Dosovo | Marketing and Web Strategy

With technology and the internet we have an abundance of choices. The great thing about this is that businesses can now do the things they wanted to do ten years ago. The bad thing is that sometimes we get too excited. Sometimes we have great ideas and learn about new things that get us so excited we try to run before we can crawl. It’s important that with these advances in technologies and communication channels that we create a plan that is specific, attainable and measurable. We need to have a focus on objectives and goals.

Take time to start with a plan

If you don’t know where you want to go you could walk in circles for months. Take the time to identify what your objectives are and then create a plan around them.

As you move forward you will find it’s easier to be measure your actions once you know where you want to go and why you are doing it. By having specific outlined objectives and goals it will allow you to listen more effectively and engage with others more purposefully.

Without your objectives and goals clearly defined, you may confuse those you are connecting with and mistakenly send them less-than-accurate messages. You want to be crystal clear and as transparent as possible. Don’t leave it to chance. People will interpret things differently than you may have intended.

Objectives and goals make everyone more comfortable

If you are an employee or a consultant working with a business who is wary about social media, having objectives and goals become more like checkpoints. It is both a way to mark your progress for yourself, but also for your customers/clients. Take note of what is happening and track this information, as you’ll want to reference it often and present to others.

If you find yourself tasked with outlining your objectives and goals, do some research. Try to find other businesses that are utilizing social media. What are some of their goals? What are they trying to do with social media to benefit and add value to their business?

For example, if you are thinking about using Twitter, try to find another business already doing it well. Look at some of your competitors. Take some time to read about the information they post. How are they interacting with their customers/clients? Does that fit with your business’ culture and/or philosophy? This is also a great time to remind you that social media is about the relationships, not the technologies used to form them. Is your target market using Twitter, or are they using something else?

Start with small, actionable steps

I hope that after reading about setting objectives and goals you are not feeling anxious. You don’t have to take on the biggest and most difficult goals right away. Start small and take actionable steps. Continue to build off those small actionable steps into doing more of them more often. Once you feel comfortable and confident, you can begin to raise the bar. Make some short term goals and make notes on how you will accomplish them. Give yourself a deadline so you don’t slack off. Once you have made some short term goals, move on to larger long term goals. As always, make notes about how you plan to achieve them and document your progress along the way.

When you take the time to develop a great plan of attack with objectives and goals that make sense for your business, social media will be much easier to handle. Finally, remember that things don’t happen overnight. It takes time, just like building a business.

What problems have you encountered while trying to set actionable goals in your plan? How can we help you get past those hurdles?

With the advances in technology in the past several years, it has opened countless doors for anyone willing to take action. Businesses are able to get more done by doing less. We are living in a world where everything is at our fingertips. The only problems we run into are choices in direction. You can be anywhere and do just about anything using the internet.

The big question many businesses face and need to know is what direction to go. What will surprise you is that you can answer the big question with another question: Where is your target market?

Until you know your target market, you know nothing

There are plenty of books, blog posts and articles asking tough questions about marketing and social media, but knowing where your target market is and what they are like is the question to rule all the rest. Knowing that target market will drive which channels you use and how you will use them.

Try thinking about these questions as a way to jumpstart your answers:

• Who do you want to target?
• What do you want to say to your target market?
• What do you want your target market to do?

Step into the role of your customer

When you think about your target market or your business’ ideal customer, you have to think about things from their perspective. In the end it doesn’t matter what you want, because they are the one who is going to make the decision or take the action.

Identify the channel(s) important to your market

There are several social media channels that are very well known and there are others you may not know about yet (plus new ones being created every day). However, knowing who your customers are, what they need/want and what is important to them will guide you into the right channels for the job.

Depending on your business and target market, you may need to take advantage of several different channels, or you may be able to focus on one. What is important is that you talk with customers on their level. If they are in chat rooms talking about things similar to your product/service, being a fly on the wall may not hurt. By listening, you may learn great things from your own customers.

Listen, engage, rinse, repeat

We have heard many times, from many people, that social media needs to be focused on the relationships, not the technologies. By listening and engaging with your target market it allows you to be more transparent with your intentions and to create the products that they really want. Be real and honest with those you engage and take the time to learn.

By utilizing social media and it’s available technology channels, you may even discover a market you didn’t know existed. There may be other demographics that have a need for your product or service. And may find people who are just excited about your company and that you operate where they do.

Reflect on your customers, think about what they want

Pretend you’re a customer for your company:

• What would you want to see?
• How does that make you feel?
• What direction do you want to go from there?
• Does having the opportunity to talk with a business as a customer appeal to you?

At times social media can feel like a game of hide and seek, but by doing research and asking yourself some basic questions, the game becomes much more fun.

So, do you want to hide, or seek?