12 Steps to a better social media strategy

12 Steps to a better social media strategy

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Being active on social media is no longer enough. Brands need a well-defined strategy that aligns with business goals, employs key tactics, and adapts to changing trends to achieve meaningful results.

In this post, we outline 12 essential steps to help you build a social media strategy that not only works for your brand but drives growth.

1. Define your goals

The first step to building a winning social media strategy is setting clear goals. These goals should align with your business objectives, and we recommend focusing on six core areas:

Awareness: Getting your brand in front of your target audience.

Traffic: Driving users to your website or landing pages.

Engagement: Fostering meaningful interactions with your followers.

Sentiment: Managing how your brand is perceived online.

Conversion: Turning followers into leads, customers, or subscribers.

Customer Experience: Creating loyal customers who advocate for your brand.

Developing SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound – are essential to keep your strategy focused. For example, “We will drive 5,000 unique visitors to our membership registration page on our website from social media by December 2024” is one example of a well-defined, measurable goal that you can build a tactical plan around.

2. Know your audience

Understanding your audience is critical to your social media success. Start by creating data-backed customer personas. These personas should reflect key demographic details, such as age, location, and interests, as well as psychographics like values and attitudes.

Rather than relying on assumptions, use data from surveys, social media analytics, and customer service interactions. This ensures that your content resonates with the right people, addressing their needs and desires. Fetch’s insights can help you dig deep into these audience behaviours, giving you the information you need to craft tailored content.

3. Study the competition

Competitor analysis is a crucial part of crafting your strategy. Analyse what your competitors are doing on social media, particularly what works well for them. Key questions to ask include:

– Which platforms are they most active on?
– What type of content gets the highest engagement?
– What tone do they use?

There are many competitor analysis tools available that enable you to study competitors in your industry with ease, helping you to benchmark against them and find opportunities to differentiate your brand.

4. Social media strategy – focus on the right channels

Not every platform will suit your brand’s goals or your audience’s preferences. After creating your customer personas and analysing your competition, identify which platforms are the most relevant for your strategy.

Whether it’s LinkedIn for professional connections or TikTok for younger audiences, focusing your efforts on the right channels allows you to engage with the people who matter most and will yield the best results for your audience and goals.

5. Create a content game plan

Content is the engine that drives social media. A successful strategy requires diverse content that aligns with your goals. At this stage, define content buckets – broad categories for the types of content you’ll post. These could include:

Educational content:
Tips and how-tos to inform your audience.

Engagement drivers:
Polls, questions, and challenges to boost interaction.

Promotional content:
Product launches, discounts, and offers.

Once you’ve identified your content buckets, use a content calendar to plan and schedule your posts. This ensures a consistent, organised approach, so you can avoid last-minute rushes and maintain a steady presence.

6. Create a paid advertising plan

In addition to organic growth, a paid advertising strategy is essential for reaching a wider audience and accelerating results. This involves careful budget allocation, defining your target audience, selecting the right ad formats, and choosing the platforms where ads will perform best. Having a robust paid strategy allows you to supplement your organic efforts and reach new potential customers efficiently.

7. Maintain a consistent brand voice

A consistent brand voice is key to building trust and familiarity. Whether your tone is professional, quirky, or bold, it should reflect your brand’s identity and remain consistent across all platforms. Think about your brand as a person – how would they sound?

Maintaining this voice across all your content creates a unified experience for your audience, helping your brand stand out and build deeper connections.

8. Social media strategy – leverage the right tools

Managing multiple social platforms can be overwhelming, but the right tools can make it far more manageable. Social media management tools help with everything from scheduling posts to monitoring engagement and tracking performance. These tools save time, improve efficiency, and give you the insights needed to fine-tune your strategy over time.

9. Budget

A solid social media strategy requires investment, so budgeting is crucial. Allocate funds for content creation, platform fees, influencer collaborations, and advertising spend. This ensures your team knows where resources are going and maximises the return on investment.

10. Set a timeline and milestones

Set a timeline that includes key activities, milestones, and deliverables. Breaking your strategy into phases allows you to monitor progress and ensure that each stage is executed on time. Establishing clear milestones also helps keep your team accountable and gives you points of reference to measure progress.

11. Define an execution plan

A well-defined execution plan ensures that your social media strategy gets implemented smoothly. This involves assigning roles and responsibilities to team members, setting up workflows, and detailing how each part of the strategy will be tactically executed. Clear planning leads to better coordination and more effective results.

12. Social media strategy – measure, refine and improve

Tracking the effectiveness of your strategy is crucial. Use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) like engagement, reach, and conversion rates to measure success. Tools that provide detailed analytics will help you track performance over time and make data-driven decisions for continuous improvement. Regularly assessing these metrics ensures that your strategy stays aligned with your business goals and you fully understand your return on investment.

And finally..

Crafting an effective social media strategy involves setting clear goals, understanding your audience, analysing competitors, and refining your content and approach over time. At Fetch, we provide the tools and guidance to help you navigate each step of this journey, turning your social media efforts into real, measurable success.

Ready to elevate your social media game? Contact the team today and let’s get building a strategy that works for you.