Goal-Setting to Set Your Business Up for Social Media Success

This year at Roaring Pajamas, our only resolution is to eschew New Year’s resolutions! Instead, we’re starting 2018 in favor of goal-setting. Studies (and personal experience) show that most resolutions have been long forgotten in a few months (if not weeks!). And it makes sense—resolutions are usually just general aspirations, often inspired by feelings of inadequacy and bolstered by the brief momentum of a shiny new year.

Resolutions aren’t necessarily a bad thing, but they’re not usually a recipe for real transformation and lasting positive change either. That’s why our team is setting personal and professional goals (not resolutions) this year—and that’s why I’m sharing our process for social media goal-setting with you!

But first, here’s some inspiration from our team:

Our social media consultant, Kelly, wants to make more videos to use on social media (perhaps inspired by our recent post on how to use Facebook Stories?). Our resident copywriter, Jenna, is determined to write a blog post for her website once a week. And my partner, Kent, has simply made it a goal to have more fun this year! (I’m with him—I’d also like to have more fun this year!) Additionally, I have set a few goals to help me become even more efficient and effective in my work and in my life. Those goals include getting more sleep, drinking more water, exercising more, and eating better, amongst other things. I’ll keep you posted!

Our list of goals for Roaring Pajamas includes Google Certification for our SEO strategists and analysts, identifying and implementing new and improved tools for SEO analysis and increasing the number of amazing, long-term clients with whom we get to work—just to name a few.

What about you? Are you inspired to do some goal-setting of your own? I hope so! We’re only two weeks into a fresh new year, and this is the perfect time to create a list of goals to support the social media success of your business in 2018.

Here’s how to get started:

Start With the End In Mind

Whether you’ve been using social media to market your business for years or you’re just getting started, it’s important to start this new year asking yourself: What do I want to accomplish with social media? What are your goals for your business and how can using social media help you get there faster? What worked last year and what didn’t? You may want to build brand awareness, increase revenue, grow your community—or all of the above! Get really clear on your ultimate end goal, so you can build the right actions to help you get there.

Break It Down

Okay, so you know you want to build brand awareness (or increase revenue or create community) through social media this year. But what does that mean exactly? The next step in your smart goal-setting process is to break. it. down. It may be helpful to ask yourself: What does success look like? Is it 5,000 new Facebook fans? Is it new leads from Instagram? Does success mean a 20% increase in engagement? Once you have clarity on the metrics you want to meet, you can work backwards and create mini-goals to help you get there.

Create a Plan

Now it’s time to create a plan that will help you achieve each of your mini-goals—and eventually the ultimate goal you have in mind! Start considering strategies specific to your list of goals: You could start a weekly Instagram Live series or create a “Brand Ambassador” Facebook Group for your superfans or use ads or run contests. The sky is the limit! But while your options are limitless, your plan should not be. Get really clear on the strategies you will implement to reach your goals, keeping in mind that you can (and should!) be flexible, tweak your plan and shift gears, as necessary.

Take Regular Action

Goal-setting isn’t just about setting the right goals—it’s about actually taking the action to reach them, too! Consider the daily, weekly and monthly actions you may need to take to execute the strategies in your plan. It might be checking in and engaging with the community in your Facebook group, planning your next Instagram Live interview or setting up an ad. And each of these actions has their own mini-actions, too! Get clear on each small step that needs to be accomplished—perhaps on a consistent basis—to help you put your plan in place and get on the path to reaching your goals.

Schedule Time to Review

Remember when I said you should be flexible with your plan? That’s where the review comes in! Set a recurring date to review your goals and your plan—it might be every week, once a month or every quarter. The frequency of your review is up to you, but it is important to be proactive about reviewing what’s working and what’s not. You may even find that you need to change goals altogether or at least adjust them! Regularly reviewing your goals, your plan and your actions also ensures that you stay connected and committed to the social media success you set out to achieve. Don’t let these goals be like all those long-forgotten New Year’s resolutions. Keep your goals—and your progress—top of mind and you’ll find the social media success you seek in no time!

See? It pays to be smart about your social media goal-setting! Setting the right goals can not only improve your business’ bottom line; the process can improve your personal happiness and well-being, too! And there’s no better goal than that.

What is your list of social media goals for 2018? Share what you’re excited to accomplish with us in the comments below.