Social media is an effective way to market your business and develop a strong connection with your audience. It’s a medium through which consumers feel as though they’re having a conversation, rather than being broadcast.
Creating a social media content strategy is necessary for consistent scheduling, both in terms of branding and scheduling. Here’s how you can create a social media content strategy for your brand to help elevate your business this year.
Table of Contents
Set Brand-Centric Goals
Before devising a path forward, identify your destination by setting goals. These goals should be specific, as they’ll create the foundation of your strategy. Talk about the key metrics you want to achieve over time, and reverse engineer the final goal into actionable steps and manageable short-term goals.
These goals should be brand-centric. In other words, they should be in alignment with your overall brand strategy. From the platforms you use to the content you share, always work with the brand in mind.
Identify Your Audience
Taking the time to identify your target audience will help you craft an effective strategy. Knowing who you’re addressing when you post on social media can help you determine the right timing, approach, voice, and content for that market.
Create a customer profile (sometimes called an “avatar”) to help you hone your approach. For guidance, The Boost Apps wrote about social media content strategy building with a customer-centric approach and creating alignment.
Audit Your Current Content
Even if you’re starting from scratch, the chances are that you have some content readily available. Content repurposing is a cost-friendly way to start building a social media strategy. Revisit old blog posts, podcast episodes, etc. and identify anything that can be repurposed or recycled for social media.
If you already have social media platforms reserved with your brand name and imagery, conduct a quick audit. Ensure that you’re using consistent messaging and images across the board. Look to confirm that everything you’ve shared adds value.
If there are social media platforms that don’t suit your goals or audience, redirect your focus to those that do. It’s better to have a few well-planned social media platforms. If you no longer need your old platforms, keep them active to protect your brand identity. Add a post to say that the account is no longer active and redirect people to your other channels.
Create a Content Calendar
Once you’ve outlined the goals, the audience, and the channels on which you’ll be focusing, you should create a content calendar. Doing so will give you a clearer picture of how much content needs to be created or curated over the course of a month.
Your content calendar should outline:
- Which platforms you’re posting on.
- What time of day you’ll be posting.
- The daily posting frequency per platform.
- Special events (national holidays, business anniversary, etc.).
- Whether the content is curated or created.
Your content calendar will provide the framework for all your future content planning. It’s worth investing in a scheduling app to be able to manage your content calendar from a centralized location.
Track, Analyze, and Adapt
Outlining your goals and identifying your niche will help you create an effective social media content marketing strategy. However, it’s not always a sure shot during the first attempt. That’s why it’s essential to track, analyze, and adapt your plan.
Set aside time each week and month to look at your social media analytics. Identify some overarching themes of what people like and what’s being left on the table. Those posts with the most reach, likes, and shares are a solid indicator of what your audience wants to see.
By implementing a social media content marketing strategy, you’ll be able to connect with your audience on a new level.
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