Optimize Your Social Media Strategy in 4 Steps

Make your social media channels more effective in 4 steps

A large number of companies are thinking about their next steps in
social media. One of the key factors in any social media strategy is the
channel/content debate. Companies are struggling to capitalize on their
use of social media channels.

In this paper, we want to share our approach on how to make effective
use of social media channels in order to spread content. It is clear that
social channels can also be used for customer service, conversation
management and for collaboration purposes.

This paper focuses on how to increase the impact of your content
marketing via social media and how to optimize your social content
strategy in four steps.

The paper is based upon a series of research projects conducted over
the last two years, the experience gained from numerous workshops
with our clients and an in-depth discussions with social media experts
Erik Van Roekel (@evr) and Matthijs Van Den Broeck (@mgvandenbroek).

twitter.com/stevenVBe
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The ‘checklist’ mentality is still alive & kicking

During the past two years, companies have been overwhelmed with articles They have heard a modern company needs a Facebook page and so they
and feedback relating to the impact of social media and the modern create a Facebook page. Check, done that! Twitter is becoming increasingly
consumer. At the same time, those companies have also been bombarded popular? Check, done that! Mobile apps are cool? Okay, I suppose we’d
with new trends and evolutions. As a result, most companies are now aware better start using those too… That’s all very good and possibly well intended,
of the radical changes that have taken place in our society. At the start of but its purpose is tactical rather than strategic. Companies that use social
2010, 45% of American marketers named social media as their top priority 1. media for tactical purposes will, for example, create a new Twitter account for
In other words, social media awareness is now a fact. Most companies were each new event but they don’t always do the necessary follow-up. As a result,
already taking the necessary corrective action. A recent study conducted in they repeatedly invest in followers who are then left to their own devices
both the US and the UK showed that only 12% of companies are currently once the event is over. Perhaps there’s also the occasional investment to win
doing nothing at all in the field of social media 2. In other words, there is both new fans on the company’s Facebook page but new and interesting content
awareness and action. Excellent, you might think. Mission accomplished! is only posted during campaigns. And what happens the rest of the time?
Little or nothing at all. Not really the best way to create satisfied fans, is it?
Unfortunately not. Very definitely not, in fact. Such investments are unsuccessful because they are not the result of a clear-
cut vision. They are just opportunistic, tactical pin pricks. As a consequence,
Seven out of ten companies that have adjusted their marketing strategy to a large number of companies create a cemetery filled with neglected social
reflect the expectations of the new consumer view these changes from a media (Facebook, Twitter & beyond) accounts. This has a negative impact on
purely tactical perspective 3. This is what we call a ‘checklist mentality’. the overall effectiveness of their social media investments.

1 2010, 2010 Digital Marketing Outlook, Society of Digital Agencies
2 2011, Social Media Integration Study, InSites Consulting
3 2010, Stop the Paradox Study, InSites Consulting

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4 steps to effective social channel use

1 channel & content
strategy 2 build reach 3 Persuasion through
content & interaction 4 From likes to
ambassadors

The first step consists in To increase the return on Once you’ve attracted a The final phase is the most
formulating a clear vision on the content creation, it is advisable significant number of followers difficult part. In this phase you
role of each of the online touch to build reach in the early and fans, you need engaging are looking to create a small
points. Apart from defining phase of your online plan. In content to keep them army of active ambassadors.
the goals and content of each this phase, the hard part is interested. The threshold to In order to succeed, you can
of the individual channels, this maintaining a balance between follow a brand is very low but it focus on two dimensions: start
phase is also about deciding relevant content on the one takes a huge effort to keep your by getting people as actively
how those channels interrelate. hand and being able to attract a audience engaged. involved as possible and then
In this phase, you must define large set of likes & followers on give them usable content. Don’t
which touch points are most the other hand. just give them content to read
likely to reach the social or view; give them content that
media (and broader business) adds genuine value to their
objectives. Instead of creating lives. Once consumers are using
silos you are going for an your content this creates an
integrated approach where the amplification effect.
whole is greater than the sum of
the parts.

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These four phases are obviously not entirely sequential; there is an overlap between phases 2, 3 and 4. In our strategy, it’s not that hard to define the necessary
actions for the various steps. In real life, though, we need to be flexible enough to adapt to consumer needs in a moment’s notice. Once a certain stage is
reached, phases 2, 3 and 4 become iterative steps in an eternal loop designed to build reach and create more ambassadors.

Conversion

Convince with
content & interaction
Build reach
through campaigns

Content
Touchpoint plan

TIME

In the next part of this paper, we will dive into the details of each of these 4 steps.

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STEP 1
channel and content strategy

Most managers think of social media channels as stand-alone silos. Content is
spread through each of these channels without a clear plan on how to reach
business objectives. The truth is that all online channels are interrelated.
Consumers can even be routed from channel A to channel B. In this phase,
we recommend companies to elaborate a ‘content-conversion’ plan.

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What is a content-conversion plan?

