Social media goals aren't what you think they are. Here's how to get them right!
If I asked you what your current social media goals are, you'd probably say something like "Post at least 3 times a week to my Facebook page" or "Write more customer-focused content".
And you'd be wrong.
Why?
Because these are really just items on a to-do list. They might help support your real social media goals, but they don't actually address your long or short-term social media business needs.
Instead, you should be thinking about things like:
How you can drive more traffic to your sales page
How to get more subscribers for your newsletter.
These are specific, trackable goals that – if handled properly – can lead to actual sales and increased revenue.
Reverse engineering works wonders
Let's say you want to drive more traffic to your website so that prospects will place orders for your products or services. What would be a good way to achieve this?
First, let's turn things on their head a bit. Think long and hard about what typically happens just before you get a sale:
Do you find you have a spike in sales after an email campaign?
Does a telephone call with prospects (Facebook "Call Now" button) help reel them in?
Does providing a free sample often close the deal?
Whatever this might be, think how you can work toward making this happen more consistently.
If – as we mentioned in our scenario above – you've had great success getting more people to visit your website and buy from you after running an email campaign or mailing out a newsletter with a discount voucher, make this a monthly social media goal and compare the results month on month.
If you find you're getting the kind of results you've been looking for, you now have a firm social media goal to strive toward each month.
Or, if you've found that boosting one really good post a month on Facebook that links to one of your most popular products or services gets consistently good results, you've got something right there you can work with both now and in the future.
And if you run a business that isn't rooted directly in the digital world (e.g. you're a furniture repair company, used car dealer, etc.), think about what would cause people to buy from you without social media and then use social media to reach this same goal.
Everyone is different
These are just a few examples. Every business is different. And finding the right social media goal or goals may not happen overnight. Relax. Don't worry. This is only natural.
Take a few days to calmly think about what has worked in the past for your business and how you can make this work again in the future. Maybe even take a bit of time and speak directly with some of your customers to find out why they came to you in the first place and why they have stuck with you since.
With a bit of careful thought, you will discover the right goals for you and your business!
But as always, if you find yourself running in circles trying to manage both your business and your social media, take some of the weight off your shoulders and book a free, no-obligation 30min chat with me.
Sometimes just a bit of advice is all it takes to make things fall into place.
Thanks for reading,
Will