8 Step Social Media Strategy [Infographic]

Although social media continues to thread its way into the fibre of more and more organizations, my experience is that many small to mid-sized companies are still lagging behind when it comes to the development and implementation of their social media strategies.

A recent study by the Altimeter Group might suggest otherwise, stating that “most companies feel they have fairly coherent social strategies”, but given the advanced nature of the sample i.e. social strategists, large organizations, etc. my sense is that the findings may not represent the experiences of the majority of companies that are using social media.

Aside: I tried to find some research to support my theory and came across a Mashable post referencing “new research finds that 72% of businesses that use social media do not have a clear set of goals or a clear strategy for their social media platforms”. Sadly, there was no link to the original study so the jury is still out.

If you fall into the group that could benefit from some social media strategy guidance check out these great SME posts:

• THE LANDSCAPING OF SOCIAL MEDIA: TACTICS VS. STRATEGY
• SOUTHWEST AIRLINES AND SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY: 5 LESSONS FOR MARKETERS
• SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY LEARNING CURVE AND FRAMEWORK
• SOCIAL STRATEGY ROADMAP INFOGRAPHIC
• SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY IN FOUR STEPS

As far as this infographic – It was inspired by Jay Baer’s “tool-agnostic” take on how to develop a social media strategy.

What are your thoughts about this strategic approach? Does your organization have a social media strategy in place? If so, how does it differ from the one represented in this infographic? The comments are yours.

Icon credit:  Sail Boat designed by Adam Zubin from The Noun Project