Here is a sample social media marketing (SMM) plan for your startup digital business or your marketing clients. All identifiable information from the original client has been redacted. Let me know if you like it!
Contents
Introduction
Objectives
Social Media for Businesses
Social Media Metrics
Metrics Summary
Plan Summary and Timeline
Analysis
Product
Beater app 1.0
Beater app 2.0
Full app
Competitors
Social Media Landscape
Strategy
Setup
Marketing Funnel
App Integration
Website Integration
Implementation
Posting schedule and content
Responding to messages
Moderation and responding to comments
Follow-up
Cost breakdown for promotion/hiring a manager
Beater app 2.0 release
Full app release
Introduction
Objectives
Receive at least 200 conversions in the first 30 days as defined by app installations that were referred by links shared by REDACTED’s social media accounts, visits from social media posts that were referred to REDACTED’s website that led to an app install, and app installs that originated from social media shares inside the app. These app installations will be primarily tracked with UTM codes (https://blog.bufferapp.com/utm-guide) in Google Analytics.
The second objective is to get to 2,000 conversions in the next 30 days.
Finally, the last objective is to reach 20,000 conversions in the first month after the second version of the beater app is released.
Social Media for Businesses
Social media is unique in that it allows both one-to-one and one-to-many communication with feedback. We can think of each social media platform as two marketing channels—one paid and one unpaid. However, these channels can function as both B2C and B2B. With REDACTED, B2B communication will be primarily bars looking to partner with REDACTED and B2C communication will users of REDACTED.
Businesses will see REDACTED’s social media profiles when researching REDACTED and looking to communicate. Customers (users of the REDACTED app) can contact REDACTED with comments, bug reports and feedback. They can also share their use of the REDACTED app with their friends and followers on social media. REDACTED can use social media to communicate information to its customers. We can think of this as PR.
Social Media Metrics
https://www.facebook.com/REDACTEDAE/insights/
Actions on Page—this will be the number of clicks on our e-mail signup button on the Facebook page.
Page Views—How many times the page and its sections are viewed.
Page Likes—Current number of page likes.
Reach—How many people saw the page’s posts.
Post Engagements—Total number of likes, shares and comments on the page’s posts.
Videos—Number of 3+ seconds long views of the page’s videos (currently N/A).
Each of these metrics list organic or paid but for now we’ll focus on organic until the full version of the app is released and we have enough data and monetization metrics to start a paid marketing campaign.
https://analytics.twitter.com/user/REDACTEDAE/tweets
Impressions—How many times REDACTED’s tweets are viewed.
Engagement—How many times REDACTED’s tweets are replied to or shared.
Engagement Rate—Impressions/engagement.
They’re working on it. For now we can track post engagements in Hootsuite and our total followers.
Metrics Summary
While these metrics can be helpful, especially for publishers that make their money with display ads and are trying to develop a large audience, these metrics ultimately do not mean anything for achieving the social media marketing plan’s goals. That is why the objectives focus on conversions (app installations) from social media.
Plan Summary and Timeline
Analysis
Product
The REDACTED app is for iOS and Android devices. It lets users find bars and info about them in the target market (UAE).
Beater app 1.0
Locations and information on nearby bars in the target market.
Beater app 2.0
Happy hour function, men’s nights, ladies nights, etc.
Full app
Uber integration, pay model, etc.
Competitors
| Competitor | |||
| Guzzle | https://www.facebook.com/pg/guzzleDubai/ | https://twitter.com/guzzledubai | https://www.instagram.com/guzzledubai/ |
| 1,719 Likes | 25 Followers | 5,341 Followers | |
| The Entertainer | https://www.facebook.com/EntertainerApp/ | https://twitter.com/entertainergcc | https://www.instagram.com/entertainergcc/
|
| 346,165 Likes | 3,823 Followers | 11,400 Followers |
Guzzle has a smaller social media presence than the Entertainer app. Neither app has a particularly large social media following.
Social Media Landscape
Instagram is the most popular place to post drinking related things in the UAE. The following tags are the most popular UAE related hashtags.
#dubai 47,354,463 posts
#myDubai 19,606,019 posts
#inDubai 153,137 posts
I believe we should use our own #REDACTEDAE hashtag and encourage our users to use it when posting.
