Social Media Strategy

Just yesterday someone asked me how I go about using social media with my website, Bargain Dealio. The website is designed as a free service to promote good deals online and show people how they can score the savings as well. Being the site is free and something I do on the side, I don’t have much free time I get to devote to it, but when I do, I rely on social media to promote traffic to the site. The person who asked the question wanted to know what I do with my social sites and what kind of results I’ve seen.

My answer was simple: it depends on your strategy. Social media is only as successful as your strategy for it. We live in a tech culture that everyone is blowing their megaphones at your trying to capture your attention. So people have learned to tune out banner ads, Facebook sidebars, and Google adwords. While I know those methods are very successful when used properly, my strategy for Bargain Dealio is different. With no budget for advertising, I needed a strategy that captured a devoted audience, not just a casual onlooker. My tactics have been to meet people’s real needs. Find out what they are shopping for and help them save money! Meeting the needs of your audience is the only way to make them return.

General Patton, one of America’s greatest military leaders, is famous for saying, ““Good tactics can save even the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy even the best strategy.” You can have the best idea of how you want to use social media, the sharpest looking Twitter page (oh yes, I just redesigned mine!), and a beautiful Facebook landing page (such as the School of Prophetic Arts), but if people aren’t connecting with the intended purpose of your social sites, then all that design is wasted. The purpose of social media should be to drive your audience to a place of community and contact. All social sites should direct that person to one site, whether it be your blog, your website, your Facebook page, etc. Social media is not an end-all, it is a vessel to reach your intended audience where they are at and then invite them into your life, your space.

So before you create that Facebook fan page or open up a Twitter account, ask yourself three questions:

1. How do I plan on using social media?
2. Who am I trying to reach?
3. What do I want them to come away with from my social sites?

By answering these questions, you are now on the path to creating your very own social media strategy.