If social media is something you haven't used before for business purposes then starting with it from square one might feel both overwhelming as well as thrilling. But in your head you should know what to do and why. Read this cohesive step-by-step blueprint to get started with your social media strategy.

1. Choose your social networks

Social media can be of different types but homogeneous too. But each social media network is unique in its own way. All the networks have their own style, own audience and own practices. You must choose the social media platform that suits your social media goal the best. You are not required to be on all social media platforms, just be on the ones that matter to you and your audience. While figuring out which social media site is more engaging you must find out where do your potential customers hang out more.

2. Fill out your profiles completely

One of your important concerns should be to visit each of your social media profiles and make sure that everything into the profile such as profile photo, cover photo, bio are all upto date and complete. A complete profile will make an impression. A completed profile shows professionalism, cohesive branding, and a signal to visitors that you’re serious about engaging. Also audience should be able to find familiarity between different social media pages of your company.

3. Pick your posting strategy

For someone dealing with social media what to post, how often to post and when to post is a big question. But the answer for this is it depends. For every other company there's a different social media strategy. What may work for you may not work for another businessman and what may work for him may not work for you. But we'd still give you a general idea as to what can fetch in attention. Fir example videos are ideal for engagement. Whichever social media platform you may be using you'll see a plethora of videos. Video posts are likely to get more likes, views and shares. If people respond to your posts more then you can choose to post more and vice versa.

4. Analyze and test

The more you post and get used to social media you'll get to know which content, timing, and frequency is right for you. It’s best to get a social media analytics tool. Most major social networks will have basic analytics built into the site. It’s just a little easier to seek and find this information from an all-encompassing dashboard. These tools show you a breakdown of how each post performed in the important areas of views, clicks, shares, likes, and comments.

5. Automate and engage

You must follow up with your audiences, to stay on top of updates, since this is the best way to engage with your audiences. You can begin with automating posting of your social media content. Create all the content that you want to post all at once and then place everything into a queue to be sent out according to whatever schedule you choose. This way you'll consistently share, day after day. Automation isn't the end of your social media strategy. You must engage with your customers too. When people connect with you, you must connect back. Set a particular time of the day to carry out these conversations. These are conversations with potential customers, references, friends, and colleagues. They’re too important to ignore.

These are some of the excellent social media strategies you could start using to create a social media marketing plan which would benefit you in the long run.