What are your social media goals?

Social media is more than coming up with some words, finding an image, and scheduling in your content in the hope it will get you noticed.

It’s about using popular channels to support your wider goals, in a way that will bring maximum value to your sales strategy.

Choosing social media goals is the first topic I cover in my Social Strategy Workbook (which you can download for just £14, by the way). It’s also something I talk about a lot with my VIBeans community and in my monthly Jelly Bean Workshops.

Here are just three examples of clear objectives you could set for your social media campaign – and why they might be important for your business.

Goal #1: Boost brand awareness

Who doesn’t want more visibility?! The more eyes you can get on your content, the more likely you are to get genuine interest from the people that want what you have to offer.

Your followers count and the number of mentions, comments, shares and retweets are great indicators of your brand’s reach online. Improving your brand awareness is more than a number’s game, though. The goal is also to present your brand in the best light by making sure your social media content establishes your business as credible, capable, and the kind of organisation people want to work with.

Goal #2: Generate direct enquiries or sales

If you’re keen to get a more tangible return on investment from your social media activities, then your goal might be to drive leads and/or sales directly from your feeds.

There are lots of ways you can achieve actual conversions without getting your followers to make lots of clicks. Most of the major social media platforms offer social commerce options that allow you to advertise your products or services and manage the entire sales process in-app. Facebook Marketplace is perhaps one of the biggest and best platforms for direct selling via social media, but Instagram also offers excellent paid and organic sales options, including Shoppable Posts, which take the user straight through to checkout.

Goal #3: Drive traffic to your website

Your social media profiles can play an important role in your broader sales funnel, too. You can use your social content to signpost followers towards specific landing pages on your website, which in turn will encourage them to complete a certain action (such as making a purchase, submitting a contact form, or even providing their details in exchange for content like an ebook or a subscription to your newsletter). It’s a good idea to track clicks to your website from social media sources so you can see how much of your traffic is actually coming from your social media platforms in percentage terms.

In their own way, all these goals will help you build a community, increase engagement, and ultimately grow your revenue.

So, you’ve worked out your goals. Now, how do you make sure you achieve them?

Once you’ve settled on the goals that make the most sense for your campaign, it’s time to put the right plan in place to help you achieve them.

I believe that anyone can nail an effective social media strategy, as long as they have the right information and the right guidance. If you need help coming up with impactful content, making the most of all the social tools that are out there, and generally ensuring that your efforts pay off, contact me and I’ll be happy to help!