Social media marketing is the use of social media—the platforms on which users build social networks and share information—to build a company’s brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic. In addition to providing companies with a way to engage with existing customers and reach new ones, SMM has purpose-built data analytics that allows marketers to track the success of their efforts and identify even more ways to engage.

Social Media Marketing Action Plan

The more targeted your SMM strategy is, the more effective it will be. Hootsuite, a leading software provider in the social media management space, recommends the following action plan to build an SMM campaign that has an execution framework as well as performance metrics:

• Align SMM goals to clear business objectives
• Learn your target customer (age, location, income, job title, industry, interests)
• Conduct a competitive analysis of your competition (successes and failures)
• Audit your current SMM (successes and failures)
• Create a calendar for SMM content delivery
• Create best-in-class content
• Track performance and adjust SMM strategy as needed