Social Strategy is something that few people put the necessary thought into. It seems like a simple, slam-dunk job when you participate in social media. You simply “post stuff,” but is it really that simple? I’ve had the opportunity to work with dozens of companies in different industries. I’ve had some big successes, but I’ve also failed. It’s those failures that made me realize, I wasn’t giving enough thought to my social strategy. Here are some things that I’ve learned.

social strategy vallint

 

Social Strategy: Who am I?

Ok, you’ve taken that step into the social media world. Whether you’ve joined Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or some other social network the first step should always be this; Who are you? To develop your online “personality” so-to-speak, it is important to get back to your brand. What message does your brand convey? What is the most important takeaway from your business? Begin to develop your branding message into a personality. Are you strictly professional? Do you want to appeal to a more light-hearted audience? Are the things that your company embodies more practical?

Your Social Personality

Take your branding message and develop your social personality. Expand upon your visual brand as well. What kind of imagery aligns with your branding? The most important bit of advice that I could ever give you, the most CRUCIAL bit of social strategy is this: be organic. The minute you start looking or feeling like a robot, advertisement, or inauthentic gimmick, that’s the minute people’s BS detectors start going off and they leave your camp. It’s ok to be REAL. That’s why reality TV took off and that’s what makes social media so popular. People get a little peek into your life. They like the perspective of another experience. Cater to that experience. Consider expanding upon what it is that you actually do.

Consumers want an honest brand personality on Social Media

In a recent study by Sprout Social (Q2 2017), they found that consumers preferred a more authentic and honest brand personality (86%) over snarky comments or political content (33%).

-Smart Insights

Have Good Manners

While I urge people to be organic, it is also important to have good social media etiquette. Be real, but it’s ok to make things look nice, too. For instance, you may be having a real, reflective moment and feel as though a nice selfie would be relevant to a post. Take the selfie, but maybe hold your camera up so we don’t get a shot up your nose? Or maybe record the video after you have chewed your food, not during? Just a small example, perhaps not a good one, but consider your surroundings. Pictures are often more meaningful when there is another element to them. Consider your audience, keep things uplifting, positive and upbeat whenever possible. This doesn’t mean you hide negative things 100% of the time. It’s ok to still be real even on a bad day but keep it on-brand. Tie it into what your branding message is.

Social Strategy: What do I avoid?

While being on social media is all about being raw, authentic, and real, there are definitely things you NEVER EVER DO. Trust me, I’ve seen things. Perfectly innocent posts that came from a good place can be severely distorted and taken out of context when you cross into two particular subjects, so if you want to avoid a social frenzy here are the mighty two subject you NEVER bring up: Religion or Politics.

Politics and Religion

I know, it’s tempting. And even if your heart is totally in the right place and you just want to say one little thing or share one little political opinion, be ready for the comments. However good, or innocent, or kind-hearted your comments are – these two topics have polar audiences that go from one extreme to the other. It is best to avoid sharing your opinions on politics and religion whenever possible. There may be a couple of exceptions in just the right circumstance, but be sure to think of the possibilities of disagreement beforehand. Especially in the case of a political statement, it’s often not necessary or on-brand to share political views.

When is it ok?

Consider your brand. If you are a charitable organization, if it is a holiday, if you are sharing an experience, it may be ok to mention a political or religious sentiment. In our overly politically-correct society, it is important to carefully consider your words. If you are posting these comments, be sure to be polite and considerate. If you are thinking of sharing something, be sure you stay on-brand. Remember, the popularity of social media also has a darker side. The comments section is often a place of confrontational disputes, so be ready to take on whatever opposition may come if you venture into the world of political or religious comments on social media.

If you need more help understanding what not to do on social media, here are 20 more things to avoid in your social strategy.

Social Strategy: Who am I trying to reach?

