How to Re-Evaluate Your Social Media & Marketing Plans 📈

We’re now into the second month of 2023; how’s it going? Are you sticking to your social media plan?

What has worked, and what needs fixing?

If you’ve found a cadence you can keep up with – great, keep it. If you’re comfortable with it, then consider adding a few more posts!

If you haven’t been keeping up with it and it’s started to feel overwhelming, take a step back. Maybe even decrease the number of posts you originally planned.

Either way, I’m proud of your progress so far. You’ve got this! And it can get better from here.

As with everything, though, there’s always room for improvement. Plus, it’s good to never stop evaluating if something can be done better. There’s never a wrong time to simplify or improve!

In this guide, I want to cover ways you can re-evaluate and even improve your marketing or social media strategy. 

3 Benefits to Re-Evaluating Your Marketing or Social Media Strategy

Before diving too far in, I want to show you the reasons behind re-evaluation. What’s the point? There are benefits to re-evaluating your social media plan or marketing strategy.

Keep Up with the Latest Changes

A major reason you want to re-evaluate your marketing plan, or social media strategy, is that it allows you to keep up with the latest changes within the marketplace. If your marketing plan is still geared toward the market before its changes, you could be missing out big time!

Reach Your Goals Easier

The goals and objectives for your original marketing plan don’t have to change. On the contrary, what you need to do to achieve those goals is what changes! 

Reviewing your marketing strategy may allow you to reach your goals easier now. You’ll have more chances at reaching your goals with routine re-evaluations!

See How Far You’ve Come

When you consistently re-evaluate, you can fluidly track your progress to ensure you’re always on the right path. Plus, seeing how far you’ve come since the beginning feels good! You can also establish if you’re making the impact you want. 

Not making the impact you were expecting? That just means you have an opportunity to make changes to your strategy accordingly.

6 Ways to Re-Evaluate Your Social Media Plan or Marketing Strategy

Let’s dig into the six ways you can re-evaluate your social media plan or marketing strategy without further ado. By the end of this guide, I’m sure you’ll have new ideas in store for your business, product, or service!

1. Re-Assess Goals and Objectives

It’s time to take a good, hard look at your current goals. Ask yourself a few important questions:

Are your objectives clear and measurable? Are they aligned with your overall vision?

Is the measurement system you use to measure your goals effective?

How far is your progress toward your goals? Are you meeting your marketing objectives?

Look at your marketing plan from a third-party perspective. Is your marketing strategy or social media plan in any way confusing or vague?

If someone were to look at your plan, could they understand what your goals are and how you intend to reach them? These questions are especially important if you have staff or stakeholders that need to be in the loop on your strategy.

2. Relevancy is Key

Consistency is key, which rings true for evaluating your strategy just as much as it does everything else. In other words, it’s important to keep the cobwebs off your plan so you can stay relevant! 

Part of staying relevant, particularly in today’s world, is curating a trustworthy, engaging online presence. Digital marketing is a must! It’s the most effective way to gain new consumers while keeping up with the latest tech.

In fact, over 91% of businesses use social media for marketing. With the social media market size worth an estimated $72.2 billion, it makes sense you’d want a piece of the pie!

Social media should be a key player in your marketing plan if you haven't already included it. Create and update your social media accounts. Get people excited about your brand! Start engaging in building word-of-mouth referrals and building a reputation in the online space.

You can make a Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and/or Tik Tok depending on your overall goals. Each has its own diverse audience that could potentially resonate with your company, product, or service.

If you already have a social media strategy, look at what you’ve been doing right and what could improve. Look at your competitors for inspiration. What are they doing that you could do even better?  

3. Refresh Your Brand

Do you feel like your brand’s gone stale? Maybe your marketing plan needs a complete overhaul. And hey, that’s okay – even company giants like McDonald’s, Nike, and Pepsi have refreshed their brands over the years.

If you need a full revamp, just take it one step at a time. Start tailoring your brand messages to stay relevant to your consumers. 

Everyone’s target audience is different, so start by fully defining yours. Take it a step further and define what your brand currently represents.

Not sure how to find your target audience? You’re in luck – I wrote a blog about that, too. Narrow in on your ideal client/customer with my complete guide on finding your target audience.

4. Refine, Refine, Refine

Maybe your marketing plan doesn’t need a full revamp. On the other hand, you may just need to refine it! And a great way to refine is with your audience. 

What do people think about your marketing efforts? How does it make people feel?

Are you appealing to kindness or urgency? What methods are you using to give your target something productive to do?

More importantly, are you keeping your audience’s attention?

According to a 2013 study from Microsoft, humans only have about an 8-second attention span. So you need to grab their attention – fast!

A rule of thumb is to provide your audience with something to feel good about, something to think about, and something to do. Consider whether your content provides one of these three elements.

5. Rely on Customer Feedback

Another way to re-evaluate your marketing plan or social media strategy is to look at what customers say. Just don’t forget to ask them so you can discover the answers! 

Engage with your audience to stimulate client feedback, and you’ll be able to see the holes in your marketing plan.

Relying on consumer responses can help you decide if you need to simply refine your strategy, or refresh it entirely.

6. Remember – Your Marketing Plan is Ever-Changing!

Last but not least, try to stay flexible. Your plan shouldn’t be so rigid that you can’t adapt to changes on the fly! 

Being able to bend with market changes, social media algorithm adaptations, and more will benefit your strategy tremendously.

