Why You Need A Social Media Strategy

So you’ve been toiling away at your social media but it’s just not delivering results. Or maybe you’re getting overwhelmed by the latest trends, updates or just constantly needing to pump out content. But, at the end of the day, you understand the importance of social media to help you reach your target audience.

 

It’s a dilemma we often see with our clients when they approach us to help them with their social media. They come to us because they don’t know why their socials aren’t converting or they’re unable to infuse the substance into their content that can effectively communicate their impact.

And we start with a strategy. Running your socials without a strategy is like driving without any directions. You may get to your destination, but you might have a few wrong turns on the way. If you want to have a clear direction, meet your objectives and have a nice view along the way, then don’t sleep on your socials!

How a Social Media Strategy Will Help Your Business

 

A strategy acts as your roadmap as you navigate your socials. It gives you the road rules, the speed at which your posts should be going, which roads to use and everything else you need. And don’t worry – this is where the road metaphors end.

For your team, it sets out what is both best practice to reach your objectives and what is feasible to get out.

When you have a strategy with your social media agency, it’s a great way to all be on the same page so that you are confident that they are running your socials in the way that you want.

But whoever you are, a strategy outlines how your business objectives are translated to social objectives that are measurable with the metrics available on our platforms. It maps out how each platform that you are using will help guide your audience through and towards the end goal of making a sale with you!

It also enshrines your impact into your social story. It draws the line between the causes you and your audience care about so you can speak authentically and effectively on them. It is key to maximising your impact and having cut-through with your audience on the issues that matter most to both of you!

What Makes a Great Social Media Strategy

Social media is all about the conversation between brand and audience. Against every other marketing platform, you get direct feedback from the audience at any point. And these platforms are also used by people in their downtime and don’t necessarily want to hear a brand breathe down their neck with sales pitches.

And so every good strategy needs to start with the audience. Understanding your audience goes beyond creating a marketing persona. It is about getting to know what they’re talking about in their ‘lean-back moments,’ how they are using social and where your brand fits into that.

It also defines a clear role for social for your business. We’ll be the first to admit that social media cannot achieve all the business goals and nor should it be. Most clients aren’t ready to buy straight away but the point of marketing is to keep you top of mind when they are. With social, it’s a way of also opening up the the conversation further to integrate your brand into their daily lives. A social proposition included in the strategy gives audiences a reason to follow you. This should go beyond just your products and services but a reason for them to become a fan of everything you stand for.

With a clear strategy, you should also never run out of things to talk about. Strategies root you into the existing conversation that is happening on social. So with new trends and news, there are solid content pillars that should keep fuelling content each month. And you know that it all leads back to your objectives!

It’s a worthwhile investment

It can often seem superfluous to go through the process of developing a strategy – particularly if you have an existing brand or communications strategy in place. But social is a different ballgame and it’s important to have a plan to how you deal with it.

Our strategies are built from audience insights, social expertise and years of experience in the field. We take the time to ensure that each strategy is personalised to the client for what they want to achieve and the audience with whom they are trying to connect.

But it’s also what we love to do – turning your impact story into something that an audience will be able to connect with in meaningful ways.