Don’t let another year slip by without meeting your social media marketing goals

Tell me if this situation sounds familiar.

You set lofty goals at the start of the new year, only to find that you’re totally burnt out and overwhelmed by the time February rolls around.

And you think to yourself:

Really? February was as far as I could make it?

As the days pass, your motivation dwindles even more until you give up on what you originally set out to accomplish.

Yeah…

We’ve all been there.

So, what’s going to make this year different when it comes to your business goals?

More specifically, what can you do to make sure you meet your social media marketing goals in 2017?

Let’s talk about it.

Set the right goals from the start

Sure, goals like “become the leading social media presence in my industry” sound nice.

But let’s face it – that sort of goal is probably unrealistic and doesn’t create any accountability.

Plus, it’s hard to break down such a vague goal into actionable steps, meaning there’s a good chance you simply won’t take action at all.

A better way to set social media marketing goals this year?

Use SMART goals.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

• Specific – For example, you wouldn’t just say you want to “get more active on Twitter.” Instead, you might say you want to post to Twitter 5x per day every week day.
• Measurable – Set goals that allow you to track your progress as the year passes, even if that means investing in social media analytics software.
• Achievable – Think about your resources (time, money, etc.), and make sure those resources will allow you to reach your goals.
• Realistic – If you’re starting with zero, getting 1 million Instagram followers in 2017 probably isn’t realistic. Set goals that are challenging but not so far-fetched that you’ll never be able to meet them.
• Timed – Give yourself non-negotiable deadlines for each of your social media marketing goals. Treat these deadlines as non-negotiable, and schedule them into your calendar.

SMART goals are effective because they create accountability and give you something concrete to aim for.

One more important bit of advice on goal-setting:

Make sure your social media marketing goals align with your “big picture” business goals.

For example, if you want to build an email list of subscribers who are likely to be interested in a specific product you’re selling, you’d create social media marketing goals based on that. Your “big picture” goal in this case would be to boost product sales.

Because there’s no point in increasing your social media following solely for the sake of higher numbers. You should go after real business results – not vanity metrics.

Want more help setting your 2017 social media marketing goals?

Check out this blog post – it’ll walk you through the 7 steps you need to follow to set strategic goals for your business.

Track your results and growth

This step is important because:

• It helps you hold yourself accountable. You’ll be much less likely to slip up if you can catch your shortcomings early on and take quick action to improve.
• It gives you insight on your business. For example, you might end up growing your Twitter following faster than expected. At that point, you would probably want to reassess your goals and set more challenging ones.
• It motivates you. Seriously – there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing that you’re on track to crush your social media marketing goals.

One thing I do is track my social media metrics in a spreadsheet. At the first of every month, I record certain things (like Twitter followers and Pinterest followers) based on my business goals.

But that’s a pretty basic method.

If you have a bigger business or lots of complex goals, you should invest in social media tools that will equip you with all the information you need to grow and improve.

And that brings me to the next point.

Invest in tools that will help you meet your social media marketing goals

Trust me – the last thing you want to do is create a hot mess of a social media marketing plan that involves 10 thrown-together spreadsheets and a Dropbox folder full of disorganized ideas.

You know, unless you’re actually trying to fail at social media marketing in 2017.

Even if you start with simpler tools and work your way up to using more robust software, at least use something to help you save time, strategize better, etc.

Here are some good tools to consider:

• Adobe Creative Cloud – If you want Photoshop and Illustrator but don’t quite have the budget, you can get Adobe Creative Cloud for as little as $29.99 per month. Perfect for creating stunning social media graphics.
• Brandwatch – Use this social listening tool for market research, influencer outreach, marketing ROI measurement, and more.
• MavSocial – Schedule your social media posts ahead of time, and create/manage your content calendar. This tool comes with pretty much everything you need to automate your social media marketing process, and you can start your free trial right here.

Consider the return you’ll get on your investment – whether that’s time, money, or both.

And whatever approach you decide to take in 2017, be prepared to encourage yourself along the way.

Chances are, you’ll deal with some setbacks. When that happens, you just have to keep going and remind yourself of the bigger picture.

Because if you’re persistent and approach your goals with a clear strategy in mind, you’ll be well on your way to making 2017 the year social media really pays off for your business.