How to create an effective social media marketing plan in Australia 4 MIN READ
Almost 21 million Australians currently use social media, a phenomenon that property and finance professionals can use to their advantage – if they have an effective social media marketing plan.
After all, if 78% of the country’s total population is active on various social media platforms and you can strategically connect with targeted portions of these users, you can potentially boost your business’ profile, attract new clients and grow your revenue.
Advertising your offerings on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn or other social media platforms is, however, not enough. While posting on these platforms is, technically, an element of content marketing, it takes effective social media content creation and a sound marketing plan to truly achieve your goals.
What is social media marketing?
Social media marketing is the use of digital and online community platforms to build your brand, advertise your services and connect with your target audiences. Used cleverly, it can help you boost your profile, increase sales, generate leads and drive traffic to your website.Social media marketing stats in Australia
According to early-2024 Australian data published in the Digital 2024: Australia report, written by global digital insights portal Datareportal:- 18.03 million of Australia’s social media users are aged 18 and older
- 82.50% of Australia’s total internet user base (regardless of age) use at least one social media platform
- 50.70% of social media users are female and 49.30% are male
- Facebook has 16.65 million users
- Facebook’s potential ad reach in Australia increased by 1.8 million (11.7%) between January 2023 and January 2024
- YouTube has 20.80 million users
- Instagram has 13.95 million users
- TikTok has 9.73 million users aged 18 and above
- LinkedIn has 15 million members
- Snapchat has 7.85 million users
- X (formerly Twitter) has 6.10 million users
- Pinterest has 5.31 million users
7 interesting social media facts from around the world
Consumer research company GWI, which profiles consumers across more than 48 countries, states that these are some of the biggest social media statistics for 2023:- Outside of China, Facebook is still the most widely used app worldwide
- WhatsApp and Instagram are the most loved apps, outside of China
- In Western markets – which includes Australia – the number of ‘TikTokers’ who use the platform to keep up-to-date with news has risen by 41% in the past two years
- Over the past two years, there has also been a 52% increase in the number of ‘TikTokers’ in these markets who use the platform to find information about products and businesses
- Engagement with TikTok has increased most among older consumers, demonstrating its cross-generational appeal
- Daily use of social media by ‘baby boomers’ (those born between 1946 and 1964) is up by 14 minutes (18%) since Q1 2020, the most of any generation
- 78% of internet users use some form of social media when looking for more information on businesses or products
What constitutes an effective social media marketing plan?
Publishing content on social media platforms is referred to as ‘posting’. Social media marketing, however, involves various strategies to promote and sell a product or service, including advertising, public relations, sales and audience engagement.Social media marketing: plan vs strategy
Before you jump into marketing your business on social media, you need to devise a social media plan. This is a document that outlines your goals and how you plan to achieve them. From this plan, you formulate a social media marketing strategy.
A strategy is the big-picture vision; a plan sits underneath. So you don’t need a strategy to implement a plan; you need a plan to implement a strategy.
Your strategy should be tailored to your specific business goals and target audiences.
How to create a social media marketing plan
1. Evaluate your current social media presence
- What platforms are you active on?
- How do your profiles/pages compare to your competitors’?
- Which platforms bring you the most value?
2. Establish your ideal customer
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Income
- Their needs or solutions to problems
- The platforms they are most active on
3. Set your mission and goals
What do you want to achieve or boost?- Followers / subscribers?
- Leads?
- Sales?
4. Decide what content you want to market
Content ideas include:
- Blogs
- Press releases
- Newsletters
- E-books
- News articles
- Research
- Videos
- Photographs
5. Meet your target audience where they are
- Which platforms are they most active on?
- What days and times are they most active?
- What content do they want? (this may differ depending on the platforms they use)
6. Devise a plan
- What content will you create?
- When will this content be shared?
- How often will content be shared?
- Which platforms will your content be shared on?
7. Schedule content writing deadlines and publishing times on a calendar
To stick to your plan, you need to ensure high-quality content is created, and on schedule. You may want to employ the services of a social media content agency that specialises in social media management in Australia.
Hunter & Scribe is a copywriting agency in Sydney that specialises in content marketing and content writing for financial services and property professionals.
Implement your social media marketing strategy
Once you have created a solid social media marketing plan, you are ready to put it into action through a social media marketing strategy.
This involves:
- Creating your content, possibly with the use of content creation tools or by employing the services of a professional social media content agency with specialist website content writers in Australia.
- Publishing and promoting your content
Does it pay to use a social media content agency?
If you have the necessary in-house content writing and social media content creation skills, and these individuals have the expertise and necessary time to effectively implement your social media marketing strategy, then you may be able to manage it yourself.
It is important to consider though, that a social media marketing agency has the professional writing skills, SEO copywriting techniques, experience and time to dedicate to implementing your strategy effectively. In addition, they have access to advanced tools, ideas and flexibility to manage your strategy.