And, of course, make sure you’re doing what’s best for your business. 

4 Potential Areas You May Still be Struggling

Okay, so you’ve decided that it is time to re-evaluate your marketing strategy. But – maybe you’re not sure where to start. Let’s look at some potential areas even marketing experts may struggle with.

1. Taking/Posting Photos

Photos help customers remember information easier. It’s science! When you read or hear a piece of info, you’ll only remember about 10% of it after 3 days. But, if you add a picture into the mix? You remember up to 65% of the info!

Vision is a big deal for consumers, which is why text posts are a thing of the past. Stick with pictures and videos for the most engagement possible.

Having trouble nailing the right photos? Let’s run through some quick tips so you can stop struggling with this part of your marketing plan!

Learn Your Camera’s Full Capabilities

First, don’t go in blind to your camera’s features. Take some time to find out exactly what your phone’s capable of! There are a variety of modes and features on different phones, so discover which modes are best for you. How does your camera focus? What are your exposure settings?

Take Multiple Shots

One picture is never enough to truly capture the full story. Take as many shots as you can! You can select the best out of the bunch by capturing multiple pictures. It’s particularly helpful if you have a moving subject or you’re after the perfect angle.

Consider a Tripod

Most mobile tripods are flexible and aren’t much bigger than your phone. Take one with you for a hands-free experience! Likewise, tripods will help you get a crystal-clear image. A tripod is especially handy if you’re known to have shaky hands. It just might be what you need to tackle those photos easily!

Don’t Do It Alone

Just because you’re gathering content doesn’t mean you have to do it all on your own. On the contrary, get your team involved. Gather content with a shared album so you can each take on a part of the burden.

Reserve Time for Capturing and Scheduling Posts!

Lastly, make sure you’re giving yourself enough time to do it all. Set time aside throughout the week or month to take photos, edit them, and schedule posts. I can’t recommend scheduling posts enough. 

Overall, it’ll save you countless hours of time. Plus, it can be a major stress point keeping to a real-time schedule of taking and posting pictures. Save yourself the hassle and schedule posts out well in advance. I recommend blocking out 1 to 2 hours each week for the best results.

2. Creating Videos

According to Wyzowl’s video marketing statistics 2022 report, 91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool nowadays. A whopping 96% value video as an “important part” of their marketing plan.

And apps like CapCut and other programs for videos on your phone make it easier than ever to keep your video content fresh. Gathering video should become a part of that 1 to 2 hours a week you block out for collecting content and scheduling posts.

3. Caption Writing

When it comes to scheduling posts, there’s more than just gathering photo and video content. A post isn’t extraordinary without the right caption to back it up! It makes sense, then, that overcoming writer’s block for social media is a key part of any marketing strategy.

Fortunately, I’ve got some tips to make your caption writing smoother and easier. These rules apply to all content writing but are especially helpful for captions.

Write Down or Voice Memo Your Ideas

There’s no telling whenever inspiration will strike. But when it does, make sure to take advantage! Keep your phone handy so you can write down your idea in your Notes app or do a quick voice memo. Then, you’ll have a list ready for when it’s time to schedule your posts!

Figure Out What People Want to Hear

Do you know what your audience loves? What gets them to engage in posts the fastest? How can you cultivate captions that appeal to your target market? Let these questions stew in the back of your mind as you cultivate flawless captions for your readers.

Share Valuable Information

Whether you’re sharing fun facts, tips and tricks, advice, or a simple story, give your audience something of value. Whatever it is, make sure it resonates with your ideal client or customer.

Have a Call to Action

Last but certainly not least, your call to action is the most crucial piece of your caption. Whether that’s to contact you, engage in the post in some way, click on a link, or something else altogether, keep it tangible for your client. 

Getting your readers to take some form of action will also help establish yourself in their minds. Add to your online presence and build your customer rapport the right way with a solid call to action on every post.

4. Idea Generation

Generating ideas regularly can be exhausting – I get it. And sometimes, idea generation just doesn’t come naturally. Fortunately, there are still ways to get inspiration.

Spend some time scrolling through platforms. Set aside time to consume industry information on a routine basis. Whether that’s once a week or every day, absorbing that knowledge will help you generate ideas in rapid-fire over time.

See what others are saying. That includes your competitors, but can also include your followers and others within your industry. 

Ask your followers what they want to see. By communicating with your audience regularly, you also increase your engagement, so it’s a win-win.

Allow some of your staff or your employees to help brainstorm with you. When you brainstorm with the team, you’re getting a whole collective to generate ideas. That’s thinking smarter, not harder.

Take advantage of free tools like topic, keyword, and content generators. Utilize artificial intelligence to make the most of your marketing strategy without sacrificing quality.

Finally, when all else fails, take a step back and take a dang break. Great ideas often take time – don’t beat yourself up for not generating ideas fast enough or not getting your plan right the first time. With practice, determination, and time, I know you can cultivate something beautiful.

Wrapping Up

Re-evaluating your marketing strategy or social media plan doesn’t have to be a chore. On the contrary, it can be something you look forward to doing when you re-evaluate a consistent routine. 

I hope this guide helps you build ways to re-strategize and think outside the box on your next social media plan. When you realize the benefits, you’ll understand just how vital rethinking your strategy can be.

And, if you still want help developing these plans and strategies, establish a relationship with a Social Media Marketing Agency!