Strategy
The initial strategy for the first 60 days, or until the second iteration of the app is released, will be multipronged. First, initial interest will be drummed up on Facebook and Reddit user boards, asking people to download the app and let REDACTED know what they think. At the same time, the unpaid social media posting campaign will begin on the REDACTED accounts. As this is happening, we can send a press release to digital news outlets targeting Westerners in the UAE. Then as customers start using REDACTED, they can share their use of the app on social media from the app itself.
Setup
Marketing Funnel
The primary landing page for the social media marketing efforts will be the app installation page on the REDACTED website. The call to action on the landing page is getting the user to click to the conversion pages. The conversion pages will be the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Example landing page: https://stronglifts.com/apps/
Example conversion pages: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stronglifts-5×5-workout/id488580022?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stronglifts.app&rdid=com.stronglifts.app
App Integration
To start with, we should have links to the REDACTED social media accounts in the about section of the app. After a specific bar is found and opened in the app, REDACTED should have links to post on social. These links open in the relevant app installed on the user’s phone. While REDACTED cannot post directly for the user in Twitter or Instagram we can put a call to action that opens before they are brought to the relevant social media app. This call to action tells the user to tell their friends about REDACTED, that the account is @REDACTEDAE if they want to tag it and that the REDACTED hashtag is #REDACTEDAE. For Facebook REDACTED can post directly to the user’s Facebook page if they give us permission, include the bar name and have a link back to our app. This might need to be a feature in the second version of the beater app.
The app integration step will start as the social media accounts are setup.
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/apps
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/facebook-login/overview
Website Integration
Links to the social media accounts should be located in both the REDACTED website footer and about sections.
Share buttons should be located on the landing page and information pages with a call to action saying telling your friends.
Facebook’s tracking pixel and audience pixels will be setup on the website’s header to allow conversion tracking and ReMarketing Facebook ads down the road.
https://www.facebook.com/business/help/952192354843755
https://www.facebook.com/business/a/custom-audiences
https://www.facebook.com/business/learn/facebook-ads-reach-existing-customers
Google Analytics integration for websites and apps:
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1008080?hl=en
Social media button tracking in GA:
https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/social-interactions
Implementation
Posting schedule and content
The posting to social media will follow the rule of 3rds. The posts will be written and scheduled ahead of time with Hootsuite (https://hootsuite.com/) and the post scheduling in the social media accounts themselves.
1/3 of posts will promote installing the REDACTED app by linking back to the website’s app install landing pages.
1/3 of posts will be public relations orientated—requests for feedback, announcements, etc.
1/3 of posts will be content—facts about drinking in the Middle East, entertaining, cocktail recipes and facts, etc.
Responding to messages
The initial version of the beater app will likely have some tweaks, bugs, things that could be improved, etc. The users of the app will be forgiving of this as long as they know what is going on—as long as REDACTED controls the narrative. Fast, consistent responses to messages help control the narrative. A strong narrative makes the users feel like they are part of the brand.
Moderation and responding to comments
Clear, consistent narrative is important to develop the REDACTED brand and keep users engaged through each iteration of the app. I recommend that one person handle all the communication through social media to keep the message on point.
Follow-up
Cost breakdown for promotion/hiring a manager
5-10 hours a month—writing original content and scheduling posts for the REDACTED social media profiles through Hootsuite.
2-4 hours a month—scheduling posts for REDACTED PR.
4-6 hours a month—responding to messages to the REDACTED social media profiles and moderating comments.
2-4 hours a month—looking in Google Analytics to determine how the marketing efforts can be improved.
Total: 13-24 hours a month at $27.00 an hour totals $351-$648 per month.
Beater app 2.0 release
As features are added and the second version of the app is released, a new PR drive will start and new calls to actions implemented. App users will be notified via email and in-app after it updates. This is the perfect time to add an incentive for users—for example a points system to determine who has visited the most bars through the app, similar to the mayor function in Foursquare. During this time the social media posting will continue. The social media share buttons will be updated to work with the happy hour functions as well. After analyzing the website and app data through Google Analytics, tweaks to the UX/UI can be done to improve performance.
Full App Release
When the full app is released the final PR drive will start, posting will continue on social media and the email list will be fully utilized. The goal is to build the buzz up to this point and keep the narrative focused—REDACTED is the best app for finding drink specials in the UAE. Analysis will be done to determine how paid social media traffic can drive app installs and the ROI.
