If you were going to lose weight you might have a target weight in place along with a plan of action as to how you get to that weight.

Your online activity should be no different.

Why is it you’re doing it?

Many people will spend plenty of time online, updating their website, sharing news on social media and interacting.  But to what end?

Have you ever asked yourself what it is you’re looking to achieve, put a plan in place to achieve it and checked back regularly to see if you’re getting there?

Online goals are often very obvious but they still need writing down and working toward.

Are you looking to reach more people?

The internet opens up new markets for businesses.  If you’re trying to reach new people you otherwise wouldn’t have done with your activity make sure you’re using the right tools and connecting with the right people; the ones that are going to buy from you.

Are you looking to drive sales and revenue?

A common frustration when people enter online marketing is that everything is going to happen immediately; it unfortunately won’t, it will take time.

A single tweet is unlikely to lead to a sale in isolation.  However, building relationships with people that may buy from you will move you further up their buying priorities when they come to need your service or product.

Is it to build better relationships with customers?

If you have customers that will buy your product and then have a long gap between their next purchase, online marketing can be used to strengthen these relationships by creating contact points with your brand.  This can lead to repeat sales.

It may well be a combination of all of the above!

Life isn’t simple so it’s likely you may well be looking to fulfill all of the points above.  In this case it’s even more important you have a clear focus on what you’re doing, otherwise you’ll end up spending more time than you need to without a clear understanding of how or exactly why you are doing it.

Your goals may seem obvious to you but if you don’t have them written down you’ll have less clarity.

For information on how we can help you build an online strategy that brings home the bacon please give us a call on 01566 784860 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk

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If the answer is no then get thinking, if the answer is yes then have you got them written down and are you regularly measuring your achievements against your goals?

Social media can sometimes be an area of business viewed as something that you know you should be doing but is rarely measured or devised into a plan.

What other area of your business would you do for hours a week without measuring the gain and understanding exactly what you are getting from it?

Once you have your goals and objectives you will undoubtedly have more focus to your activity because you will consciously be working toward achieving them. This benefit can be seen in a variety of means, whether that is monetary gain, time efficiency or a combination of both.

Goals for social media are not always fiscally orientated. Ok, if you are selling online then a significant part of your activity will be geared toward gaining sales but in what capacity does your social media activity drive this sale; is it through creating regular dialogue with a certain stakeholder group, is it reaching new customers that you otherwise wouldn’t have found or is it delivering the sale itself.

The likelihood is that it will be a combination of these but understanding where it fits into your wider sales funnel will be an important part of achieving the goal.

With that we have touched on a wider point, which is that your time on social media should not act in isolation, it should be part of your wider business and marketing strategy planning. Marketing is far better when integrated and social media needs to be in this mix. Thinking about how and where you spread your content, how you create dialogue and how you get people to buy from you.

Your social media plan should provide you with a roadmap to future success; to gain more from your time and more benefit.

For more information on how we can help your social media presence please give us a call on 01566 784860 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk 

The post What are you achieving and what are you looking to achieve from your social media activity? appeared first on MiHiDigital.