Communications, Media & Strategy Gavel

Any brand that cannot learn, unlearn and relearn may not survive in today’s world. The world keeps changing. Excelling in Social media platforms is an ongoing process. Take for instance, the issue of Google visibility and by extension Search Engine Optimization. Those who are experts know it is not a one night’s stand affair. That your brand is on top of Google search today does not mean you will continue to dominate that position in the next few months. This is because Google algorithms keep changing.

So I discovered it is not out of place to keep re-examining what we think we have learnt or mastered in the past. This process helps brands to remain fresh and relevant all days. When it is comes Social Media, we strongly believe a Yoruba adage which says ‘because success of today does not guarantee relevance tomorrow makes it mandatory for a wise herbalist to re-consult his oracles at the close of every five days’ A brand may be a big player and influencer today but if it refuses to do what should be done or abandons its platforms for a month, the story will be different.

Now coming to the big deal, how will you ensure   or guarantee your brand’s effort will achieve its aim for a long haul? Even though there is no certainty in life, but we can minimize error and guesswork. We have taken time to observe and research some of the essential factors and here below are what we consider the bombshells.

Intention:  the foundation of every endeavour rests solidly on what we aim to achieve. This must not be vague but be precise. There should be no ambiguity. Precision of objective will help in audience segmentation and ‘psychographics’ analysis. The objective of the social media efforts will also help in defining accurate metrics of what success and desired outcomes will look like.

Targets: To be successful in any social media communication and marketing efforts, we must be a able to describe in detail who will be the right audience to relate with. Hence it will be good to have ready data or we work towards creating one that helps. A concise description of the target in terms of age, sex, motivations, hopes, expectations and possibly income or position in life will ensure the Social media brand’s effort hits the right spot.

Message:  this has to be crafted in a way that suits platforms. This demands we understand the platforms’ rules and audience behaviours. We must also have in handy enough data about the groups and individuals we intend reaching. Also the message way we craft effective messaging to reach influencers will be different from the way we intend to reach everyone else. Planning the message well will also help in the selecting qualified team and planning for necessary resource. Playing in every platform can be overwhelming and there is no guaranteed of good results. So we must know what platform(s) will fit the Social media activity we are engaging in.

Measuring rods: many people often copy and paste what to measure. A social media effort needs not to be stolen. It has to be what will make brand’s investment justifiable. For instance why should a brand focus on brand exposure when what its aims to achieve is increase in word of mouth. Brand exposure may be a subtle item here but it should not override the fact that the brand already has exposure but has problem with word of mouth marketing. A major challenge here may be associated with the brand’s inability to gain or turn its service consumers into advocates. Measuring rods will also require we make provision for right tools for tracking initiatives. While some believe in free tools, it is a known fact that a little investment will aid better result attainment.

Adequate resources: it is time we mean ourselves from the erroneous believe Social media is free. Even if we must go with this, it involves use of man-hours. It is not just any ordinary person’s man-hour, a professional touch will guarantee success over amateurish voyage. Make adequate provision for right tools and professional services or take time to learn of a you are small business owner