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Guide to Building a Social Media Marketing Plan in 2022

Xi Digital Published on 18 Nov

Social media marketing is valuable to businesses looking to compete online. This avenue allows businesses to improve brand awareness, generate sales, and stay connected with their customer base. Social media marketing also enhances search engine optimization and serves as a platform to run ads and boost PPC marketing results. If you’re looking to revamp your social media marketing plan in 2022, independently or with the help of a digital marketing agency in Toronto, here’s what you can do to boost your results. 

Step 1: Identify Opportunities 

social media marketing agencyThere are so many social media platforms that are constantly evolving and so many more to come. Before creating your social marketing plan, assess the platforms available to you: Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Youtube, Twitter, and more, specifically their reach, functionality, and user demographics. 

To develop a successful digital marketing plan, you must first identify relevant opportunities. If you’re not familiar with the state of social media marketing, you can work alongside a digital marketing agency for greater insight. 

During this initial step, you should review all the available platforms and the functionalities that could be beneficial to your business. With 79.6 million projected users in 2022, Tik Tok is expected to be the biggest social media platform. However, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, Snapchat, and Pinterest will still remain valuable social media marketing channels. 

To leverage the right platforms and build the right strategy, you must also understand the potential value of each channel based on its audience, reach, and functionality. The role of social media in digital marketing is constantly changing, so it’s essential to stay up to date with the evolution of social media. Initially, social media platforms were used by digital marketing agencies as a place to generate brand awareness. Then, it became a way to funnel leads to independent e-commerce websites. Now further innovation allows businesses to convert sales directly on a social media platform. 

By evaluating each network, you can better identify how much opportunity each platform offers.

Tik Tok: Some sources project that the number of active TikTok users in 2022 will surpass 1 billion, showing faster growth than Facebook. Currently, users are more or less evenly split between males and females. And while the platform is popular among younger users (63% 29 years old and younger), 34% of global users range between 30 to 64 years old.

Facebook: Despite the other social media platforms that continue to show, Facebook is still a giant in the online world. With 1.79 billion daily visits, Facebook is the third most popular website by visits behind Google and Youtube. A little more than half of all Facebook users are male, and the largest cohort users are 25-34 years old, although users on the app range from an average of 13 years old to 65 and older. Businesses can run sponsored ads on Facebook, build business pages, and join local community groups to build their brand digitally. 

Instagram: Now a subsidiary of Facebook, Instagram is still the most popular video and photo sharing application. In 2022, the platform is expected to increase by approximately 60 million users and continue to grow in the coming years. Instagram is used across all adult age groups, most popularly by those 18 to 29 years old, followed by 30 to 49-year-olds. The functionality of Instagram is ever changing and expanding, from stories to interactive engagement, original photo & video sharing. Combined with online shopping, Instagram offers many digital marketing avenues. 

Youtube: Youtube is one of the most consistently popular online platforms for sharing and engaging with content, used by millions for a wide range of purposes. In 2022, there are expected to be 210 million active users. Youtube is a platform where influencers, ads, organic, and branded video content can all be shared in one place. What’s shared on Youtube makes its way to relevant search engine queries, deeming it an effective digital marketing tool for search engine optimization and PPC marketing, as well as social media marketing. 

Twitter: Twitter is somewhat of a smaller platform than Facebook and Instagram, but it boasts a loyal following. With about 69.3 million users active at the start of 2021 and most popular among users 25 to 49 years old. The micro-blogging platform provides a channel for businesses to build their brand, post photos and videos, connect with customers, and share ads. 

Snapchat: The creator of the social media story, Snapchat was launched for impromptu, real-time, video sharing. Now, Snapchat is a place where businesses can share mini-video series and paid ads based on location and user interests. There is an average of 530 million active users, most of whom are female. The app is one of the most popular social media platforms among young people from 12-17 years old, but it’s still used by some older cohorts, making it an opportune place for social media marketing.

 Step 2: Set Goals 

Success is not possible without goals and benchmarks. This goes for all digital marketing services. Before creating posts, work with your digital marketing agency to set meaningful, attainable goals that make sense for your business. Social media marketing goals typically focus on increasing followers, reach, engagement, shares, leads, and sales. 

While it’s a good idea to set goals yearly, it’s more manageable and realistic to break down your digital marketing goals into quantifiable, measurable, quarterly goals. Every social media marketing plan should mention the social media channels used (Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, etc.), the number of posts per week or per month, hashtag strategies, post styles, and engagement strategies. 

If you want advanced industry insights, refined hashtag strategies, or comprehensive consumer profiles to ensure resonance with your ideal customer, reach out to a local digital marketing agency with experience developing similar campaigns. 

Step 3: Track and Measure Progress

digital marketing agencyWithout the ability to track or measure the progress of your digital marketing efforts, goals become obsolete. There are a variety of tools that can be used to monitor the performance of your social media marketing campaigns, including in-platform analytics like Facebook Business Suite or Google Analytics. There are also 3rd party software subscription tools that you can use to review online performance at a high level or drill down to inspect more meticulously. Any data must come with analysis, so if you’re looking to associate meaning with metrics and key performance indicators, a professional digital marketing team can be of value to highlight what areas of your plan are delivering and which need a second look.

There are many key performance indicators (KPIs) to look at on social media. Depending on your unique goals, some metrics will matter more than others. 

  • Impressions/Reach
  • Clicks
  • Brand Mentions 
  • Shares 
  • Saves
  • Follows
  • Profile Visits 
  • Likes 
  • Comments
  • Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Step 3: Revise Your Plan 

Beyond social media marketing, online marketing strategies should be flexible whether you’re working with an in-house marketing team or a digital marketing agency. As you track results, you may find that you’re not progressing towards a benchmark as efficiently as you would like, or you may notice that you have surpassed your quarterly goals. Since social media is constantly evolving, there could also be new functionalities that present themselves. A rigid plan prevents marketers from adjusting goals and benchmarks to account for new opportunities, limiting online growth potential.

What to Expect in 2022

It’s impossible to say certainly what will occur in the world of social media marketing next year, but there are some clear trends to monitor that will improve online performance. In 2022, businesses engaging in digital marketing should integrate video marketing, influencer marketing, and social commerce into their social media marketing plan. Additionally, brands in 2022 should fortify their online marketing efforts with additional digital marketing services such as search engine optimization and PPC marketing to bolster online presence and sales. 

Working with A Proven Digital Marketing Agency in the Greater Toronto Area

If 2022 is the year you plan to leverage the powers of digital marketing for your business, call Xi Digital. Our team of digital marketers is equipped with years of experience in search engine optimization, custom website design, PPC marketing, and more across multiple industries, from medical practice marketing to home services. 

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