"Social Media for Strategic Communication" Ch. 6

Every social media professional has to provide sustainable evidence on how an investment is worthwhile from a communication and business standpoint. Having a strategic plan is the creative and systematic approach of taking an idea from research into reality. One essential part of a social media strategic plan is the key audience members. Most audiences want to be addressed in a way that is personal and not promotional. Understanding audience characteristics and what motivates them on social media platforms are important factors. Another important thing to consider is how audiences' use each platform and what are they using them for. 

When it comes to your strategic plan there are two types of audiences that will be outlined; primary and secondary audience. Primary audiences are those you want to target directly and have a meaningful connection to the client. An example of this would be if a video game company wants to start a social media campaign for a new game they are releasing their primary audience would be loyal fans of the gaming company. Secondary audiences are supportive and potentially viewed as influencers by the primary audience members. This example would be if those loyal fans had gamer friends who were also interested in the new game being released and interested in purchasing. 

You will want to address both the primary and secondary audiences' needs. Once you have done so you will have the information necessary as a social media professional to create a strategic plan others will accept, understand and appreciate.