While many articles online regarding online marketing speak of the freeness of social media marketing, the fact remains that an effective campaign requires a combination of time and skill.  These qualities can be purchased, but without them, a social media effort is little more than a trickle after a light rain.  Getting over that hump is one of the greatest challenges for small businesses that venture unaided into social media.

To be sure, some business owners take to social media enthusiastically.  Frequently their efforts pay off.  Having a strong social media presence signals to your customers that your business means business.  It is a way to communicate confidence and strength, both of which are personas that attract more customers.  If success begets success, then active social media marketing is a way for a fledgling business to jump on the virtuous cycle of success. 

Newcomers to social media advisory often wonder about the pricing, and the cost of a robust social media campaign.  Costs range nearly anywhere your imagination can wander.  Some media companies which focus their operations on one or two types of activities (Content Savants, for example, specializes in meme production and blogging), whereas other media companies can provide a full range of services, including PPC marketing strategy, SEO and overall campaign management. 

Businesses which seek a narrow solution may pay a minimum of around RM 1,000 for regular content development (Content Savants offers daily meme production at less than that for monthly contracts), while full service campaign management may start at around RM 10,000 per month.  Both services can offer great value in marketing, depending on your scale of business and capacity for growth. 

From a practical perspective, it is useful to look at outside marketing support as falling into three categories:

Category 1:  Making noise:  publishing blogs and memes or other social media posts on a regular basis can make a significant difference in your online business profile.  If we were to graph the number of businesses on a horizontal axis showing the number of posts per week, there would be a tall bulge at the early part of the curve, indicating there are many businesses, many of which are your competitors, that engage in occasional social or online media posting.  Many businesses rely on location and word of mouth for their business growth.  Social media is an online word of mouth advertising, and with occasional activity, your presence can gradually grow.  Nonetheless, having a consistent and steady presence can move your business past the initial bulge of social media posters into the territory of value-added posters – businesses which are known for their activity and whose messages bring value to their respective communities and followers.  The first level of support from social media consultants can bring a business to this level. 

Category 1 typical service cost:  RM 1,000 to 2,000 per month

Category 2:  Getting serious:  services which provide the second level of support often include more detailed tracking of social media engagement with potential customers, with analysis of a wider range of online activity to both inform development of content as well as to track success of the overall campaign.  Businesses which seek this level of support are those which see social media as being an important part of their marketing (if not, the major part of their marketing).  Businesses which see social media marketing as significant to their success frequently have staff in-house who are at least skilled in content development and who dedicate a significant portion of their time each week to ensuring that content is developed and published.  Often times their campaigns are also managed in-house, but they may seek outside support in the form of blog writing or other content development, which on its own would fall into the first category above.

Category 2 typical service cost:  RM 2,000 to 5,000 per month

Category 3:  Focus on the core:  businesses which already pursue sophisticated marketing campaigns and which have chosen to focus on their core business (without investing in advanced in-house marketing capabilities) would require outside support to fulfill a wide range of marketing activities.  While a senior in-house individual would oversee marketing campaigns and their success, an external media agency (or a combination thereof) would be used to design, develop and implement the campaigns.  While these services come at a substantial cost, businesses which have achieved this level of market maturity would require – and be willing to pay – for top-level service so as to enable long-term growth or protect market share against equally-ambitious competitors.

Category 3 typical service cost:  RM 5,000 to 20,000 per month (and above)

What is true for all categories of social media service is that there are very few businesses which cannot benefit or do not need additional support in their online marketing efforts.  More people than ever are relying on social media and online research to guide them in purchasing decisions.  Online marketing strategies are having greater impact than ever before in moving people toward not only preferring certain products or brands, but to even want certain products at all. 

Fashion is an example of an industry that is fast-driven by social media marketing.  Fashion trends are defined by popular usage, and increasingly driven by influencers.  For fashion in particular, influencers have substantial… influence.  Unlike celebrities, they are seen as being normal people who, through hard work and brilliant content, have worked their way to a position of respect within the industry and among its user base, and for this reason their opinions are highly valued.  While a social media star may be in fact another type of celebrity, there is no denying their ability to sway and drive public opinion on fashion, trends and style. 

With the rise of popularity of social influencers and the endorsements they offer, this niche online activity is becoming a mainstay of the industry, where businesses of all types will soon have a lead influencer for their category of business, and with even greater granularity to follow, for their category of business within their specific geography. 

