Listen - Before You Get Social

The research phase of you social media plan can be as complicated as you would like. Your goal for having a social media presence (which we will talk about later), will help determine what to research and how to move forward.

What is your competition saying?

Some of the best ideas for content, contests and style can be found by following and listening to what your competition is saying.  Obviously, for etiquette and sometimes copy-write issues you don't want to copy verbatim what they are saying.  But, it might spur ideas of your own or you may have a different perspective you can offer to people.

What are your customers saying?

Your customers will give you a good guide for how to be active on social media.  What are they talking about, commenting on or liking on their pages?

Where are they saying it?

Is your target audience more active on Facebook or Twitter?  Instagram or Pinterest?  For any of these mediums, my biggest piece of advice to get started, is to create a profile for personal use.  This will allow you to get the lay of the land before you involve your branding in the process.