Social Media Planning, In 4 Phases

What follows are 4 phases for Social Media planning, from 50,000 feet to the ground.

Phase 1: 50,000 – 40,000 feet

Vision, Mission, Objectives. Above the line stuff. This should connect into an organisation’s existing vision and then extend into mission and objectives for your Social Media programme.

Goals. What are the metrics your stakeholders want to see? Conversions, clicks, signups, sentiment change, intent change.

Phase 2: 40,000 – 20,000 feet

Profile Audience and Participation Levels. Your offline audience is not your online audience, and your online audience is not your Social Media audience. Know what your audience will and won’t do.

Strategy and Social Media Presence Type. This isn’t about using Facebook or not. This is about positioning yourself.

Lift Restrictions. Provide your audience with something they didn’t have before. Create benefit for participation.

Phase 3: 20,000 – 5,000 feet

PRE Stance. The way you engage through your Social Media Presence Type.

Organisational Structure and Management Workflow. Who is needed, who reports to who, how this flows on a monthly, weekly and day-to-day basis.

Identifying Influencers. Know who is going to start spreading word of mouth for you.

Phase 4: 5,000 feet to on the ground

Guidelines. A document providing accountability and direction for the people handling day-to-day.

Training and Internal Communications. Train staff and keep them talking to each other.

Reporting and Measurement. Measure the metrics your goals are built on. Plan this – don’t tackle it when you get to it.