4 Ways to Make an Effective Social Media Marketing Plan

by Hayley Irons

When it comes to using social media for personal use, we don’t really think about the overall effect or goal, because there isn’t one, it’s all just a bit of fun really. However, this is a very different story when it is used for business purposes, and it requires a different approach entirely. You can’t just share, retweet or react to any old post as you would in your private life. Each action you take needs to work in line with an overall strategy.

As with any area of your business, your social media marketing should have a comprehensive plan in place in order to help you achieve your overall goals. With that in mind, here are some top tips on creating an effective plan.

1. SET GOALS
In any marketing plan, you need to have objectives in place in order to ensure you are working towards something that you want to achieve for your business. These goals should work alongside your overall marketing campaign, to back it up and provide a level of consistency across the board.

However, it is important to make your targets realistic, it will only create a sense of negativity if you can’t get anywhere near to attaining them. For example, if your goal is to boost customer numbers, set an achievable monthly figure and use your social media plan as an important adjunct to your overall strategy for this.

2. ANALYSE
In order to gain a realistic perspective of where you are, it is always important to review your past insights and learn from them. These will allow you to understand what did or didn’t work and you can use this information to hone your strategy going forward.

For example, you might be surprised to find that a competition you ran received little or no engagement, but a silly team photo got lots of people talking. Without regularly reviewing your insights you just won’t know what worked or how to build from these successes.

3. RESEARCH
What are your competitors doing? Have a look on each social media platform to see what others are doing and how much engagement they are getting from their content. What works for them is likely to work for you, so this can be a great source of inspiration. Be smart about what ideas you borrow though, check out the number of likes and comments a post has received before you decide to copy!

You can also use your research to ensure you are doing that little bit extra to give your accounts the edge over the competition. For example, if they are not using pictures and video content, make sure you are.

4. DELEGATE
Making sure you have the right staff to do the job in the first place is absolutely vital to your social media strategy. It is important to be aware that this is a role that will take time and planning in order to get it right; trying to shoehorn this task into your already busy schedule just isn’t going to work.

If there is no one within your existing team who you can entrust to put your social media strategy into place then it is worth considering outsourcing the role. At HI Marketing I will work with you as an extension of your business in order to seamlessly carry out this task, taking the pressure away from you and your team.


About the Author
Hayley’s passion is helping dental related companies with all aspects of marketing. Specialising in a Social Media Marketing, her unique, in-depth knowledge of marketing combined with her knowledge and experience of working in dental practices has helped many dentists, dental training companies and dental suppliers thrive in today’s changing business environment.

Hayley started out her career working in marketing and advertising , working on accounts such as BMW & Redrow Homes.  About 13 years ago she took a different path and took a job as a Receptionist within a cosmetic Dental Practice and worked her way up to Practice Manager.  Now she combines the two!

She set up HI Marketing Ltd in 2015 to help drive business’s and take away the pressure and time that the upkeep of marketing requires. Whether its social media marketing, writing blogs about your services, driving more traffic towards your website, she is here to take away the stress & pressure.  Currently she works with around 25 dental related clients, including the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. Get in touch by calling 07805506477 or emailing at hayley@hayleyironsmarketing.co.uk.

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