A content-conversion plan includes every touch point where a (potential) On this platform, it is easy to directly convert a reader into a sales lead. In case
customer can come into contact with your content. Then you need to your key objective is community building, your Facebook page may be the
determine at which of these touch points conversion to your objectives best content-conversion point. When mapping out your conversion touch-
(reputation management, community building, lead generation...) is likely point plan, define the trigger for each touch point that makes it possible to
to occur. All other social channels support traffic generation towards these move on to the next. Furthermore, try to keep the lines as short as possible.
conversion points. Instead of having a set of silo channels, this creates a set of The more steps are necessary in order to reach the touch point where your
interrelated online channels. business goals are realized, the harder it is to achieve high conversion rates.

For example, the converting touch point might be the corporate website or
blog. A corporate blog can be the touch point that leads people from the
content area to the sales area. Your other social media accounts ensure that
sufficient traffic is channeled to the blog every day.

For companies working in the knowledge sector, SlideShare can serve as a
useful converting touch point. SlideShare is a social network site where people
can share presentations (PowerPoint, etc.). This is the ideal place to showcase
what you can do and what you have to offer.

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Social
Media
...
Other
Blog
Media

Content
Conversion
Point
External
...
Blogs

Content sharing through silo’s Influence

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Questions to ask in building your content-conversion plan

1. What is the key objective of our content marketing? 3. Which channels can create traffic to the content conversion point?
Some companies focus on creating brand awareness and others on Once you’ve determined your content conversion point, the challenge is
becoming an expert or on creating business leads. Depending on your to bring people there. All social media channels can be helpful in reaching
objective, there are several content-conversion points to choose from. this goal. In this phase, the tough part is being able to use your content
intelligently. For instance, suppose you’ve launched a great YouTube video
2. Which online touch point provides the best odds and you want to share it with your followers. If you have chosen your blog
of reaching this objective? as the content conversion point, you should embed the video in the blog
Define the best place on the web to reach your objectives. Below you and share the link to the blog post that includes the video. Mention your
will find several examples of content-conversion points. Since so much blog and the URL in the description on YouTube. Also, don’t forget to
depends on the context, the contents of this table should be viewed as mention the name and URL of your blog. Every time someone embeds your
examples and not as the only possible outcome of the discussion. video on their blog, this helps increase the traffic to your blog. If one of
your employees gives a presentation outside your company, put the name
Objective Touch Point Details
and URL on the last slide: “For more info about our company/subject of
Create business leads Corporate Link to contact details available
presentation check out our blog at …” Create relevant cross links to your
blog and biggest change people
will contact you for commercial conversion point e.g. in your Twitter profile background. The more roads
information
lead to the conversion point, the better.
Strengthen Facebook Organize open and wide-rang-
the emotional bond ing forms of customer collabora-
tion to increase involvement
Improve customer Twitter Most complaints and questions
experience come through Twitter, so we
focus on this channel for an
optimum customer service
... ... ...

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1. Define objectives 2. Content Conversion Point 3. Content Conversion Plan

Social
Lead generation Media

Other
Blog
Media
Community building
Content Content
Conversion Conversion
Point Point
...
External
...
Blogs

Reputation mgm Influence

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STEP 2
build reach

In order to generate impact with your content, it is important to create online
reach. You can have the most brilliant content available, if no one sees it the
impact will remain limited. There are two ways to build reach: the slow approach
and the fast approach. The slow approach builds reach over time by investing in
quality content that spreads naturally. To succeed in the slow approach, you need
three things: good content, a fixed rhythm and a lot of patience.

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7 approaches for effective reach building

Big brands usually lack the last ingredient, which is why we recommend choosing the fast approach.
Our research has shown the following seven approaches to be successful reach builders:

1. Conversation worthy campaigns 5. Employee activation
Invest in social campaigns to boost the reach of your social channel activities A company should always have more fans than employees. If your own
employees don’t follow your content, how can you expect your customers
2. Rhythm: to be interested? Train and facilitate employees to become active
A one-time campaign won’t do it. ambassadors of your social channel activities.
You need a certain rhythm to share great content
6. Offline communication channels
3. Contests & free stuff: Building reach goes beyond online channels. Try to mention online
Giving away some of your products is still an effective way to build reach in channels in all your communications: TV commercials, print advertising,
the short run (although there’s no guarantee of quality). Many companies banners, point of sales material...
are afraid to attract ‘low quality’ followers with this strategy. This is indeed
a risk: once they are on board, the challenge consists in convincing such 7. Partner up with other major brands:
followers to stay with your content (step 3). If you have a good relationship with brands that have a large social reach,
you can always ask them to share your brand content (or a competition)
4. Social advertising: with their fan base.
To grab the attention of your audience, you need to advertise your
campaigns and content on social channels.

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Rhythm
Conversation worthy
campaigns

Free stuff
Social advertising

Build reach
through campaigns

TIME

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STEP 3
convince through content & interaction

In this step you have to convince your audience that following your brand was a good idea. Keep in mind that
consumers are becoming more selective in the number of brands they interact with. Research conducted by
InSites Consulting has shown that the average consumer actively interacts with no more than 5 brands on social
media. This means your brand needs to be part of this select little group. Also, recent research 4 has shown that
fans won’t dislike your page if they don’t like the content; instead they will ‘hide’ your page.

