properly. In order to leverage your data and create Responsive Branding campaigns, you are going to have to properly mine it from the right channels.
Develop a data mining sub-strategy within your social business plan in order to effectively sift through the billions of pieces of data that exist in order to pull out what is most relevant to your company.
Measurement and ROI
One of the most crucial components of any social business plan is going to be the measurement and ROI criteria. These need to be established from the beginning of your transition into a social business. In order to determine if you are succeeding, you need to first determine your key performance indicators (KPIs) and then figure out how you plan on measuring success rates.
There are a number of tools and technologies that can be used to measure the tangible results, but with some returns, you might need to get creative. What is a follower worth? Well, for example, you can determine what percentage of social leads convert, what the value of a conversion is, then apply that ratio to each new fan or follower.
There are plenty of ways to measure your success with social media. You just need to figure out first what you are measuring.
What other components do you think need to be included in a social business plan? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!
