Social media is in every part of our lives in today’s age. It’s how we share information, obtain information, and even market ourselves. When you have a brand or business to market, it’s important to understand what a social strategy is and how to implement it in order to have the best possible outcome—regardless of whether you’re trying to build your digital presence or increase your revenue. Having social media accounts and posting on them isn’t all there is to social media marketing, though. You need a social strategy, a purposeful and strategic plan on how you’re going to utilize these tools and increase your brand or business’s success.

First, a social strategy is a combination of puzzle pieces that fit together to help solidify your brand and enhance your digital presence. Think of social strategy as a map or blueprint for everything you’re going to do with social media. Not sure what I mean? Let me break down the puzzle piece by piece.

Content
The most important part of your social strategy is the content you’ll be posting. Before deciding on content, you should set some goals on what you’d like to achieve or accomplish with your social media accounts because this goal will help you determine what content to post. If you want to grow your presence, you may want more content that is geared towards interaction with your audience and prompts engagement. If your goal is to increase sales or revenue, you may want to put some CTAs in your content or promote special discounts for your followers.

No matter what your goals are, you should always ensure your content is varied. Nobody likes seeing the same content over and over again—it feels “spammy” and people may tune out your messages or even unfollow your page. Another tip is that nobody likes seeing “buy our products” over and over again. If your ultimate goal is to increase sales and revenue, you should still vary your content and ensure that it isn’t solely about products. It’s been shown that people crave content with substance on social media. Content that is authentic and derails from the hard-sale traditional marketing strategy garners higher engagement and creates a better relationship between your social media accounts and your followers.

It’s also possible to post content without creating it. Sharing and reposting content from other accounts or sources is a great way to add variety to your content while simultaneously creating networking relationships with other social media accounts in your industry. Heed our warning, though, use the Repost app sparingly. More often than not, people follow your account because they like your content!

Timing
Timing is an essential piece of your social media strategy, but luckily enough it’s easy to figure out! Posting on social media is a science and there are times when you should and shouldn’t post. For example, it’s common sense that if you’re business or brand is based in the U.S., you’re not going to want to be posting content at 5 a.m. EST. Make sure you post strategically at high-traffic times of the day to boost your content’s visibility. There’s an abundance of resources that can help you determine a universal time that’s suitable for posting content, but even business Instagram profiles and Facebook pages allow you to access “insights” into your account. These insights provide you with when your followers are most active and when they see your content the most.

You should always be tuned in to the world around you while managing your social media. There can be things occurring in real-time that need to be addressed or that may require you to alter your scheduled messaging. It’s important to acknowledge world events, disasters, social causes, and the like to show your followers what your brand/business cares about and to show them you’re not just a lifeless robot shouting into the void of social media. (P.S. — Check out my blog on COVID-19 and its impact on social media messaging here for more info and tips).

Audience
This may seem like a no brainer, but it’s important to know who the main audience is for your brand or business and make sure your accounts are accessible to this demographic. There is plenty of data out there on platforms and their average demographics, but I can give you a quick summary. Facebook is arguably the biggest social media platform and it is popular with adults ages 25-65. While millennials, young adults, and even teenagers are all on Facebook, it has become less popular with the younger generations. Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, are the platforms that dominate the younger generation, primarily the age range of 13-25. Youtube and Twitter audiences are more varied in age due to the content and communities available, but both lean towards males regarding gender demographics. Before you make your social media accounts, analyze your audience and determine where they are because that’s where you should be, too.

Platforms
While audience does play a big part in determining what social media platforms you should use, it’s not the only factor. The type of content you’re producing is also important to consider when choosing which platforms to use to develop and grow your social presence. Youtube and Tiktok are video-only platforms, whereas Twitter and Facebook are more varied with the content, ranging from text posts to videos and even just photos. Instagram relies heavily on imagery and livestreams and does not support link posting. Narrow your platforms down by being specific and strategic with your content.

Here’s a helpful tip: it’s ok to expand your reach and try all of the platforms out. In fact, it might be a good idea to try out a variety of social media platforms for the first few weeks or even months while you’re still developing your social presence. After that trial period, you should determine which platforms are the most successful and continue channeling more energy into them and growing them out more. Let’s put it this way: would you rather be a jack of all trades or be a master of one? Sometimes it’s more beneficial to concentrate on one platform and build out your audience there if it has momentum and shows potential or promise.

