Social Media Marketing Plan

This social media engagement plan template is meant to act as a rough framework/guide only. It should be used with the Centre of Excellence in Public Sector Marketing’s (CEPSM) Social Media Marketing 101 Workbook, which is available by contacting Patricia Pegley at pegleyp@halifax.ca

Please review HRM’s Social Networking Guidelines when considering social media as part of your overall communications planning.

Step 1: Define your key issue(s) and desired outcome(s) – pg 23

Before undertaking any strategy, it is absolutely necessary that you have clearly laid out what it is that you’re trying to accomplish. These strategic objectives should be high-level and address the ultimate outcome that will determine success. Every succeeding element in this framework must tie-in to these objectives. Keep it simple by answering the following two questions:

Question A - What is the key issue you wish to address by engaging in social media?

Question B - What would constitute a successful outcome?

Step 2: Gauge your existing web presence – pg 24

Question A - What is the social media world saying about you?

Question B - What is the search engine visibility of your web properties?

Question C -What are the relevant keywords for your initiative?

Step 3: Conduct a SWOT Analysis – pg 30

Question A - What are some internal strengths and weaknesses that could affect the outcome of your online social media initiative?

Internal Strengths:

Internal Weaknesses:

Question B - What are some external opportunities and threats that could affect the outcome of your online social media initiative?

External Opportunities:

External Threats:

Step 4: Determine your online competition – pg. 32

Question A - Who are your online competitors?

Step 5: Set strategic social media engagement objectives (SMART) – pg. 35

SpecificMeasurableAchievableRelevantTime-based

Q uestion A - What are the SMART objectives upon which you will evaluate your success?

Step 6: Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning – pg. 36

Question A - How are you going to segment your market?

Question B - Who is your target audience

Question C - What is your positioning strategy?

Step 7: Choose the Right Tools and Marketing Mix – pg. 42

Question A - Which social media tools/applications should you use?

Step 8: Develop a Social Media Press Release – pg. 46

Step 9: Performance Measurement – pg. 47

Question A - How will you measure your website’s performance?

Question B - How will you measure your social media marketing performance?

Step 10: Ongoing Monitoring and Adjustments – pg. 51