discussion and two replies

Read the article Creating Your Social Media Plan and comment on one or more of the following questions.

• Is a social media plan as important as the author implies? Why or why not?
• As the tools change, do you think these guidelines, written back in 2009, still apply? Why or why not?
• Are all the steps equally important? Why or why not? Is there anything you would add?

In response to your peers, evaluate their posts and add anything you think may alter or enhance their perception of the importance of a social media plan.

Reply 1: Mariah Patterson

I think the author is completely correct that one needs a plan when they’re attempting to use social media marketing for their business. I think that often brands or companies create social media because they think they need to but they aren’t able to keep up. A local restaurant I follow on Instagram could definitely use a plan for their social media marketing. Their photos are often dark and full of noise, their captions aren’t well thought out. I think they could definitely create some great content if they had plan in place. This plan could even just consist of when they want to post as they’re very sporadic about their posting. I think that if they had created a plan and followed through, they could grow their following and brand recognition.

I think that these guidelines still stand true in 2020. One thing that stood out to me was the first point the author brought up about social media handles. It’s so important that businesses are aware that their social media handles and links are cohesive. Cohesive handles and links are important so that consumers are able to find them not only on one platform but all the social media platforms they’re present on. I think they also bring up great points about social media engagement in this article. For brands and businesses, it’s so important that they’re engaging with their audience. From creating a call to action in their posts to interacting with their audience in the comments of the posts they’re making, engaging the audience is very important for brands and businesses. One thing that the author didn’t really touch on was posting consistency and quality of posts. They may have just seen this as an obvious step but I think it still needs a mention. Brands and businesses need to make sure that when they lay out a plan, they’re making sure that consistent posting is part of that plan. In addition, they need to make sure that they’re sharing quality photos on their social media posts. Without quality photos, a consumer is much less likely to actually click on the photo much less follow the brand. Businesses should incorporate social media trends into their plan as well and the plan should be revisited often. A social media trend that is happening right now is using presets on posts. The reason that influencers and brands are doing this is so their feed looks cohesive.

I don’t think that any one step is more important than another. I think that each step is very important and each holds a different significance. For example, the step of securing your handles and links is important so that your audience can find you on multiple platforms. While I find that important, I don’t think that it is any more or less important than interacting with your audience. They’re both very important tasks to complete and ideally a brand does both.

Reply 2: Jenny Melville

Well right off the bat, I wasn’t sure where this article was going and why the author was so harsh. As I continued to read, I could see that she was trying to make a point with each ending line and make her blog different than all the rest..not too sure if I would have kept reading after the first paragraph if this were not for a course discussion. Getting past that, she does outline some good points and steps to a social media plan and I think that we’ve come a long way in the SM world since 2009 but these still hold true.

Is a social media plan as important as the author implies? Why or why not?

A social media plan is as important as she made it out to be, because we’ve all seen the company that doesn’t have a plan and just throws things out there to see if they stick. In 2009, this was far more common than it is now and a lot of business owners did not understand social media, therefore just used it like they would their own personal pages. The companies that understood their audience and the platforms were the ones that came out ahead in the next 5 years and ended up building massive amounts of loyal followers. The plan is important because you know where you want to be and how you want to present your company as well as engage with consumers and track to your goals.