5 Questions to Ask Yourself When Optimizing Your Social Media Strategy
At Homemade Social, our mission is to deliver holistic digital marketing strategies that are backed by data, supported by trends, and directly tied to client goals. An effective strategy is the heartbeat behind a successful account, so there are a few questions we routinely ask ourselves when reviewing our client’s social media analytics in order to continually optimize the strategy that follows. Read on for the top questions to consider!
1. What social media metrics are tied most closely to my goals?
Analytics mean nothing to clients if they aren’t tied to the goals they’ve set for their business. Before creating a social media strategy, ensure goals are clearly established and communicated, so that you can align each one with a relevant social media KPI. For instance, if your client’s goal is to increase brand awareness, you’ll want to pay extra attention to social media metrics like reach, shares, and follower count.
2. Based on those social media metrics, what are my top and lowest performing posts? Why?
Once your social media KPIs are established, filter your top and lowest performing posts by each of those social media metrics. Take note of what is performing well and continue doing more of it. Similarly, take note of what is not performing as well as anticipated and brainstorm ways to make it better. Whenever you notice significant spikes or dips in these social media metrics, ask yourself “why?”
For instance, if you gained significantly more followers this month as opposed to last, ask yourself what factors resulted in that. Did you host a co-branded giveaway with another brand? Did a new influencer collaboration go live? Did one of your posts go viral and reach an insane number of people? Whatever the case, continually asking yourself “why” will help you identify tactics making significant impacts on your account’s performance.
3. What new tools, trends, or features are available for me to incorporate into my strategy?
Unless you’re new to the social media world, you’re well aware that the industry is always evolving. Not only that but platforms are also often rewarding accounts that are early adopters of their latest tools and features. That’s actually how our agency saw a 91% growth rate in our Instagram following during 2021’s Q4 (thx IG Reels!). Making sure you’re up-to-date with the latest trends and tools is key to maximizing the success and efficiency of your social media strategy.
This doesn’t have to require as much research as it sounds - just subscribe to our weekly digital marketing newsletter and we’ll do all the hard work for you.
4. What are the pain points of my target audience and how can my content provide a solution?
The best content is content that hits home for consumers. Take the time to fully understand your audience and their painpoints. Use this information to then inform your content strategy. Providing small solutions or tips for free is a great way to provide value to your audience. It creates and fosters a relationship with them that will eventually translate into trust and a conversion. Essentially, give followers a reason to not just follow you, but to stick around as well!
Pro tip: prior to beginning your working relationship with clients, send them a new client questionnaire to fill out detailing information they’ve collected thus far about their target audience. Use this information to identify relevant social platforms and create content that speaks directly to them.
5. What gaps exist between my current strategy and the strategies of successful competitors?
Lastly, we can’t forget about conducting a good ‘ol competitor analysis. After identifying your client’s competitors, conduct a deep dive into the strengths and weaknesses of their online presence and overall marketing strategy. What social platforms are they showing up on? What does their content, activity, and overall presence look like on each platform? Leverage the information found to fill in any market gaps by offering and implementing optimization recommendations for your client’s current marketing efforts.
Want more organic social media analytics tips? Check out our latest course on social media analytics, Decode Your Data. Don’t miss out - this one is goooood. 👏
xx,
The Homies
