A Recipe For Social Media Strategy
As a solopreneur, creative entrepreneur or small business owner, finding the time to cook up a winning social media strategy that not only makes you proud but leaves a good taste in your audience's mouth can be challenging. The good news is you don't have to be an executive social media chef in order to whip up a good social media strategy. In fact, I have developed this simple recipe to help you understand what you need and how you can put these elements together to create an awesome experience for your audience.
This recipe starts with a couple basic ingredients: goals and audience.
It's important to have 1 or 2 goals that are specific, measurable, timely, realistic and attainable. An example of a SMART goal might be: "We want to increase Instagram engagement by 10% in 6 months."
The second thing that is foundational to your recipe is a solid understanding of your audience. Without knowing with whom you will be talking, it's hard to find the other elements of our recipe. To understand your audience, ask yourself a few questions, which you can find in this post on finding your audience. (P.S. There's a cool example of how to create a buyer persona!)
Once you have those two pieces in place, it's time to get creative. The next thing you'll need is fresh, strong and creative copy. This is the words you use in each Facebook, blog, or Instagram post.
Not a strong writer? No problem. Outsource this. A good writer will help you realize your strategy through incredible copy. (In case you're looking, I might be able to help with your copywriting needs.)
Your copywriter will help you infuse each piece of content with your brand's unique personality while ensuring each piece is valuable and relevant for your audience. Not sure what your brand personality is? Here's a handy guide to help you find your brand voice.
When you have all of those ingredients together, you are ready to start serving your beautiful content to your audience.
Make sure you have a little risk on hand to ensure your content is being heard by the right people in the right places. Get comfortable with testing and refining your strategy as needed. Some things you might want to test: timing, channels and post types (video vs text).
The final ingredient is patience. It takes time to develop an effective social media strategy. Because social media is by nature social, it is important to be patient with your efforts. Over time and with relevant, consistent content, you will build trust with your audience - and you will begin to see results.
Here's a printable recipe for you to download and tack on your bulletin board.
[recipe title="Social Media Strategy" time="1-2 hours" difficulty="easy"]
INGREDIENTS
- 1-2 SMART goals
- Buyer personas - as many as you need
- A handful of fresh, creative copy
- A dash of brand personality
- A pinch of calculated risk
- A heaping of patience
INSTRUCTIONS
- Mix your goals and audience to form a solid foundation.
- Add in your copy. Mix well.
- Fold in personality and risk.
- Serve on your appropriate channels.
Don't forget to check on your content every so often. It's important that your strategy remains agile, fresh and responsive as trends, best practices and algorithms change.
[/recipe]
I hope this helps you develop your next social media strategy.
I can support you through this process through my coaching services. For a free consultation, drop me a note!
