Mistakes to avoid when creating a social media marketing plan

6 mistakes that will doom your social media strategy

Sure, you can be active in social media without a plan, but a company that uses social media marketing without a clear idea of what they want to achieve, and the steps they need to take to get there, is usually going to waste a lot of time and money, without seeing a return.

I think that a written strategy document is crucial for online success. But of course, not all social media strategies are created equal! Many times, the factors that make the difference between success and failure do not just concern what is in the document. Equally important are the steps companies take before and after compiling it. Here are some of the mistakes I've seen with social media planning which I look to make businesses aware of.

6 mistakes to avoid with your social media planning

Here are 6 of the most common mistakes, in the planning process and some ideas on how you can avoid them.

• 1. You don’t do your homework

Contrary to common perception, a social media strategy is not the first step you take when you decide to ramp up your efforts online. If you’ve already been dabbling on social media or implementing a strategy that is just not showing results, you first have to audit your previous efforts, to figure out what’s worked and what hasn’t, and what foundation you have to build on.

Ideally, you want to audit what your competitors are doing too, as their strategy will directly inform yours. You need to know where you are behind, where there are gaps in the market, and what tactics they are using that you can learn from (an enormous time-saver).

Last but not least, it is hard to build a really effective social media strategy without properly researching your target audience. Ideally, you want to build buyer personas, so that you know exactly who you are trying to reach, and what kind of material will speak to them.

Barring that, you should still look at any research your company has conducted into its client base; talk to your sales and marketing team; monitor relevant conversations on social media and so on, to build up as good a picture as you can get.

The more facts you have, the better your strategy will be. To get an idea of what should go into a social media review, Smart Insights Expert members can download the social media audit template or example social media plan I have developed based on the approach we use.

• 2. You write your strategy alone

In a larger company, as head of marketing, communications or social media, it may be tempting to handle the whole strategy process within your own department. Perhaps you understand social media better than anyone else in your company or are keener than anyone else to get going?

Ultimately this will work against you, because the social media strategy needs to be widely accepted across your organisation. Get other internal stakeholders involved early in the process. The last thing you want is to develop a detailed strategy that is roundly rejected when your CEO, fellow Directors or legal department finally get their hands on it!

Beyond the political aspect, there are practical implications to working alone as well. Your online marketing will be far more effective if it is properly coordinated with your offline marketing. If someone else is in charge of that area, it is absolutely essential that you work closely with them on developing your social media strategy, and not inform them of your decisions after the fact.

• 3. You start with the platforms

All too often, the first decision companies make when developing their social media strategy is which platforms they should be present on. In reality, this should be the very last decision you take.

Before you ever get to that stage, you need to figure out your goals for social media (do you want to build your reputation? Grow your client base? Simply monitor conversations that are relevant to your brand?).

How you achieve these goals will form your strategy: We’ll use social media to reach out to potential referrers, or to build up our email database, or to develop our thought leadership (for example).

Which platforms you are going to use are a tactical detail! Only once you’ve figured out what you want to achieve and how you are going to do it, can you decide whether Facebook, Twitter or Instagram will be the best vehicle for your purpose.

Doing it the other way round will mean that your strategy is inside-out. It’s like deciding that you’re going to buy a Porsche before working out why you really need a new car (to get the kids to school each morning) and what type would be best (a 7-seater so you can join a rota with another family).

• 4. Your strategy is too long

Granted, you want your strategy to be comprehensive. But you also need your team to be able to refer to it easily. If you expect them to ever read it, keep it as short and light as you can.

Often it will still be too long, so create a one-page summary of the most important points, which they can refer to at a glance.

• 5. You distribute it and then forget about it

Too many strategies end up in a draw gathering dust. If you want your strategy to be actively used, you need to take a proactive approach.

Hold a session where you will go over the strategy with the team implementing it, allowing them to comment and discuss practical questions. About a month after your programme is launched, reconvene them to discuss how it’s working – not just in theory, but with the strategy in front of them. Use this as an opportunity to ensure that it’s actually being followed, and repeat periodically.

Show your staff that the strategy is updated with their practical issues in mind. Bring the strategy with you, and refer to it, during all meetings relating to your social media programme. Ensure that it is easily accessible to all relevant staff and that there is an electronic copy they can search easily.

It is up to you to ensure that the document is integrated into your daily activities and discussions, informing and guiding them, and not treated as a Platonic ideal that is great in theory, but ignored in practise.

• 6. You treat your strategy as a sacred document

Social media evolves fast and your strategy has to change with it. It is essential that you keep up with changes that might affect you, and not stick blindly to a social media strategy that might have been appropriate 3 months ago, but is suddenly under-performing.

Your document must not become a convenient excuse to stick with a failing strategy!

This means that you have to build in regular, frequent reviews and updates. And if something changes that will immediately impact your programme  say, Facebook suddenly ups the number of times you need to post each day in order to reach a substantial part of your audience; or Twitter suddenly announces a new advertising programme that will particularly suit you. Do not wait another five months to implement them, just because it’s that long until your strategy is due to be revisited.

Treat it as a living document.

What do you think are the biggest pitfalls when developing a social media strategy? How have you overcome them? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Thanks to Miriam Shaviv for sharing her thoughts and opinions in this blog post. Miriam is Director of Content at Brainstorm Digital, where she creates and implements social media strategies for both B2B and B2C companies. She is author of Smart Insights’ Social Media Plan Example  and Social Media Audit template.