With unprecedented ease, social media has bridged the gap between consumers and businesses. Companies are taking advantage of the friendly atmospheres on popular platforms to interact casually with customers and promote their products and services at the same time. Though these interactions can look effortless from the outside, the businesses that manage their social media presences well are constantly strategizing and planning.

Developing a smart social media marketing strategy will help you and your team get to the same place. Below are four ways to make your business’s social media profiles work for you through thorough planning, strategic content creation, and community development.

1.   Consider Your Needs & Resources

The best way to ensure that your company gets the most out of its marketing efforts is to plan ahead! Before you or your marketing team start making posts on any accounts, it is wise to ask yourself a few questions and develop a social media marketing strategy that suits your needs and resources.

What is your budget?

While social media marketing can be really cost-effective compared to other methods, you will still need to allocate appropriate funds to keep your marketing and creative teams supported.

Who is your audience?

As always, you will want to identify your target audience to determine the best ways to reach and attract your customers. Before you make any accounts, you may need to do a bit of research into the demographics and trends of each social platform to decide where your target audience spends the most time and prioritize those platforms.

What are your goals?

While the end goal of any marketing plan is to increase sales and promote your business, you may have some other goals to keep in mind. For example, new businesses creating an online presence for the first time may be more concerned with creating a recognizable brand voice than a more established business. Knowing what you want will help you make the most efficient choices.

[Read more: Tumblr Safe Mode Disabling Tricks]

2.   Choose the Right Platforms

After determining your budget, your audience, and your goals, you should think about which platforms would best suit your needs. While some businesses will set up accounts across every available platform for the broadest reach, you may find that it fits your business (and your budget) better to spend more time and energy on some platforms than others.

Some factors to consider are each platform’s respective demographic breakdowns and formats. For example, a business with a young target audience may have better success reaching and communicating with them through Instagram or Tik Tok than Facebook.

Further, products and services that benefit less from photo or video showcasing might be easier to promote on text-based platforms. If your business caters to a very specific market, seek out specialized forums and communities related to your field. Consider investing in a service plan with Newshosting to post in relevant newsgroups and get your company’s name out to the most interested individuals.

[Read more: What is Silent Marketing?]

3.   Utilize Influencer Marketing

Now that you have figured out which platforms will best serve your business’s goals, you have to decide what you will do with them. Outside of general page management and posts from your in-house team, you may want to look into influencer marketing to further promote and endorse your business.

Influencers can produce content that introduces millions of viewers to your business’s products and services. Almost like getting a tip from a friend, influencer endorsements can feel more organic and reliable to customers than regular promotions do. Many people go to these creators to get recommendations, reviews, and demos of products before purchasing, making their posts and videos some of the most influential content online.

Influencer marketing can also help you boost or maintain your desired brand image. Taking advantage of potential partnerships with online personalities that fit your brand’s vibe will help you reach your target audience and give them a better idea of what your company stands for.

4.   Create a Community

After putting your message out there with posts and partnerships, let the customers respond! Don’t just create a page or profile for your business on social media—create a community where customers can engage with you and each other. Every social media platform is designed to be interactive and businesses should take advantage of that function. Encourage your team to continue the conversation in the comments below your content, share customer posts, and come up with creative ways to get followers to interact with your page.

Rather than rely solely on analytics to determine how your posts are doing and who you’re reaching, create an environment where customers and followers feel that they can share their experiences and have their opinions heard. Have your team reach out to customers who post about their purchases and follow up with them. When customers see that businesses are interested in their feedback, they are much more likely to recommend that business to a friend or make another purchase themselves.

With all of these tips in mind, you can develop a social media marketing strategy that serves your business’s unique needs, makes use of invaluable social media resources, and connects you with your customers more efficiently than ever before.