This means competing for the attention of your own followers with big love brands like Apple, Coca Cola and
Disney. And let’s not forget, your toughest adversaries when competing for the attention of your followers
comes are those followers’ friends and families.

The conclusion is obvious: this evolution is raising the bar for companies to be able to engage with consumers
on social media.

4 Fast Company, Ekaterina Walter, Your Facebook Fans Are Hiding Your Posts At An Alarming Rate
(http://www.fastcompany.com/3001871/your-facebook-fans-are-hiding-your-posts-alarming-rate)

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3 elements are key in this particular phase

1. An editorial calendar: 3. Operational conversation management:
Make sure you know what your content updates will look like at least In this phase, consumer engagement is one of your key objectives.
three months in advance. Our previous research paper, ‘a six-step content To succeed, you need top operational conversation management. Have a
marketing plan’, outlines how to set up an effective editorial calendar. In person or a team ready to interact and engage with your audience. Be fast,
fact, content planning consists of three layers: big campaigns (very intense), empathic and listen to your fans so they will commit to your brand. Follow
projects (recurring thematic themes) and content updates (small content the conversations in real time and be ready to respond.
sparks).

2. Creative content:
Drawing up the perfect content plan is probably the easiest part of the
long road to success on social media channels. Coming up with creative
and talked-about content is the real challenge. It’s not an exact science and
there’s no such thing as a foolproof plan. It’s really quite simple: building
content that conquers the hearts of your followers and friends requires
highly creative people.

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STEP 4
from likes to ambassadors

The previous steps focused on winning people’s hearts through great
content. In this phase, the challenge is to create ambassadors: people
who promote your brand to their friends and family. Here the question is:
‘What do we want our fans to say about us and how can we facilitate this?’.
Succeed in this challenge and you will be rewarded with positive
and impactful conversation about your brand.

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Convert your likes into ambassadors

In this stage, you need to convert your likes into ambassadors. The following factors are essential:

1. Broad consumer involvement 3. Questions and answers
If you involve your customers in your decision-making flows, they will be Put meaningful questions to your audience as we explained in the first
more committed to your brand. People are more emotionally involved bullet point. Once your fans start giving you inspiring feedback, be sure to
when they feel they are part of the team and that’s how you create return the favor and keep them in the loop. Let them know what you did
ambassadors. So content planning is not just about sharing cool content or with the feedback and why certain remarks were used and others were not.
asking evident questions. It’s also about asking your customers for feedback Be open about what use you make of their feedback. Gain their trust be
on your performance. Ask people’s opinion on all things related to your being honest.
company and remember to thank them for the input they provide.

2. Consumer consultants 4. Branded utility
If you have in-depth questions concerning a new project or product, you Think of applications that bring added value to your fans. Look for content
should turn to your die-hard fans on social channels and invite them to join that is both highly relevant to your audience and in line with your business.
a closed community to discuss these topics. This makes them feel like they Once again, you need top creative people to invent these applications.
are really part of the team and essentially you’re hiring employees that are Once fans start using the utility apps, it is a great way for them to talk about
not actually on the payroll. your brand through the application.

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You can plan for success in social media

I am convinced that most companies could use their social channels more effectively. The problem is that most companies only focus on steps 2 and/or 3 of this
plan. Most brainstorms start with the question ‘what should we share on Facebook?’. By taking that discussion to a higher level, you will change the way you
look at social media touch points.

When using the approach outlined in this paper, it becomes obvious that the KPIs, the media types and the content types differ in each of the steps.

Reach building Content & interaction To ambassadors
KPI Social reach Engagement Recommendations
Media type Paid media and Owned media Earned media
existing owned
media
Content types Campaigns Content sparks Applications, online products

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After that: integrated content loop

In order to use your online channels

to maximum effect, they should be

aligned with marketing actions in
Content
offline channels. Also, steps 2, 3

and 4 of this approach become an

iterative process as soon as you’ve
Reach building
reached step 4 for the first time. CONTENT
LOOP
Once you’ve managed to recruit

ambassadors, it is very relevant

to increase your reach again and
Conversion
create even more ambassadors.

At a certain point it turns into a

perpetual loop and when it does, the

content planning from step 3 and the

philosophy from step 4 merge in the TIME
overall content planning.

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Content

Reach building
CONTENT
LOOP

Conversion

Conversion

Convince with
content & interaction
Build reach
through campaigns

Content
Touchpoint plan

TIME

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Feedback & suggestions?

I hope this paper has inspired you as well as presented you with a number
of transparent guidelines on how to build your social channel strategy.

Of course, I’m looking forward to your feedback and to hearing about
your personal experience in this field, so feel free to contact me at

Steven@VanBelleghem.Biz
@StevenVBe

Thank you and good luck!

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Optimize Your Social Media Strategy in 4 Steps

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