Being a marketer on social media is like being a kid in the candy store: you have tons of options, limited money, and you’ll probably spend more time agonizing over your decision than you’ll spend enjoying the results. Social media management is a tricky thing, but solving just a few of the most common social media challenges might just help you achieve a little sweet satisfaction.

Coming Up With a Social Strategy

When it comes to creating a social media marketing strategy, where in the world should we start? The answer is simple: start with who you are. Then figure out how you’re going to deliver that image or mission statement (that’s where you’re branding comes in) and how you’re going to measure the efficacy of that delivery system. Remember:

• This is only an outline. Things will change.
• Never lose focus on the “why” – why you’re reaching out to certain people, while you’re using the channels you’re using, why anyone should care about your product or service in the first place.
• The only results worth talking about are the ones backed up by numbers.

Figuring Out What Works

Speaking of measuring results with numbers, how are you identifying which of your strategies are working and which aren’t? KPI reports and other metrics that measure everything from social media engagement to CTA clickthroughs are invaluable resources. Yes, you want to figure out what you’re doing right, but you also want to know what methods are coming up short so you can shuffle your priorities and reassign your energy – and ad spend – accordingly.

Connecting With Your Audience

Many businesses assume connecting with consumers means talking at them. They tweet more, send out status updates every other hour, and paper the digiverse with more blogs than all their competitors combined, but in the midst of that flurry of activity, they’re sorely neglecting one very important thing: listening. Pay attention to what your audience has to say by reading and responding to comments and making changes based on negative feedback and that connection you’re after will build organically.

Developing Original Content

Some 60 percent of marketers say they create at least one new piece of content every day. That number likely includes blogs, but content also refers to the messages you’re sending out on social media. Too many people treat those quick blurbs as throwaways when in reality they’re opportunities to reinforce your branding and nurture your rapport with consumers. Pay attention to what you’re writing on social media, even if it’s just a lead-in for a link. Be creative, stay on brand, and really exercise your voice – after all, if people are following you, it’s because they want to hear what you have to say.

Implementing a Cohesive Marketing Strategy

Business is really picking up, and you now find yourself managing not only a handful of social media accounts but also a website, a mobile app, an email marketing campaign, a mass text messaging subscription list. It’s exhausting, right? You make your life easier by signing up for a social media management account with a company like Hootsuite and partnering up with an SMS platform like Textpedite,

Finding Your Target Audience

An efficient social media strategy is so much more than just flooding your follower’s news feeds with content. For starters, you have to give people a way to find you and follow you in the first place.

• Use the custom audience feature while creating Facebook ads to reach people with listed hobbies, life events, and basic stats such as geographic region that indicate they might be interested in your brand
• Gain attention by piggybacking off of trending Twitter hashtags that are relevant to your brand
• Make the first move by reaching out to industry influencers and potential consumers with larger followings and starting up a conversation

A whopping 93 percent of marketers currently use social media to achieve their goals. Are you one of them? What challenges are you facing in your quest to conquer the social landscape?