How formal or informal should our social media marketing strategy be?

Does a social media marketing strategy need to be a written-out document that everyone follows?

Or does it need to be very informal and loose?

Consider all of the businesses that you’ve seen posting away on Facebook, sharing links on Twitter and pinning away on Pinterest. Now how many of those do you really feel close to? How many impressed you to the point of making a sale or even following the brand?

If you’re like most of us, you ignore 95% of business that you come across on social media. Few businesses have a proper social marketing strategy – but could a good strategy and social media plan be the key to thousands of followers and increased customer loyalty?

A detailed plan sounds great in theory, but it isn’t always the answer and it’s certainly not essential to building a thriving social media community. A social media marketing plan is only as good as your understanding of it.

Whether it’s a detailed, well-structured plan or something more informal, what’s really important is whether it meets your needs.

To determine your social media needs, ask yourself these three questions:

1. Is my social media marketing managed and executed by only myself, or will it be spread amongst a group?

2. Do the people responsible for my social media really know, understand and care for the business?

3. Do I need a structure to keep me on track and accountable when following through with new ideas?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you should develop a more detailed social media plan. If your plan is only for your use and you have a strong understanding of what to do and not to do when representing your business online, then a shorter plan will be adequate and leave you with plenty of freedom to be spontaneous with your posting.