Jill Kurtz, Owner, Kurtz Digital Strategy

Social media can be a grind. The options are always changing and new content is always needed. The effort can help you reach and exceed business goals, so stick with it.

By working smarter and not harder, you can use these five tips to make sure your social media strategy makes sense for the resources you have, engages your audience, and effectively markets your business.

Know your target audience/customer.

If you haven’t defined who the target audience is for your products or services, stop everything. You need to know who you are talking to for any social media effort to be effective.You don’t have to go through a massive branding or research project to define your audience. Get insight from these sources:

• Details about current customers. Who are they? What do they like about your brand? What else do they like?

• Google Analytics and social media data. Where do people spend their time with you? What do they react to most?

• Pew research and other national data. What do the people who fit your target audience do online?

Create multiple touch points.

People rarely act on something based on their first contact with a brand or product. They need to hear about something several times. They need to learn more.Keep this in mind with your social media. You can’t post about something once and expect to get the results you want. You need to talk about the same thing several times, in different ways and across several channels.

Repurpose content.

Use your content over and over. That blog post can generate several social media posts. The script of a video can likewise turn into text posts of several lengths. Use images as part of content and alone.Find ways to extend the life of every piece of content you have by using it in a variety of contexts.

Track results.

There’s no harm in trying new things. There is harm in repeatedly doing things that don’t impact your goals, or worse, work against your goals.Track everything you do with an eye on your intended goal. Do more of the things that move you in the right direction. Stop spending time and other resources on tactics that aren’t working.

Pay attention to the competition.

Always stay on top of what related brands are doing. Pay attention to what they post as well as how people react. You’ll get ideas for things you can do and also tips on what to stay away from.You can look at their social profiles and see:

• How often they post

• What days of the week and times of the day they post

• How large their follower bases are

• What specific types of organic, sponsored, and ad content they post

• Which types of posts get the most engagement

Take note of the patterns that emerge and use that Intel to inform you social media efforts.