Big ideas with limited resources is a professional conundrum many marketers know all too well. While we dream in big brand budgets, the organizational reality for the majority of us includes limitations and other creativity-killing logistics.
So, how do you keep your social feeds filled with meaningful content — and your ideas flowing — while managing social media on what feels like a shoestring? It starts with strategy and a little bit will go a long way to help you reach your goals and get closer to those big dreams, big ideas and big results.
Trust me. Let’s get into it.
First Things First: Why Do You Exist on Social Media Channels?
Exploring why you exist is a powerful branding exercise that can help shape your social media strategy as well. The reason why your business, brand or organization exists on social media will vary with your identity and the channel you are strategizing for, but the answers will serve as a guide as you plan, brainstorm and create content for your social media program.
Let’s take that thinking for a spin and fill in the blanks:
We are [name], we are [brand attributes 1, 2 and 3] and we are on [social channel] because [reason].
Keep in mind the answer to this question is worth revisiting as organizational priorities change and the cultures of social media channels evolve. Nevertheless, understanding — and articulating — why your organization is on social media can help you focus your time and talent on content that will drive the most meaningful results for your organization.
Make Friends with Strategy
Social media trends come and go — quickly these days. That means these trends can also come to you as a request for a post on your social channels faster than Shakira shakes it in a TikTok dance challenge. A documented strategy does the heavy lifting when you get requests to replicate or join a trend on social media that doesn’t align with your goals.
The anatomy of a solid social media strategy is comprised of these parts:
- Social media manifesto
- Your goals (Think: High level, what are you trying to accomplish?)
- Your objectives (Think: Actionable, time-bound, measurable)
- Performance metrics from the previous year:
- How much traffic did social drive to your website
- Follower count by channel
- Top-performing posts by channel
- Audience demographics
- Brand guidelines tailored to your social media channels
Revisit and fine-tune your strategy at least once each year. And be sure to share it with key stakeholders within your organization. Post it on your intranet. Share it in a department meeting. Take your show on the road to other departments and teams. The more people that know about your strategy, the better.
Embrace Quality over Quantity
Keeping your content mix fresh and relevant doesn’t mean you always have to create new posts, tweets and pics from scratch. Repurposing content that is still relevant and meaningful saves time and resources and can help keep your community engaged.
A formula for maximizing your content’s reach is to take one piece of content and share it in multiple ways across various platforms. For example, you can take a blog post and create two Facebook posts, five tweets, an Instagram post and an Instagram story inspired by the blog post and linking back to it. This approach can help you amplify your message and reach a broader audience across multiple platforms. It gives you a jump start on your content calendar.
Feeling spread too thin by creating content for multiple channels? If that’s the case, pick one channel that aligns with your goals and target audience and focus your efforts there.
When you don’t have anything valuable to say, remember it’s okay not to post or tweet. It’s crucial to read the room and contribute to the conversation only when you have something meaningful to add. And remember, it’s always okay to pause your social media efforts.
Fine-Tuning Your Social Media Strategy
The power of social lives in the blending of strategy and serendipity. That means having an articulated strategy to chart your course and allowing for wiggle room on your calendar to flex your content in ways that align with your goals, objectives and audience. Your strategy will give you clear parameters for creating content and measuring success, as well as help you identify the right trends to fold into your content mix.
There will be wins, near misses and flat-out flops but just as the social media channels keep moving forward at the speed of the internet, so will your strategy. Want to learn how our friends at KPG Psomas amplify their brand marketing efforts on social with a streamlined strategy? Watch the webinar.
