It’s January. That means your marketing budget is (hopefully) refreshed, and you are ready to start 2014 with a new ferocity!

I’d like to encourage you to take the first few weeks of January to make a plan for the year!

2. A Social Media Plan

Social Media works best when you apply STRATEGY.

Take some time to plan out your posts for 2014. The good news is – you can schedule all of your work on facebook – and if you want to use twitter – you can use a program like Hootsuite or Tweetdeck or Buffer to schedule your posts out in advance.

But before you start scheduling – take some time brainstorm.

Instagram has some viral tags that you can use for inspiration:

#selfiesunday
#mancrushmonday
#transformationtuesday
#womancrushwednesday
#throwbackthursday
#flashbackfriday

You can make your own tags – and then plan posts around your themes.
Good News: You don’t have to post the same things each week – but this could give you a starting place to come up with ideas.

Don’t let your plan get in the way of the natural organic stuff that happens on a day to day basis.
ie – just because you don’t have it scheduled, doesn’t mean you can’t post a picture with your customer who stopped by the shop in a rabbit costume….

Think about your budget for promoting posts! It may be worth throwing a few dollars in facebook ads to help your campaign garner a little extra support

Don’t forget events! It’s important to setup a facebook event to promote 3D (real life) events that will allow you to connect to your clients.

We could probably give you tips all day – but for now – let’s just do SOMETHING. Make a plan – and then make it happen!

Remember – failure to plan is planning to fail!