October 14th, 2024
Let's be real here, my social media doesn't display me as an expert in my field with such a low following but that's because as a professional, I want to grow slowly and as a person I struggle with consistency (it's a work in progress).
My focus over the first few years of running my business was to figure what I was doing as a business owner while still narrowing down my niche. (I'm still figuring it out and I've almost niched down, almost.) So now, I'm looking at all the data I've compiled over the years, who my audience is, what I want to see happen in the near and far future, and what my capabilities/resources, so I can start creating a manageable social strategy.
Data
Looking at data from the first few years can be hard mostly because we can't find it. The oldest file I found was from Sept 14 - Oct 15, 2022, kind of a convenient time frame. And, Wow...
Facebook
Reach: -70%
Impressions: -61%
Instagram
Reach: +148%
Impressions: +111%
Interesting... my older content worked better for Facebook yet my newer stuff is doing better on Instagram. Ok, so I should review my older content and see how I can work that into what I'm currently doing.
Future
Since this business is just me and I'm happy with that for now, I want to start bringing on an average of 2 clients a month. This seems completely reasonable. I want to do this for a year and see how things went. Was it too much? How many more could I taken on? 3 or 4 a month? Maybe check-in at 6 months to see how this is going.
I can't go too far into the future at the moment because I can see this plan working well over the next 5 years.
Audience
Who is my target audience. I feel like, I'm always asking this question. Probably because I haven't fully niched down yet... But I can use ChatGPT to help me out and review it's output...
Persona 1: Solo-preneur Sarah
Sarah is a solo business owner juggling all aspects of her company. She needs affordable, easy-to-implement marketing strategies that can help her grow without overwhelming her already packed schedule.
Persona 2: Community Non-Profit Director
The director of a small, community-based non-profit, they are passionate about their cause but require cost-effective marketing solutions to engage local supporters and drive donations.
Persona 3: One-Person Marketing Team
This marketing manager handles all marketing duties for a small business. They are overwhelmed and need external support to help them execute quality marketing campaigns without doing everything alone.
Thanks Chatchat. (Funny thing if you say ChatGPT with a french accent, it translates to "Cat, I farted." #MiniFrenchLesson.) These personas are pretty spot on for who I trying to reach. (Which one are you?)
Capabilities
What am I capable of maintaining?
Thus far I am doing well with #dailymarketingpodcast even though it's not daily but it is multiple times a week. A quick story from events... When I get home from events I should follow their socials and sign-up for their newsletters... That's working well for IG, what about FB? We should go back to batch creating content again. Maybe dial back to 8 posts per month. 2 of those should be blogs. So batch create 6 posts... that's only 3 hours per month. Very do-able. Try posting the same content to both platforms and see what happens. I would also like to start posting the blogs on LinkedIn and begin learning that platform.
Resources
Buffer to schedule and analyze,
Canva for graphics,
ChatGPT for copy, editing, and answering my endless questions, and
Google Docs for organizing and planning content.
Ok, now for this manageable strategy...
Let's start with setting goals. SMART goals specifically...
Specific - Growing reach and impressions by at least 20%.
Measurable - Benchmarks
FB Reach: 105
FB Impressions: 217
IG Reach: 305
IG Impressions: 221
Achievable - entirely.
Relevant - yes.
Time-bound - 1 month.
Goal Statement:Increase overall reach and impressions by at least 20% across Facebook and Instagram within 1 month. The current benchmarks are:
Facebook: 105 reach and 217 impressions
Instagram: 305 reach and 221 impressions
This goal is realistic and achievable, aligning with the business's objective to grow its online presence. The results will be measured against these benchmarks to track progress.
Next, planning content... 8 posts, 2 of which are blogs... What special days are coming up from Oct 15th to Nov 15th that align with my services/values/audience? https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/year-at-a-glance SUPER helpful and fun. Normally I would consider the month and weekly views but for this I'm just going to look at the days. (And a small note, avoid posting national days back to back.)
10/16 - National dictionary day & Support your chamber of commerce day
Although dictionary day could be fun, supporting the chamber is more related to marketing your business.
10/17 - Get to know your customers day (3rd Thursday each quarter.)
10/21 - National clean your virtual desktop day (3rd Thursday of October)
Good for de-cluttering and prepping for the new year
10/26 - National make a difference day... could I make a campaign on this... throughout the year culminating on this day every year...
10/27 - National black cat day... Lo is one of the office cats... that picture of him yawning with a spooky frame and small banner for the day. Quick bio of Lo introducing him as our office cat of the month... Wait did office cat of the month just become a thing I want to do... this has legs, unsure if it has thumbs...
10/29 - National cat day... this feels too soon after the black cat day... I think this day happens often... there's international and global, plus an additional black cat day... Could use this to announce OCoM. Actually, do both. "When creating my post for national black cat day I had the idea to create Office Cat of the Month. These 3 are always by my side while I create for you..."
10/31 - HALLOWEEN... not missing this one!
11/1 - National cinnamon day... add on personal story and mention biz... pic of coffee w/ cinnamon. "add a little cinnamon to your day for a boost in abundance... Not you Mariette, stay alive please. heart emoji."
11/3 - PSA Daylight Savings ends... also it's national sandwich day enjoy. video of me toasting the camera with a sandwich... this will have to posted the day before in a story.
11/6 - National stress awareness day... bonus post
11/11 - that's a personal page thing if you post at 11:11
11/12 - National chicken soup day... I love soup but that doesn't align with biz.
Ok that is a lot of possible content... The highlighted ones will be used... That leaves the 2 blog posts which will be "Understanding the data (and how AI can help)" and "End of year planning."
Mapping it out in my Content Planner.
Side note, I should really pick up doing the newsletter again... it was quiet enjoyable...
So now all that is left is create the copy and visuals, and schedule the content... I'll be back in a month with results, until then, toodles!
P.S. If you see any of these posts drop a pumpkin emoji in the comments.
Results
Coming sometime around Thanksgiving.
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