For businesses, the start of the social media strategy is category 1 as described above, making some noise.  Most business owners will choose to do this themselves at the start.  In time, the demands of business and the need to focus on core customers and activities will require that they consider external support, mainly for the “grunt work” of regular and frequent content development.  When they see the potential of social media and its ability to bring in new customers, the next logical progression will be toward Category 2 and 3. 

Alternatively, some business owners will see that actually, doing the social media work in house is quite fascinating, and when you get the knack of it, can be a lot of fun.  Either way, greater activity online is a win for the business and a win for the online community.

One of the first clients for Content Savants was a small pet boarding business in Kuala Lumpur, Park City Pet Boarding located in Sri Petaling shop area.  With the initiation of a regular and frequent campaign of posting memes on Facebook and Instagram, positive results were seen in less than a month.  A fledgling small business which frequently had days with zero customers quickly transitioned into a business with a regular trickle of customers.  Continuation of the early positive results led to growth over time, and after four months, the business turned a highly-subsidized operation into monthly profits. 

While a “regular trickle of customers” was not the end goal, this situation represented a substantial improvement in operations, and helped to build momentum which culminated in its profitability.  Content Savants has continued working with the business to meet the owners’ goals of expanding its service offer.  The initial results, however, show a monthly RoI (not annual, as RoI typically conveys) of over 100% on the cost of social media marketing. 

The content service provided by Content Savants enabled regular and frequent posting on social media accounts, an activity which serviced to draw attention to the business among the thousand or so followers which had been accumulated in the business’s three prior years of operation.  The number of followers also saw a gradual increase of about 5% per month.  While this metric calls for further optimization, the priority focus for the business was to do a better job of attracting existing customers.  In other words, at this time, other metrics were of secondary importance to the business’s bottom line.  Content Savants highlighted this approach in our initial discussions with the business team, and developed a cost-effective strategy to see early, positive results.

Development of the social media theme was based on two motivating factors:  1) enabling a positive association with the business to develop over time a stronger connection between customers and the business, and 2) to convey the personal nature of the pet boarding service versus competitors which frequently caged up their overnight guests.  Park City saw this factor as key to distinguishing themselves from the competition, and to enabling a basis through which they could justify a higher fee compared to their nearby competitors. 

Implementation was carried out through the development of content that invoked association with well-known personalities.  Quotes about dogs and cats from authors, actors and other celebrities were developed into memes and published on Facebook and Instagram.  This content supported the first theme of enabling a positive association with the business.  By invoking quotes of famous people, the business also stood beside individuals with authority, generating a positive impression by customers who would recognize many of the famous personalities who also loved animals. 

The second theme was achieved through inclusion of original photographs taken at the shop, depicting animals in a fun and playful setting.  A wide range of images were selected, showing dogs and cats of different breeds, and also featuring other unique pets that the shop takes in from time to time. 

While the initial phase of Park City’s online presence has been sufficient to build the business to profitability (and over time, generate a social media RoI that can only be expressed in multiples), the next phase will require a more sophisticated management of a marketing campaign which combines elements of online social media with regular blogging on the business website, combined with a pay-per-click strategy that is guided by a detailed tracking of customer response rates. 

A more holistic and comprehensive approach will be the next step to raise Park City to a level above its more dominant competitors and to establish the business as a leader in pet boarding services across Malaysia.  At the same time, the early success of Park City’s approach demonstrates the amazing potential of social media marketing to raise business profile and attract the attention of online customers.

Traditional composting begins with digging a hole in the back yard and letting food and bio waste decay over time.  This method is a great way to generate compost which can be mixed with the soil of a home garden or small farm, bringing natural fertilizer to the soil and giving plants and vegetables abundant nutrients to fuel growth. 

For city dwellers with a hobby garden, however, traditional composting is not a practical solution.  The composting pit often generates a bad smell and can attract unwanted critters into the property.  The process is slow, takes up precious limited land space, and is much less convenient than using commercial fertilizers.  BioTerra, however, has brought a new innovation to the local market in Malaysia:  small scale composting using an enclosed bit, in a process catalyzed by effective microbes specially cultivated by BioTerra which are environmentally appropriate to the region.  In other words, using good bacteria to accelerate the decaying process, urban gardeners can convert home food waste to easily generate garden and lawn fertilizer that is natural, organic, and a benefit to the local environment. 

