The information you provide on social media has the potential to grow your business revenue. Leveraging digital platforms to enable this is only possible with a robust social media content strategy. It’s not enough to be present on every platform and update your followers when you have the time. To stand out on social media you need to identify goals, create and share meaningful content that matches those goals, and distribute material on the appropriate channels.
There is no one-size-fits-all social media strategy that will ensure success. Your strategy will be unique to your sector and target audience. There are, however, particular actions you should take to develop a plan that will last, and help your business flourish.
1. Establish and set targets
Setting content goals is the first step toward developing a long-term social media plan. Having goals in mind can assist you in determining the sort of material you will publish. Begin by defining your overall marketing goals and how you want your content marketing plan to help you achieve them.
2. Post frequently and consistently
We advise sharing a minimum of one post a day between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. Consistent posting is a simple way to increase page views.
3. Share unique videos and visual assets
Ensure the content mix includes eye-catching visuals. Unique visuals, particularly images, stand out more on feeds, increasing page visibility. This will create a more interesting and engaging feed. Putting in place processes and creating templates can support efficiency.
4. Space out repurposed content
Making use of published articles and visuals is a great way to recycle content and increase content promotion. However, sufficient time is needed between the first and subsequent second or third publications to ensure users do not disengage by seeing the same post twice in quick succession.
5. Create compelling post copy
Use punchy taglines which ask thought-provoking questions, answer pain points or trigger an emotion to grab the attention of the user. It is best practice to create posts with both high and low word count; social media users engage with both.
6. Tag people and companies
Where possible, tag media outlets, companies and people (internal and external) to increase reach and impressions. Doing so also encourages those tagged to like, comment and share the post.
7. Explore opportunities to create joint client and partner content
Creating content with or around selected clients and partners is an effective way to engage with your current and target audience. Showcase the work of partners and platforms or integrate a particular cause chosen by internal teams. Co-created and co-authored content is a simple and effective way to reach and engage audiences not immediately possible through current channels. An interview questionnaire (answered in a Word doc, not in a face-to-face recording) and joint team days out are efficient ways to generate this type of content.
8. Use analytics
Analyse content and posts using analytic tools such as Buffer, Hootsuite or Sprout Social. Gain a better understanding of your audience through analysis of all content. Create a monthly KPI sheet, documenting data for tweet impressions, profile visits, engagement rate, click-through rate and tweet interactions (likes, comments & retweets). Then compare the data to the strategy implemented that month, identifying what worked, what didn’t and where to focus efforts next.
9. Create employee-generated content
Implement employee-generated content into the mix to increase employee content engagement. This can be any form of content that is created by the company’s internal employees.
10. Encourage senior and prominent leaders to tag the page
The most high-profile people in your company serve as critical voices, and they frequently have extensive professional networks. It helps to boost traffic and followers when they regularly mention and link to the company’s social media pages.
11. Share job postings
Leveraging the page for talent acquisition exposes the page to new audiences. Applicants will engage with the page to increase the visibility of the company.
12. Share relevant secondary content
Secondary content is content created by other people and platforms. Find relevant material by browsing industry publications, social media platforms and setting up Google Alerts for strategy keywords. When assessing what has been found, ask yourself if it is going to be useful or interesting for your target audience.
Effectively optimising a social media content strategy is an ongoing cycle, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Using these tips will ensure you have a solid base from which you can analyse, reevaluate and improve your strategy.
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