Why is it important to have a social media strategy, and what does it even mean when it comes to building a successful online presence?
The primary reason that you post on social media is to create a connection and build engagement with your target audience. But, if you’re posting without a social media strategy and there’s no purpose behind your posts, you risk missing the mark and can fail to establish that connection with your target customer.
Every post should serve a clear purpose, whether it's to educate, entertain, or inspire your audience... A content strategy will act as your roadmap – it’s a plan that outlines your goals, identifies your audience and guides your content creation process.
The Power of a Content Strategy
A social media strategy is so much more than just a schedule for when you should post and what. Having a social media strategy ensures you post with intent and purpose, helping you connect, engage and build relationships with your followers. Through strategy and planning, you’ll be able to figure out what resonates best with your audience, all while maintaining consistency and delivering value to your followers.
Implementing a strategy for your social channels will also save you a huge amount of time, something every creative business owner can appreciate, right? When you have a clear plan of what you should post, and more importantly why you’re posting it, creating content will be so much easier and less time consuming.
Although the thought of creating and implementing a social media strategy may seem a bit overwhelming at first, I promise you - you will get so much time back once it’s all set up ready for you to use!
Having a Purposeful Social Media Presence
Having a purposeful social media presence means understanding your audience. By defining who your target audience are, what their interests are and what kind of content they like to see, you can make sure you’re creating content your target audience will love and engage with!
Posting with purpose and with your target audience in mind will turn casual viewers into dedicated followers who can’t wait to see more content from you!
Having clear goals is another important component of an effective social media strategy. What do you want to achieve with your social media? Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic or boosting sales, having clear objectives will both help guide your content creation process and help you measure your performance.
Having a social media strategy, and posting with purpose and intent, also means you'll be consistent throughout your different platforms; your brand’s voice, aesthetic and vibe should be the same across all of them. This is a lot easier to achieve with a strategy in place! Being consistent not only helps build brand recognition but will also make your followers trust you – which, in turn, will improve your relationship with your target customers.
Developing Your Own Content Strategy
Now that you understand the importance of a content strategy, let’s break down how you can best create one!
Start by doing a content audit. Review the content you’ve shared in the past to identify what performed well and what didn’t, and use these analytics to get insight into what your followers like to see from you and what they engage with.
Maybe you find that more people than usual liked or commented on a post where you shared a personal experience? Maybe you typically share product photos, but find that your most successful post was a testimonial? Whatever the numbers tell you, you can use them to identify themes and topics that align with your brand and resonate with your target audience. These themes will serve as content pillars in your Social Media Strategy.
I know, creating a Social Media Strategy can feel overwhelming and intimidating. Maybe you have no idea what you want to achieve with your social media; or you know exactly what you want to achieve, but struggle to map out the path to get there. Maybe you’ve tried implementing a social media strategy before, but feel discouraged and frustrated because people seem to engage the most with the content you're least excited about, or maybe you just feel like you need some assistance and guidance in the social media jungle. That’s where I can help!
I am now offering one-off Social Media Strategy Sessions where together we’ll create an in-depth structure and strategy for you to use in your social media. We have a one-off brainstorming session where we go through your goals and requirements, and will then create an in-depth social media content plan for you to easily implement on your social channels straight away!
Gone are the days of staring at a blank screen, wondering what to post next. Book a Social Media Session today and take your social media to the next level!
L x
Laura, Creative Virtual Assistant at Kelp Collective
Comments