Strategic Planning: SWOT Analysis
Strategic planning is very important when it comes to social media. First off, some people may be wondering what a strategic plan even is. A strategic plan is a systematic, thorough, and aligned document that outlines the plan from start to finish and there are many steps and components of a strategic plan. Some of the main components are background information, situational analysis, social media communication audit, competitive analysis, SWOT analysis, goals, objectives, strategies, tactics, evaluation, calendar, budget, and future steps and recommendations.
Personally, I wanted to learn more about what the SWOT analysis was, so that was what I looked more into. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, so SWOT Analysis is a technique for assessing the four aspects of a business.
Strengths are things that an organization does well, or something that sets the particular business apart from competitors. Strengths are an integral part of an organization.
Weaknesses are things that the organization can improve on.
Opportunities are chances for something positive to happen. They don’t always have to be game changers, they can be small advantages that can increase the organizations competitiveness.
Threats include anything that can negatively affect a business from the outside. It is important to anticipate threats and to take action against them. You should always take what your competitors are doing into consideration and whether or not you should be doing anything to change your organization.
To use a SWOT Analysis, you need to look at all four aspects and come up with a list of potential actions to take. You should build on strengths, make weaker areas better, steer away from any threats, and use every opportunity.