The early challenge was tapping into a small, niche market to generate interest among the public and ultimately to develop a following of individuals which saw the value and benefits of composting food waste at home.  The concept of using “good” bacteria is unfamiliar to the general public.  For this reason, BioTerra’s social media campaign prioritized a series of educational postings about the product and its applicability in the urban context. 

While this theme helped to educate the public about their composting innovation, the other challenge was to build up a following in a short period of time.  BioTerra has been in business already for over ten years, however their longstanding customers are industrial, mainly large scale farming operations.  Entering into the consumer market required starting from scratch.  While BioTerra’s main marketing efforts were face-to-face channels (gardening shows, shopping malls and other hands-on displays), they gradually built up a social media following by leveraging the potential of social media as an informative channel, while at the same time regularly publishing images and information from recent public appearances or for future events. 

With a base of interested followers gradually growing, BioTerra initiated an online storefront with two popular commercial platforms.  Beginning results were slow, but with gradual promotion on social media, combined with informative content that generated credibility in the business and comfort in the innovation, BioTerra has seen its online sales increase, reaching 20% growth per month. 

BioTerra’s social media investment is paying off.  A positive RoI is expected in just a few more months, but considering the new customers BioTerra has already earned, and the repeat business that is expected over the years, a positive return on the social media investment is all but certain.  Continued development of customer relationships and potential use of pay-per-click advertising are strong candidates for the next phase of development, and may be essential next steps in raising broad public awareness of their unique and niche product offer. 

For the serious social media marketer, there are a few global platforms that have risen to prominence: 

• Facebook:  still the top by far, with 2.4 billion active users
• Instagram:  a distant second, but with broad popularity, having over a billion users
• Snapchat:  now a distant third place, with around 330 million users
• Reddit:  also around 330 million users
• Twitter:  Twitter is still a must-do medium, having over 320 million users
• LinkedIn:  with a focus on professional network, LinkedIn has just over 300 million users
• Pinterest:  last one on this list with (only) 290 million users

We should also add to this list the Chinese platforms such as Weibo (376 million) and Qzone (563 million), both of whom continue to rise in popularity within China, and must be at the top of the list for any marketer focusing on the Chinese market.  Remember also that many regard YouTube as a social media platform, with nearly two billion users.  Similar to the others, allows easy posting of original content with the opportunity for users to comment. 

The landscape has changed somewhat, but not entirely.  In 2009, Facebook had just barely taken over the top spot against… do you remember, MySpace?   Pinterest, Snapchat and Instagram hadn’t even launched, and Twitter, at the time, was boasting around the same number of users as now. 

With over fifteen years of social media platform development behind us, we still see a dynamic picture emerging regarding which platforms are popular and how these can be integrated into a social media strategy.  By some accounts, there are 65 different social media sites which are active (hello, MySpace), and many of them aim to cater for a niche market.  For example, hi5 is a social networking site aimed at the younger crowd, with features like flirt and enabling members to give gifts (presumably virtual gifts).  Quora is also considered a social networking site with a specific focus on crowdsourcing answers to questions.  MyLife flies under the radar for many analysts, but actually has 750 million users.  Its simple interface is very appealing to many people, although it lacks many of the higher-value features available on Facebook, and lacks the broad popularity for sharing.

Regardless of the type of business, sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are essential.  From there, a well-crafted social media marketing strategy will take a close look at many different online platforms and forums through which to broadcast content and promotions.  Matching these to the user profile you are aiming to target is essential. 

Much of the profile analysis centers around age ranges of the users.  For example, the sweet spot for Facebook is 25 to 45 years old, while Instagram has proven itself popular with a younger crowd, within 15 to 30 years old. 

There are three main questions a business must ask in determining which platforms to focus their efforts, as follows:

• Regardless of age, does your target audience use this platform?  The most straightforward way to answer this question is to simply ask your customers.  You may not have the time or resources to execute a statistically valid survey, but an informal discussion about preferred social media sites can reveal a lot about which platforms will be most effective.
• Are the capabilities of the social media platform in line with your business strategy?  LinkedIn is a fantastic resource for networking with professionals, but would have almost zero value in selling children’s toys, and members would react negatively to that kind of promotion. 
• Does the social media platform offer the right tools of engagement, with the ability to track engagement rates and respond actively to customers?  Without these tools, not only is your social media strategy facing a dead end, you may also assume that the platform itself will not last. 

