If you haven’t created a Social Media Marketing Plan for your company yet, now is a perfect time to start. Here is a simple method that I use for creating a marketing plan (with or without a social media focus) that starts and ends with your goals in mind. It is meant to be fluid, with a lot of room for flexibility and change as you work and adjust the plan.
STREAM Method of Marketing Plan Creation
S – Start with your Goals
T – Think it Out with Tasks
R – Review the Past
E – Evaluate your Present
A – Align Processes & Act
M – Measure & Re-Work
Let’s Dive Deeper into the STREAM Method of Marketing Plan Development…
Start with Your Goals:
What do you want to accomplish this year? How does your social medial marketing align with your overall sales and marketing and company goals? Try to be as concise as possible so that you and your team are clear on the goals and that they are achievable and measurable. Remember, goals should be SMART.
Think It Out with Tasks:
To make goals achievable, often they need to be broken down into smaller and timely tasks. For instance, if one of your key goals is to make Facebook and Twitter in your top 10 sources of referral traffic to your website, how are you going to make that happen? Will you need to tweet 5 times a day? Will your Facebook posts need to be more eye-catching with custom graphics? Maybe you need to first make sure you have the right content on your website that will drive those click-thrus. List out all the tasks that need to be done to achieve each goal.
Review the Past:
What has worked with your social media in the past? What hasn’t worked? Review your insights, stats, engagement, and leads. If you set goals for last year, how do the results measure up? Think about what you can do differently for the upcoming year so that your time, budget and resources are spent on the right activities.
Evaluate Your Present:
Do an audit of all your social media profiles to see if your branding and messaging are on target for your current social media profiles. You will also want to do a Google search for your company. You may find social media profiles that do no align with your goals or need updated branding or photos. Are there social media channels where your customers and competitors are hanging out, but you are not? Does your website offer compelling stories, helpful resources, and clear calls-to-action? These are all areas of opportunity that tie into your social media marketing and overall marketing success.
Align Processes & Act:
Now that you have a firm grasp on where you are, what has worked (or not worked) yesterday, and where you want to be tomorrow, it is time to go back and polish your goals and tasks with a definitive plan to get there. Do you have the internal staff to manage the different social media accounts? Does your team have checklists or reminders to ensure that posts and tasks are done in a timely manner? Maybe you need to research new tools and technology to achieve your goals. Look at your main goals, the tasks that need to be done, and the people and processes that will help make it happen. Then start acting on your plan!
Measure & Re-Work:
Set a timeline for reviewing your marketing plan. This could be monthly, quarterly, or mid-year, depending on your goals, timelines, and scope. Measure what is working (or not) and then try to find out why. If needed, take a few steps back and tweak your plan. As marketers, we need to continually stay on top of the latest technologies, marketing trends, and industry best practices. Always watch for new ideas and insight that you can apply so that your marketing plan is dynamic and always progressing.
Do you have questions about creating a marketing plan or implementing a social media strategy for your company? Please contact us!
