Your social media strategy is your plan that outlines your social media goals, the tactics used to achieve them, and metrics tracked to measure performance. Your strategy does not need to be complicated.
An effective social media strategy can help you build engaged audiences where they already spend their time. Your strategy must keep your actions focused, with a process that enables you to execute without taking too much attention away from running your business.
Your social media strategy gives you a big-picture view of your goals on social media and how you can best achieve those outcomes. The strategy is a summary of everything you plan to do and hope to achieve on social media. It guides your actions and lets you know whether you are succeeding or failing.
The more specific your plan is, the more effective it will be. Keep it concise and do not make it so broad that it is unattainable or impossible to measure.
Your social media strategy will set out your social media goals, together with the tactics that you will use to achieve them and the metrics you will track to measure your progress. It should also list your existing and planned social media accounts along with goals specific to each platform. These goals should align with your business’s larger digital marketing strategy.
A strong social media strategy can serve all kinds of marketing functions from:
Driving traffic and sales
Gaining Influence in the market sector
Building brand awareness
Targeting an engaged audience
Connecting with prospective customers
Providing customer service
This is because you have a wide range of channels to incorporate, each with its own strengths and weaknesses to consider.
Your social media strategy is your master plan for how you create, post, and engage with your social media content. It covers your content, your “voice”, any specific social media campaigns, and your strategy to engage with targeted users to promote your business and brand.
Social media strategies differ depending on the brand’s voice and positioning, target audience demographics, and social media platform limitations. When you develop your business’ social media strategy, considering these factors will help your message reach the right audiences in the right format. You will need to address the following:
Goals: The outcomes you want from your efforts and how you will measure them. Examples of common social media goals include generating leads, driving traffic to a website or online store, or getting more followers. Social media goals can apply to anything from a single ad or organic post to a full-scale campaign.
Target audiences: Researching and targeting your potential customers.
Metrics: Creating a data-driven marketing strategy.
Content mix: Recurring ideas or post types to include in your social media programming. Content marketing mix can be described as the right blend of different content types (blogs, videos, case studies, webinars, podcasts, ebooks, infographics, and so on) to attract, engage, convert and retain your ideal customers.
Channels: The social networks you want to dedicate your time to and what you’ll use them for.
Infrastructure: Setting up the process and tools to execute your strategy efficiently.
Improvements: Adapting and innovating your strategy.
This is about creating a solid base for your business’s initial actions on social media. As your business progresses you can develop your strategy dependent upon the results that you get with your various posts across social media platforms.
Social media for your business is very different to your personal use. You need to get a positive return on the time, money, and effort you spend. That requires planning and action.
Your social media strategy is your plan of attack. But in a space like social media that literally changes by the day, with newsfeed algorithm updates and audiences always ready for something new, you need to remain flexible and remember to keep your finger on its pulse and constantly improve.
You must remember three things:
be consistent,
find ways to add value, and
test, measure, and learn.
Social Media Marketing Strategy
Social media marketing can help you build engaged audiences where your customers and target audience already spend their time.
Or, it can be a time-consuming obligation that spreads you thin, resulting in a drain on time and money rather than the asset you've seen it become for many established brands.
The difference is having a social media marketing plan that keeps your actions focused, along with a process that enables you to execute without taking too much attention away from running your business.
But starting from scratch can be a daunting task, especially with so many different channels to build a presence on and the commitment that comes with it.
A social media marketing strategy gives you a big-picture view of your social media marketing goals and how you can best achieve those outcomes. Brands continue to ride the wave of social media marketing, with 73% of marketers believing their efforts have been “somewhat effective” or “very effective” for their business.
Whether it's TikTok ads or influencer marketing, social media lets brands access cost-effective marketing. Like a Swiss Army knife, a social media marketing plan can serve all kinds of marketing functions from:
Driving traffic and sales;
Tapping into influencer networks;
Building brand awareness;
Amassing an engaged audience;
Connecting with customers and prospects;
Providing customer support.
This is because you have a wide range of channels to incorporate, each with its own strengths and weaknesses to consider.