5 Steps to developing a social media marketing plan

Maybe your company has a social media presence, but it's disjointed. Or perhaps, your business has never dabbled in social media. The five steps below will help you get on your way to developing a comprehensive social media marketing plan.

1. Determine your audience. Not all social media channels are created alike. Some are more popular with teenagers, while others are likely to catch a more general demographic. Before you set up a social media account, think about who your customers are and how you would describe them. Are they young? Old? Both? Are they wealthy? Or middle-income? Outline the demographic of your average customer and then review our report, "Know your social media audience," to find which platform fits your audience.

2. Pick your platforms. Once you've identified your audience you can pick the social media platforms you want to focus on. If you are just starting out, it's probably wise to just pick one or two platforms to focus your efforts on.

3. Start promoting your presence on your platforms of choice to build an audience. Now that you've picked your platforms it's time to tell people about it. Send an email blast to all your customers inviting them to find you on the social media platforms you've selected. Have a sign at your cash register inviting people to find you online. Any time you interact with a customer, find ways to promote your social media channels.

4. Create a schedule for posting content on your platforms of choice. Now that you have a social media presence and a following, you have to give that following something to interact with. The best way to guarantee a steady stream of content is to create a schedule. Set a goal, like posting once per week. Create a spreadsheet and identify the topics you are going to post about those days. Try to write up your posts in advance and use tools like HootSuite or Tweetdeck to schedule the posts to publish in advance.

5. Measure and adjust. As soon as you start posting, start measuring. You'll want to track what types of posts are the most popular as well as the times of day when your audience is most engaged. If a social media channel isn't popping within a few months, consider dropping it and focusing your efforts in areas that are showing more promise. There's a ton of data available on most social media platforms. Be sure to use it!