Ian Leaf on the Need to Tailor Social Media Strategies According to Specific Business Goals

Ian Leaf has developed an overarching philosophy for the utilization of social media as it pertains to all aspects of business operations. Throughout each stage of development, Leaf was somewhat surprised to see how frequently businesses across all industries had no discernible social media strategy in place. Of course, these businesses had a social media presence, but it became increasingly clear that a surprisingly large number of businesses were not properly leveraging their social media presence due to the lack of a specifically individualized strategy.

In order to maximize the impact of a social media strategy, businesses must first optimize their approach to suit their specific business goals. According to Ian Leaf, this can be accomplished by focusing on three simple strategies, including:

• Targeting the ideal platforms and building an approach based on prospective customer expectations

• Aiming for specific and measurable social media goals

• Developing a consistent approach to social media use

Selecting the Ideal Platform

Attempting to establish a presence on every social media platform is perhaps the most common mistake made by businesses with regard to their approach to social media use. It is essential that businesses take note of and understand all the unique characteristics of each platform before trying to establish a presence. This will ensure the selected platform will enable the company to reach the largest percentage of the customers within their target market while allowing the business to gain an understanding of what users of each platform expect out of the company.

Certain platforms come with different expectations regarding the speed with which users communicate with one another, so it is especially critical that companies using a specific social media platform are able to meet user expectations at all times. With a haphazard approach to social media, companies risk alienating the very customers they are trying to engage.

Setting Appropriate Goals

When using social media, companies have to delineate a specific purpose and outline goals based on that purpose. There are countless ways in which these goals can be measured, as the success of each platform can be determined by any number of available metrics. This may be something as simple as creating another place in which customer service issues can be raised and resolved, or it can be based on generating leads and enhancing referral traffic.

Social Media Consistency

Companies should work to develop a consistent approach to social media use that prioritizes customer engagement above all else. Regardless of the platform, social media users have certain expectations regarding the content they encounter while using social media. When a company fails to be consistent and does not create engaging content for its followers, the most likely outcome is highly unlikely to align with the outcome being sought. This is why companies have to be careful and must tailor their approach based on their specific business goals.