Does your Social Media Marketing have a goal?

Almost everyone is into social media these days, but without a goal in mind of what you want to accomplish for your business or personal objectives you are just posting information that has little if any meaning. Consider building a reputation management campaign that has a specific goal that you want to reach. It is important to realize that unless you have something that is relevant to your end goal to say in your posts it is not worth saying anything. 

The trouble that most people run into is that they are too busy dumping as much information about their business or them self onto the internet that they do not realize the potential damage they are doing to their own reputation.

With the search engine algorithms recognizing quality in the wording of every scrap of information that is being blogged, tweeted about and posted on the social networks most people do not know that when they are chatting about their cat or how their weekend was with their friends they are effectively reducing their credibility as an expert within their chosen field of business. Not that your hobbies and interests are unimportant, but they carry no weight for anyone that is in business with you.

To circumvent the common mistakes that individuals make in regard to their personal socializing it is best to create two different and accounts for your social standing. If you do want to keep everyone on your friends list informed about what you ate for lunch and what you thought about the last film you watched you can do that, but keep in mind that your clients, vendors and coworkers are more interested in what you can deliver by way of productivity and increased revenue. With separate networking media accounts you can be social with friends and family members while maintaining a professional image for all of your business contacts.

Going back to what I stated before, the best way to plan out a social media strategy is to have an end goal in mind. What are you attempting to do? What is the goal of your work? If you don't have one you will never know if you have reached it. All too often business owners say that they want to increase sales--which is why they are on the web. But that broad statement does not identify their purpose or the function of their social media campaign.

Just as any marketing effort is targeted to an audience and directed at gaining a specified result the work of any and all social media posts, blogs and commentaries has to be aligned with the overall goal of your campaign. So what you say through any social channel should to be relevant to your business, your website and the readers who will be reviewing your dialog.

Before sending out any message it should be filter through your strategy statement and measured to make sure that it is aligned with the goal of your media campaign. Basically a strategy statement is like your mission statement--it is the foundation of what you do, the essence of your business and relates to everything that you are presenting to an audience through your online marketing. A friend of mine and marketing expert, Brian Pope came up with what he calls a Unique Marketing Positioning Statement. Essentially this is what I am calling a strategy Statement. Identifying what you do and why you do it helps to create the vision of your company and is a test for each post and blog you put into cyberspace. If a posting is not in alignment with what you are offering to clients, it does not belong in your social media campaign.

However, if you are posting a blog and then telling others about your work, you can promote a relevant message that you will be happy to link back to your website. The acid test comes down to asking yourself this question. Is the post I am about to send something that I would put on my website to attract new consumers? If the answer is yes then move forward, if it is no then rethink your position and only post what will build you up as an expert in your area of business.

The goal of every marketing media strategy is crucial to the success of your ongoing public relations effort which is building your reputation. Keeping specific goals in mind each time you are tempted to post anything online will help you to decide what to post for the business public and what to send to your network of friends. With a targeted message you can do a greater good for your business than if you just sat down commenting on the things that no one really cares about. 

As you write your posts, ask yourself so what? What do others take away from this message? Is there a call to action if so is it relevant to your work? What is the reader going to do next? If they like the article, blog or post ask them to indicate it by taking action.

So what are you waiting for, click the like button, re-tweet this message to the people that can benefit from it and start following my blog! After all that's one of my social media goals. What are yours?