A Social Media Plan for Each Stage of the Buyer's Journey

Today, there are more and more people who use social networks. In AIB Spain's Annual Study of Social Networks 2019, it establishes that in Spain this number amounts to 85% of the population and concludes that 55% of users look for information about products or services on social networks before making a purchase (source). 

Taking into account this data, it is evident that all brands need to be present on social media and have a real social media strategy. Therefore, from mbudo, we want to facilitate this task by offering you a series of tips for creating a social media plan for each stage of the Buyer's Journey.

From the point of view of Inbound Marketing, the first thing you should keep in mind is what stage of the Buyer's Journey your visitors are at. As you may know, the Inbound Marketing methodology is divided into four stages:

Source: HubSpot

Taking into account the above, we will detail what your network actions should be at each stage:

1. Attract

According to HubSpot, 85% of your Buyer Personas are at this stage so you should pay special attention to the content you publish. For this, the most important thing is to analyze what your prospects look for on the net? What are their needs?

At this stage, it is advisable to publish content that goes far beyond the commercial, beyond the sales pitch. You want to be able to answer the two questions mentioned (what are they looking for and what are their needs), which will provide you with a series of content that can attract the attention of your prospects. Then, it's time to test which posts report the best feedback.

In the "attract" stage, you should also analyze which channels your prospects are using the most. According to HubSpot the most used platforms in Inbound Marketing are Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter; however, there are others such as Instagram and Whatsapp that you can experiment with, since they are in full boom.

2. Convert

Once you have gotten the attention of your Buyer Personas, it is time to convert. To do this, you must add Call-to-Actions (CTAs) to your posts through a banner with a link that leads to a relevant Landing Page. A Landing Page is where you can ask for personal information in exchange for premium content (for example, an ebook or a subscription to your newsletter). Remember that in a good Inbound Marketing strategy the amount of data you request must be proportional to the quality of the content you offer.

The top recommended channels to convert are LinkedIn and Twitter.

3. Close

At this stage of the Buyer's Journey, two things can happen:

• You've done an excellent job leading the prospect through the Marketing funnel, your Sales team takes over and you close the sales contract. The prospect has become a customer.
• You aren't able to close the sale. This happens in a lot of cases, and it doesn't always reflect misguided content. It also has to do with Marketing and Sales alignment. 

If you're trying to figure out why you aren't converting leads into customers, our advice is to continue monitoring your publications and the interactions that occur. It is extremely important to identify what responses prospects are looking for. For this, the most appropriate social network is LinkedIn, since you can find a lot of information about prospects' behaviors in the professional field.

4. Delight

Many times we make the mistake of thinking that once the sale is made, everything is done. Remember that the basic principle of Inbound Marketing is the relationship of trust between seller and customer. If we want our clients to continue trusting us for future purchases or to recommend us to their closest contacts, it is essential to continue offering quality content, relevant content, and special promotions or loyalty discounts.

For the "delight" stage, we recommend that you use Email Marketing, Facebook or Instagram. Always keep in mind that customer recommendations on social media are extremely valuable. What your clients say about your brand online can make or break your business.

We hope that our tips for creating a social media plan for each stage of the Buyer's Journey will help you guide your leads through the Inbound Marketing funnel. We also recommend that you take a look at the top social media marketing trends for 2020. If you need more information, do not hesitate to contact us, we would be happy to help you improve your Inbound Marketing strategy.