This past month, Rory McIlroy won two golf tournaments, including The Open Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club. After raising the Claret Jug in his victory, he was asked about the approach he took during the tournament. The two words he keep in his mind were “Spot” and “Process”. When trying to reach victory with your social media efforts, Rory’s approach can be words of wisdom.
Spot – There are some Social Media Professionals that claim you should be on as many social media platforms as possible. “If you have content to share, your company should be there!” But as in golf, it is more important to hit your target (market) than to spray your message all over the place. First step would be to assess your target market and determine which social media channels your target market are most likely to be active. This would be similar to a golfer assessing their yardage, the wind and determining which club will allow them to hit the right shot to the right spot. With the proper social media channels chosen, you can be efficient with your time and message. If you are unsure what social media channels your target market is active, look to established competitors and see which channels they have active communities.
Process – With your Spot determined, we need to implement your social media strategy. For small businesses looking to get started, my suggestion is to simplify your process. This would be your “Grip it n’ Rip it” approach. The keys to this process would be Content Curation, Distribution, Monitoring and Engagement.
Content Curation – Develop and Discover content that will be highly shareable to your audience. Remember to the live by the 80/20 rule and stay away from straight selling. No one on social media wants to see “Buy This! Buy That!” content. Try developing content that shows the company’s personality and expertise.
Distribution – Post this content to your primary social channels. If you have more than two primary channels, consider using a social media distribution platform like Hootsuite, SproutSocial or Buffer. These platforms also offer content suggestions based on your industry and interests.
Monitoring – As your content is distributed, continue to monitor for your communities reactions and whether there are interactions that need to be regulated or questions are asked directly of you. Sometimes these questions or concerns can lead to sales opportunities if responded to promptly. Included in the monitoring phase would be monitoring analytics to determine effectiveness of content and time of distribution.
Engagement – As you monitor your communities, look for signs of content engagement. Likes, comments, shares, retweets, +1s are all signs of content engagement. Comments can be a great way for your business to have conversations with your customers. Keeping an eye on shares can also direct you to conversation about your company or industry that may happen outside your company page.
This would be a simple social media Process that can help you hit your target. For more advanced approaches, I would recommend reviewing the blog article from Social Media Examiner, “26 Tips to Create a Strong Social Media Content Strategy”
For questions on how to get started with this process reach out to us through our Contact Page
Images courtesy of Rory McIlroy Facebook
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