The right social media strategy for your business will be driven by the behavior and preferences of your customers.  Although there is only limited time and resources to leverage in pursuing customers via any popular marketing channel, time spent up front investigating your customer preferences can go a long way toward determining the optimum mix of social media platforms.

Pre-development Stage

Before you begin with developing the strategy, taken an inventory of your current situation.  List the current platforms on which you have a social media, or any online presence.  Note how many likes and comments you have received in the previous month on content that you’ve posted, include the number of followers, and note the engagement statistics (reported by some platforms, but not all).  Then write one or two sentences which characterize the activity on this account over the past month.

The next step is to make a quick survey of your competitors.  This exercise is useful not only to make you aware of what other businesses are doing, but also to inspire ideas in your own content development that can be useful in defining your social media strategy.  In assessing your competitors’ presence, note which social media sites they use, how frequently they post, what type of content they post, and as a final thought exercise, write a one or two-sentence characterization of their strategy, based on your own speculation as to what what you think their strategy may be and how you would describe it. 

The third pre-development step is to describe your customer profile.  This description can include, where relevant, factors such as income level, family situation, typical interests which bring them to your business, and reasons they need your product or service.  If there is any factual or statistical data you have upon which to base the profile, include that in the description.  While as business owners we may welcome customers from any walk of life, as long as they pay us money, the main point of this exercise is to create a mental picture of the customer, something to use as a framework and basis to develop different types of content.  When we think of content development as being merely about the product or service of the business, we are greatly limited in the potential to reach out to our customers and connect with them.  On the other hand, when we focus our mind on who are customers are, the type of people they are and the things they like to do, we can develop a much broader potential portfolio of content, one which enables online blogs and postings to have a deeper impact from the customer’s perspective.

Case Study:  On many occasions, prior to our first meeting with a prospective client, we ask them to pull together the information described above (although when it comes to customer research, we usually have a good sense of the industry and what kind of content businesses are posting).  Having this information ready makes the first client conversation much more meaningful and efficient, and helps us to better target first round campaigns, and to develop a cohesive message or theme which can be reinforced in other areas of the business and through other, ongoing marketing efforts. 

Strategy Development

The Commander’s Intent

In the army, offensive campaigns begin with the Commander’s Intent, which is a brief statement of the objective in battle, such as “To take out the city’s main bridge.”  Having this statement in place ensure that during battle, when unexpected scenarios play out and things go wrong, the soldiers on the ground know what the main objective is, so that their improvisation, if it needs to occur, can still be done with the main goal in mind.  So also it is with the social media campaign, having a statement of the commander’s (or business owner’s) intent.

The Social Media Mission & Vision Statements

Based on the statement of intent, the Mission and Vision statements can easily follow.  What we’re looking for here is not a Fortune 500 corporate-level company vision statement, but rather, some brief notes on what you want to achieve out of the marketing campaign.  There is no need to write the words in gold and hang them above the office entrance (you can do that if you want, and that would be helpful to galvanizing your employees’ efforts), but rather, a starting point for imagining a future state to carry the business and, in this case, its marketing efforts.  You may modify the statement over time. 

A vision statement differs from a Mission statement in its focus.  Whereas a vision statement is a state of being to which a business aspires (near future or possibly more distant future), the Mission statement describes in high-level actions how you intend to achieve the vision. 

Some companies supplement these with a values statement, which is a description of the values which drive the vision and its implementation.  Since we are focusing on a practical and actionable social media strategy here, the values with which those are achieved would include basic, honest and ethical business practices, something we assume among our clients. 

The best way to advise on the development of the guiding statements is to demonstrate the outcome with some examples:

– Statement of Intent:  To attract customers and increase revenue

– Vision – Example 1:  To be identified by customers as a leading expert in the service we provide, and to be the go-to service provider which comes first to mind when they are ready to buy.

– Vision – Example 2:  To offer products and services which are the best in the industry, fostering a reputation of excellence among followers through social media content.

– Mission – Example:  We will achieve this vision through relentless customer service as seen through active responsiveness to inquiries and comments on social media, which will be borne of high quality content that is informative, entertaining, and thought-provoking in nature.

Many variations can be developed of these statements, all of which speak to the goals of the business and the ensuing content that is published for the world to see. 