Reach
Every brand or business wants to see growth. Nobody wants to remain stagnant—it goes against the entire point of promoting yourself. When it comes to social strategy, knowing how to reach people and grow your social media accounts is essential for success. The more people you reach, the higher your impressions are and the more likely it is people will 1) share your content, and 2) engage or interact with your content. Some social media companies, like Facebook & Instagram, even have algorithms that put content with more impressions and engagement higher on your timeline or newsfeed.

In order to expand your reach, there are a few options you can incorporate into your social strategy. The first option (which is easy and yields great results) is by using hashtags in your posts. People can look up or follow hashtags on a variety of social media platforms. Using hashtags makes your posts visible to people who don’t follow you and wouldn’t otherwise see your content. In addition to increased impressions, a solid hashtag system could result in higher engagement and more followers. The second option is networking. This is a lot like how LinkedIn is a networking site for professionals—you can network within your industry on social media as well. You should follow other businesses or brands that are similar to yours, but do not pose a threat as a competitor. For instance, if you are a clothing boutique located in New Jersey, you should follow and interact with other social media accounts that are clothing boutiques or fashion-oriented on the West Coast, like in California. Follow them, like their posts, and even comment—chances are they’ll return the favor and you will boost your reach.

There’s also the option of promoting your posts. This is common on Instagram and Facebook, and similar features are available on Pinterest, Snapchat, and other apps. While this is a form of social media marketing and it does cost money, you expand your reach beyond that of your followers. If you have a big event, a big sale, or other important news you want to share as far and wide as possible, a boosted post or promoted post may be the way to go.

Influencers are the newest way to broaden your reach and make sure your messages are delivered outside of your following. Influencers are every-day people with large social media followings. The data shows that 8 in 10 people trust influencer marketing, and 9 in 10 marketers say they believe it has benefitted their social strategy. If you’re new to influencer marketing, start small! Look through your existing following for some micro-influencers (those with anywhere between 1,000 and 10,000 followers).

Branding
Branding is more than just the tangible samples you produce or the logo on your packaging. Branding is just as important to your social strategy, but it takes a different form on the digisphere. In social media, branding is the way you present yourself online—everything from the way your Instagram feed appears to the word choices of your captions or bio is part of your branding. It’s important to develop a social brand presence that is similar to your existing one. Make sure your voice is consistent, your content is branded, and your company’s spirit shines through.

A side note for all the social media novices out there, it’s rather easy to be “canceled” in today’s world of social media. An important part of your branding is making sure your beliefs and views are clearly expressed to your followers and that you back them up by spreading awareness or sharing content. You don’t have to jump on the trending hashtag for every cause or share every infographic you come across, but make sure you know some causes, messages, or public figures you’d like to align your brand with. And on the other hand, maybe jot down a list of causes, messages, or public figures you would like to stay away from and not get involved with. Your brand is everything, so take good care of it and make sure that you’re staying true to your brand’s purpose and goal.

Takeaway Tips:

• Stay updated with the latest trends and popular content. Social media is always changing and so are the trends. If you stay on top of what’s hot and what’s not, you’ll have a better chance of success in your social media
• You may have noticed a lot of references in this blog are from SproutSocial. SproutSocial is a software that allows you to schedule social media content in advance, in addition to other features like smart-listening and timed reports. This kind of software can be helpful if you don’t have the time to manually post social media content day-by-day. There are different kinds of software similar to this, so explore what’s out there and take advantage of these tools.
• You won’t get it right on the first try. That’s the beauty of social media—it’s always changing and your social strategy needs to as well. If something doesn’t work, tweak it a bit and make it work better for you. And on that note…
• What works for other businesses might not work for you. Your social strategy should be unique to your business or brand and its consumers/followers. Pay attention to their reactions, listen to their responses or feedback, and make adjustments accordingly. Happy posting!

Read this blog and still not sure how to get your social strategy started? We can help. Contact us here and we can create together!