How to Create a Social Media Marketing Plan in 11 Steps

Are you using social media to market your business, but struggling to create momentum?

Would you like to make sense of each social network, clearly defining where and how to spend your time online?

You need an effective social media business plan!

While there’s no one-size fits all solution, you can succeed with the right plan in place.

Ready to get started?

Let's go!

Why Create a Social Media Business Plan?

Lewis Carrol said,

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there."

And just as in life, the same holds true in social media.

If you don't know where you're going -- you're most surely going to get there.

With a social media business plan, you act on purpose.

This customized strategy - one specific to your business - guides you towards defined goals.

Not sure where to begin?

Below are eleven tips to help you craft your social media business plan and take full advantage of all that social media has to offer.

11 Essential Elements of an Effective Social Media Business Plan

 1. Track Your Starting Point

There's no way to know how far you've come if you don't know where you began.

Your first step is tracking your starting point. Identify where you are today - how you appear online - and capture that in an Excel sheet, Word or Google doc.

Here are a few things you're looking for:

1. How often does your website show up in search? Go to Google and type site: www.yourwebsite.com (replace the URL of your web site for www.yourwebsite.com), look at the top of the page, above the search results and below the menu and you will see a count of the number of search results. Write down this number which shows how many pages from your website are indexed by Google.
2. How often do you show up in search? Go to Google and type your name in quotes. For example: “Rebekah Radice.” You're looking for an exact match. The number you see at the top is the one you want. Write it down.
3. How often does your company show up in search? Go to Google and type your company name in quotes, followed by the word "and," (not in quotes), and the words city and state in quotes and separated by a comma. For example: “RadiantLA” and “Los Angeles, California." See the number in the top left corner and write it down.
4. Check sites like www.WooRank.com and www.SemRush.com for competitive data and insight into how well your site is performing.
5. Go to each social network and write down the following metrics for each channel. You're tracking growth, engagement, and conversation around your brand month over month. You can do the same for any competitors you'd like to track as well.

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Not getting the results you want? Let our team get your company on the fast track to social media success. We’ll customize an education plan to meet your needs. From online webinars to workshops and onsite training, we give you the digital tools you need to successfully build your online brand. 

Need help immediately? My new course, "The Smart Guide to Marketing Your Business on Social Media" is here. Get your strategy in place today!

Rebekah Radice is the founder of RadiantLA, a and development firm helping growth driven leaders make radical shifts in digital marketing to blow the lid off past revenue milestones. Obsessive over emerging tech, AI, and all things geek.