strategy

Beyond planning: The importance of strategic planning

plan-to-succeed

The longer we run our business, the more emphasis and priority Lara and I put on planning. And I don't mean just laying out a plan for what we want to do. Every year, we take a more strategic approach to setting goals, developing products, and creating content. It's making us better at what we do, better at helping our clients, and understanding our clients' needs. 

We have started having 3-4 planning days per year to set priorities, plan timelines, discuss ideas, etc. It's time we spend away from doing any work for clients or product development. However, it's absolutely critical to the short- and long-term progress and success of our business.

So much of what we do as business owners applies to planning and using social media in a strategic way. Imagine, if you will, a person who has what they feel is a fabulous idea for a business. Remember the jump to conclusions mat from Office Space? (Warning: there's a little four-letter language in this clip.)

Starting a business without clear goals, research into marketability of products and services, or realistic view of what's involved can lead to a rude awakening. I think every business owner has experienced this to some degree - whether a product or service completely bombs or they have to rethink their entire business model. That's usually when you come to the fork in the road and you have to decide which new direction to take.

Strategy is just as important to social media success

We make every effort to simplify social media for our clients. It's not rocket science. We know this. However, between using the actual tools and crafting messages with a strategic focus and tying it all in to your business objectives, the process can get overwhelming. Small business don't need a 100-page strategy document, but they do need to start with identifying goals, audiences, and key messages. Once they know the what and the why, then they can move on to tactics (the how). The "how" is pretty easy once you've established "what" and "why".

Answer these questions for your business

  • Why do we use <insert social network>?
  • Is our presence effective?
  • Are we using it to our advantage?
  • Have we gained any customers through that channel?

They aren't easy questions, but it's worth reflecting. This is the time of year that we all start looking at a fresh start in the New Year. We all want to be more organized, focused, productive. 

You can do all of those things, but it starts with a plan. I'm personally terrible at setting goals for our business in the areas that I am responsible for - Lara is pushing me and reminding me to be better (or just do it). I know the importance. I know why I struggle with it. I'm working on a solution that works for me and our business because without setting those goals, even knowing my audience and key messages, I'm holding myself and my business back from being the best we can be.


Webinar - Get Results in 2015 using Social Media with a Plan!

Lara and I are going to talk about planning tips, advice, and resources during our December 9th webinar. Sign up here!


Do you struggle with staying focused in your day-to-day use of social channels? That can derail your plans for social media AND other areas of your business. Our Daily Social Media Checklist can help.

Just enter your email address and we'll send you this free tool to help you focus your efforts. You'll also receive weekly emails from Lara and I with valuable tips and information about how to grow your business using social media. 

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Buzz and Brilliance: Week ending Feb 23

Over the week we go through a lot of content - news and blog posts, how tos and conceptual posts on the state of the internet.  Every Sunday we share some of our favourites with you.

Check out the links and let us know in the comments if you have any questions or if you read any great posts this week!

For this week and next, I’m on my own since Lara decided to take a much-deserved vacation.

Karen

I love when “boring” businesses call us for help. Because often, they aren’t nearly as boring as anyone thinks on the surface. Seeing businesses that show personality regardless of the product’s sex appeal is always great to see. (Hubspot)

We learned as kids not to judge a book by its cover, but your website/blog design really will get you judged. Here are a few rules to take into consideration when you’re considering your blog layout. (BloggingPro)

The nice thing about being a small business owner is that we don’t have to wade through the mire of corporate red tape before we decide to post to any social network. We just have to stay tuned in consistently enough to respond to the unexpected. (SmartBlog on Social Media)

I’ve had some interesting discussions this week around post-level insights on Facebook. There were extensive discrepancies in the numbers being reported. Then I found out that Facebook announced that there was a bug affecting insights. Here’s hoping this clears up the muddle.

Do you ever wonder how to make your content more interesting and memorable as a business? Learn to be a storyteller. (Web Ink Now)

The Media Mesh

Here’s what you might have missed from us this week:

Social Capital is looking for Speakers and Sponsors!

Writing bios that connect

Skip the gimmicks, share engaging content, and don’t annoy your fans

Chris Hadfield and the amazing world of technology

App of the Week

I used to highlight a different app each week that I enjoy using and this week I’m going to re-introduce the feature. The app I’m currently relying on heavily is Dropbox. I’ve finally got a place where all my data and files are backed up. Additionally, the syncing and sharing have been invaluable to Lara and me. We’ve dramatically reduced our use of Google Docs, which doesn’t have the more robust capabilities we need as a business that we can get from Microsoft Office.

Proofread that post, proof it again and proof once more

I recently witnessed a status update from a business page on Facebook that misspelled a key term for its industry

What did they use?

“Loosing”

What did they mean?

“Losing”

Think about any industry or business that talks about losing anything - weight, eye sight, hearing, keys, gadgets, etc.

There are so many businesses that may need to use “losing” as part of their messaging and in some cases the competition is going to be fierce.

Losing engagement

After seeing that status update, I can’t remember anything about it other than the misspelled word and I wasn’t the only one. The first and only comment on the post is from someone pointing out the error (no, it was not me). That lone comment has one like. There is no other engagement on that post.

Many businesses may not feel that proofing a short status update on Facebook or Twitter is worth their time, but think about the impression on the audience when key terminology is misspelled:

  • Does the misspelling inadvertently change the meaning? 
  • Is a competitor making that or similar errors?
  • Will the mistake(s) distract from the overall message? 

The best way to avoid this type of situation is to prepare content in advance.

You want to post to Facebook every day? (Yay! You should.)

Plan it out 

Spend two hours coming up with the content for a month.

Proofread that post: Then set it aside for a day and go back to read in detail what you’ve written.

Proof it again: If you can, ask someone else to review it.

Proof once more: Then, when you actually post the content, read through one more time. Out loud. 

Your message matters - don’t let it get lost behind an avoidable error! 

Announcing Wellman Wilson Consulting!

We're thrilled to announce a merger of Lara Wellman Consulting and The Media Mesh.

Karen and Lara have had the pleasure of working together for over a year and a half on projects like Losing it in Ottawa, the Social Capital Conference and Kids in the Capital.  Our love of social media and helping people understand how to use it strategically for business brought us to the next logical step - Wellman Wilson Consulting!

We look forward to sharing a lot of great social media content and working with fabulous clients who want to learn more about what social media can do for them.