With these statements in writing, we have the foundation for the development of not only the content that will be published, whether it is in the form of memes, blogs, stories, photos, videos or other, but also the ways in which this content can be communicated. 

While statements such as these are by nature abstract, they can have a profound impact on the development of the marketing plan, and on the implementation of the details along the way.  As most entrepreneurs and business owners will attest, success is often made or broken on even the tiniest of details.  That is why having a firm picture in mind of the intended result, expressed through the vision and mission statements, is so important to the social media marketing strategy, and particularly important as a primary reference for those in your organization who are carrying out the plan, or to the external consultant that is supporting the process and content development.

Implementation Plan

The core of the social media strategy is in the implementation.  As a strategic analysis, the purpose at this stage is not to go into the detailed action plan or long run project planning, but to identify the ways and means of implementation, including resources that will be dedicated to achieving the plan.  The following are the main categories of activity that should be described in the social media marketing strategy:

– Social media accounts:  Which platforms will be prioritized?  The answer to this question is based on a few factors:  the determination of the social media audience and its relevance to your business (does the crowd fit your profile?), the potential on this platform to continue growing the network, and your level of comfort in using this platform.

– Frequency and timing of posting:  How often will you post?  For every business, there is an appropriate balance of posting frequency.  Too much posting over meaningless content will lose attention from your customers, however if there is a commitment to develop content that is diverse, engaging and relevant to the customer profile, reaching the point of saturation would be almost impossible.  On the other hand, too little content (only 2-3x per week) risks insufficient exposure of the business to generate any meaningful results.  Content Savants recomments a starting point of daily content publishing, as long as that content is diverse, and only a fraction of the content should promote the business directly.  With respect to timing, a detailed schedule should be developed to determine which social media accounts will publish content at pre-determined times of day, to help optimize visibility among the targeted customer profile.  Determining the best time of day may require some testing in the early days of the campaign.

– Content development process:  How will you develop content?  Is there a person in-house who can design and develop memes, who can write blogs and tweets, and who can be responsible for posting the content on a daily or frequent basis?  Will you appoint an external creative agency for development of the content?  This service is at the heart of what we offer at Content Savants.

– Define the engagement funnel:  At the start of a social media marketing campaign,

– Engagement & Reaction Tracking:  How will you track success of the marketing campaign?  Who will oversee results?  Here is where you can list the metrics to be tracked (depending on the social media platform) and the aspiration for growth of those metrics over time.  As your social meadia presence grows, you will also have the opportunity to reply to comments.  Timeliness of the reply is critical to achieving conversion to actual sales.  Who will be in charge of this activity?  Will you employ any SMM management tools to aid in this process?

– Analyze and Optimize:  There should be a continual effort to improve and enhance the strategy, not only with respect to the type of content that is posted, but also the overall objectives and success of the marketing campaign.  A part of the social media strategy will be trial and error.  In other words, there is no established formula for businesses to follow, therefore a system must be put in place to enable analysis of results, and to direct a response to the results.  You may call upon an external consultant for assistance in interpreting the results of the campaign, and in developing a plan of action to respond to customer comments or to modify messages according to success, market trends, changes in the business situation, or other driving factors. 

– Risk management:  Every strategy should include a section on risk management and mitigation.  Not every scenario can be predicted, but among those that are considered, a pattern of responsiveness will emerge, with an individual appointed to lead a response to any risks which might come to fruition.

Refinement of the strategic plan

As part of the campaign itself, refinement and optimization of social media activity will be important to its continued success over time.  The social media strategy itself should be regularly reviewed.  As a business grows, the potential opportunities for marketing and customer engagement also grow.  With a larger audience and more resources available, after the low-hanging fruit is captured, different approaches may prove more effective in reaching new audiences and in gaining responses from silent customers.

Another key opportunity that will become increasingly critical as your business grows is that of integrating your social media marketing with other channels.  This point speaks to more than just ensuring there is a consistent message across channels, but to the ways in which activity in one channel can complement others.  For example, inclusion of a QR Code in print media advertising can direct potential customers to a social media account or organization website.  Timing of a live streaming presentation can initiate social media campaigns, which can be used to promote product announcements on a live streaming service.  The combination of possibilities is endless. 

The most important part, however, of any social media strategy is the part that reads, “do it.”  Every day without a posting or blog is a day lost forever, and with it, an opportunity to connect with customers.  The sooner the campaign begins, the sooner you and your business start climing the ladder of success.