Planning is key in social media marketing. While spontaneous/random posting is not a bad thing, you can achieve better results with a more thoughtful approach. The first and most important task when setting up a social media campaign is to choose a specific goal. Who do you want to see and interact with your posts, and what response do you want from them? The answer to these questions will determine not only the content of your posts, but also their location, timing, and other logistical considerations.

To start, you must break down your sales data to determine which demographics you can count on to produce the bulk of your sales and which less-lucrative ones have potential to grow; these two types of groups make the most effective marketing targets in terms of final payoff, and they will serve as the basis for your customer persona (a profile of your ideal customer and their behaviours).

With that information in hand, you now know what you need to focus on to get the outcome you wanted. For example, a good way to create loyal customers in your area is to highlight your company’s involvement in the local community, especially if you do so in ways that are relevant to your target persona’s interests (think school supply drives for families or seniors’ community says for the elderly). No single angle is universally applicable, but every scenario has an approach that will produce markedly better results than others.

Finally, an executable action plan can be created, including both content creation and scheduling. Social media posts can be as simple as inviting people to drop by your website, as complex as a clever multi-minute commercial video, or anything in between. Most businesses need a little bit of everything in order to maximize engagement and keep viewers from tuning out due to too much repetition.

Scheduling is similarly tricky. Infrequent posting gives people the impression that you lack dedication and may cause them to forget that your business exists, but too many may become obtrusive or irritating; posting at a time when no one is online will cause your posts to get lost, but posting when there are too many things competing for your viewers’ attention won’t work either. Once you have a handle on all of these challenges, your social media campaign will be ready to begin.