You know who you are, you know what to avoid, but the next tip for your social strategy is what ties all of it in together to form the best social strategy: Who are you trying to reach? I can’t tell you how often people overlook their target audience. “Oh ya, I want to target anyone in the United States,” or “I want everyone to buy my product!” or “My branding is so universal, anyone would want to buy.” Sure, you may have a pretty diversified industry or product, but you still need to really narrow your field. Who do you sell to?

Who’s buying what you’re selling?

Now, this can mean literally – who is buying your product that you are selling? – But it can also be figurative. Who’s believing your brand? Notice how many things hinge on your brand? If you haven’t invested in brand development and foundation pieces for your business like a strong logo, corporate mantra or mission statement, the task of developing a social strategy will be impossible. Who are your people? How do you reach them in the real world? Considering your real-life marketing channels can help guide your online social media strategy. Find your people in groups online, find where they gather, converse, what events they go to, where they go on the day-to-day and then find how that can tie into your social strategy.

On a monthly basis, 32% of Gen Xers engage with a brand they follow. That percentage drops slightly to 30% for Millennials.

-Sprout Social

Location, Location, Location.

Identifying your audience by location is the easiest piece to the puzzle. If you are a local business, find groups for your city, state or area online and join the conversation. If you are a more nation-wide or world-wide brand, find where the bulk of your business takes place and analyze the area. Do your customers exist there because of a common thread? Or are they just there based on population? If that is the case, find other towns, cities or areas that look like where your customers are and consider branching out. This is the same online.

Advertisements

Online advertisements are an especially effective tool when you use them correctly. In the area of social strategy, Facebook has made an exceptionally amazing tool with Business Manager. This product allows you to target Facebook and Instagram Ads to a custom audience. Through Facebook’s tracking pixel, you can literally track every person that goes to your website and find them on social media to advertise directly to them. Not only can you advertise to your website visitors, but you can also advertise to people that are just like them. This is using big data to your advantage!

There are several strategies for identifying your people and advertising to them. This is where a consultation with a marketing firm comes in handy. I can help you identify your people, find them online and I can help you advertise to them effectively without breaking the bank. I have found a great deal of success starting people out online with a fresh, new website. But the new websites don’t have tons of organic traffic right away. To build your traffic we leverage current and past business, social media and a little dollop of advertisement on top to get everything going. This strategy is very effective and also economical.

social strategy, how often do you post?

Social Strategy with Vallint Marketing: How often should you post?

Social Strategy: When do I post?

Your social strategy is nothing without a proper schedule. For the basic social strategy, being on top of your audience’s mind if what is most important. Sometimes this can mean a periodic or quarterly newsletter. When it comes to social media, it doesn’t have to be daily and nightly. Leverage conversations. If there is something coming up like an event or particular busy time of year, warm up your audience with relevant information. Think of what your audience likes to share. Watch your competition. Gage how effective your posts are and then test the waters to find what works best for you.

The cold hard truth about social media marketing is it’s going to take a great deal of leg work to build up an actively engaged audience and become a thought leader in your niche.

-Inc.

The Standard Rule of Thumb

Posting daily is about where you want to be. But if you are posting nonsense, don’t do it. Be methodical! Also, consider your platform. With Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, there are different methods of posting available. Twitter is an information overload at times. This is a great platform for daily or hourly updates. Facebook and Instagram are a good highlight reel to share the good times and promote events. Insta-Stories and Facebook-Stories are great daily updating platforms to showcase your more authentic side. Let your engagement guide you. If you find that there are lots of views, comments, re-sharing or interactions with your posts, then keep them going! If something doesn’t perform well, mix it up a bit. You can always look for inspirational pages and competitors to glean ideas from and study. Watch and learn.

Conclusion

I hope this introduction to social strategy helps shed some light on your current social media goals in 2018. The social sphere is a great place to interact, engage and study your audience. This can, in turn, help you develop a better brand. You can make your products even better with diligence in your social strategy. There are so many angles, so much data and so many people to reach. Find what works best for you brand, know who you are and go after your goals by setting a solid social media strategy.

Don’t want to go it alone? I’m here! Talk social strategy with Vallint Marketing. Reach out on my contact page.