Use social media in a targeted way

Introducing

But who am I? My name is Ferdi Soetekouw and since the beginning of 2021 I have been working on a freelance basis for USC Europa. With my own company I help companies, organizations and entrepreneurs get more out of social media. From developing social media strategies and executing them to giving social media training and coaching sessions to employees. Content is an indispensable part of social media. That’s why I’m also involved in developing and executing content strategies.

Social media at USC

At USC I am responsible for developing the social media and content strategy and implementing it. In short, this means that together with the now established content team, I set out the lines when it comes to the targeted use of social media and the creation, creation and placement of content on USC’s social media channels. Among other things, I ensure that the right social media goals are determined and achieved, the right channels are used and relevant content is placed on the channels. Content that usc’s audience – you – is waiting for. So don’t shoot with hail, but the very deliberate and targeted use of social media.

In the near future I will regularly share my experiences, tips and tricks with you in this newsletter, but of course also on the website and social media channels (LinkedIn and Facebook) of USC. Information that you too can benefit from for your own company. In this first article I give you one important advice for if you want to make a good start with social media for your company.

Determine your business goal(s)

What do you want to achieve with social media for your company? Who do you want to reach? How are you going to do this? And on which platforms? What’s your core message? Important questions that you will have to answer if you want to make optimal use of social media and achieve results with it. If you don’t do this, it’s going to keep shooting hail. Social media without strategy is nothing more than loose sand.

One of the first things you do when determining a social media strategy for your company is to determine your goal(s). So you think about what you want to achieve with social media in the long term (at least 1 year).

A goal like ‘We want to rent out an x number of storage containers in the coming year’ is not the goal I am talking about. Of course, every commercial company wants to make a profit and grow. Or at least ensure continuity. This continuity and/or growth is then the ultimate (strategic) goal, as can also be seen in the model below. But what business(s) purpose(s) are needed to achieve this higher goal?

Source: Achieving business goals with social media | Mr. Frijlink & W. Verdoold

There are quite a few business goals that you can achieve with the use of social media. For USC, we determined at the beginning of this year that the business goals ‘Increase brand awareness’, ‘Generate leads’ and ‘Retain customers’ are the goals we will focus on in the coming year. It is also wise – especially if you don’t have a large social media team at your disposal – to set a maximum of 3 goals. Of course, generating leads is something every company wants, so this goal will certainly not be missing from your approach. Other goals that might be of interest to your company: recruiting staff, increasing market insight, engaging employees or improving customer service.

What about that?

All right, you’ve set your goal(s). But then what? How are you going to achieve these goals with the use of social media? In other words: what activities should you perform on your social media channels? And what channels are those? And who do you want to reach there? What content is your audience waiting for? Follow-up questions that we now deal with on a daily basis at USC. And what I want to take you into in the coming period by sharing experiences, tips and tricks.

So keep an eye on this newsletter and of course also our socials!

Our socials

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Ferdi Sutekouw