Nov 25 2021
Social media – if you’re not on it for work, you’re on it for leisure. A digital world that Hootsuite found connects 4.55 billion individuals with influencers and businesses, social media is here, and it isn’t going anywhere soon.
Like many others, you may think that social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest merely provide additional opportunities to promote your products or services. If this is you, think again.
Social media is more than just another sales platform, it is a key ingredient to the success of a brand’s digital marketing. It’s an effective way of generating qualified leads and building brand awareness. But, simply having a profile on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or Tik Tok is not enough. You need goals and a plan of attack!
If you think your social media feed should feature an abundance of promotional content for your customers to find, you should keep reading to find out why this never works. Promotional sales-y content is annoying and could be the very reason your followers are dropping off.
Posting valuable content is key; whether it be through videos, text posts, images or stories. You need content that is effective and relevant to your audience and chosen platform. Ideally, it should be a balance between educational, entertaining, inspirational and informative.
Engagement is everything. It is no secret that social media platforms reward content that is engaging and generates interest amongst users. But how can you make your content engaging and enjoyed but those watching? The ultimate way to develop your social media presence and “break” the algorithm is through a well-planned social media marketing strategy.
A social media strategy is a comprehensive plan that identifies the who, what, where, when and why. It clearly identifies your ideal target audience and their content preferences. It should also clearly recognise specific and attainable goals and how you are going to achieve them. It requires planning and organising.
Not sure how you can establish your digital strategy for your social media? Keep reading!
What a good content strategy includes
It might be tempting to dive straight into creating your content, however, like anything in life, proper planning is key to success. Jumping in too soon, without planning can result in wasted time and resources. An effective strategy should outline the following:
• SMART Goals
• An accurate profile of your target audience
• Content types
• Platform preferences
• Posting Schedule
SMART Goals – Have you ever asked yourself why you want your business to be on social media? If you don’t know or have said something along the lines of “everyone else is,” then you need to take some time to write out some goals. Set yourself some specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely goals.
For example, “I want to increase my website traffic from Facebook and Instagram by 50%. I will do this by creating educational posts that showcase my expertise and invite followers to download my free eBook. This will pull my followers into my funnel where I can continue to nurture them with helpful email marketing content. I want to achieve the 50% traffic increase within the next 12 months.”
Profile your target audience – To build effective engagement, you should know your audience inside out. Identify their goals, motivations and frustrations. Your posts need to have a specific direction and shared goals. Research and understand what your audience wants to know and what they expect from you. This will ensure your audience is on the same page and streamline your planning.
Only post content that is valuable and useful to them and speaks to their questions and concerns. When writing copy, keep this person in mind and use a conversational style of writing so that it resonates with them. This will ensure users feel that you care about them and understand their pain points.
Content Types – Content comes in all shapes and sizes, including videos, photos, blogs and more. However, just because it is classified as content doesn’t mean it is suitable for all platforms. Your content should include regular posts that speak to your audience. They should build trust and familiarity and don’t forget to keep them consistent.
The posts should have a purpose, whether that is to educate, entertain, inform or inspire. They should also be similar in design and structure, not looking out of place, by sounding the same tone.
We recommend reusing the same post in different forms (i.e., a blog to a video or reel to infographic). Don’t be afraid to transform the same content to adapt to the different platforms. A good idea when generating content is to create bedrock or evergreen content that you can always refer to in blog articles and videos. These make great lead magnets to pull people into your funnel.
Platform Preferences – No two social platforms are the same, each one offers unique features and users expect things to function a certain way when using each. You should ensure that each piece of content is optimised for the platform that you are posting to. For example, check your sizes and don’t include links if the platform doesn’t support links. Not optimising posts will annoy users and deliver a poor user experience.
Instead of copy and pasting, repurpose each piece of content to suit the platform you are posting to. This will deliver the same message on the different platforms, in the way users expect it to be on each platform, sharing it with different audiences and broadening your overall reach. Find out what platforms your users are using and segment your target audience if you must. There are lots of stats available that will give you insight into a platform by demographic.
Posting Schedule – Another part of understanding your target market is finding out what time your audience is online. Once you establish the peak times, post around those ideal hours for optimal rates of engagement. Other platforms like LinkedIn and Pinterest are not so much about the time but how regular you post.
Good content ideas and how to come up with them
Anyone can post content, but not just anyone can create quality content. This is why it is important you put effort and thought into the content you produce. Be proactive, not reactive.
To generate decent content, you should schedule time for regular brainstorming sessions at least once a month. This way, you can keep in the loop, involving emerging trends and relevant information into your ideas. It will also force you to consider what your audience wants to see frequently.
When coming up with ideas, think about your goals. These should be established beforehand to help your content align with what you want your audience to take away from your posts. SMART goals will help you determine what you want to target and the measurables that will reflect its success.
As mentioned, you want your content to be a balance between education, entertainment, inspiration and information. Always keep this in mind when coming up with good content ideas.
Ask yourself what the purpose is? Will a viewer learn or at least be entertained by this? You should only use content if it meets one or more of these criteria.
Consider the type of variety of content forms. When it comes to social media, video has seen a surge in popularity. Short videos receive 7-10 times more engagement, with platforms like Tik Tok and Instagram being the leaders in short-form videos. This is why it is encouraged to include video ideas for reels, IGTV and Tik Toks.
Get to know your platforms and produce content that is tailored to their individual features.
Here are some ways to come up with content ideas:
- List your products or services
- Look at relevant upcoming holidays and days of celebration in the year
- List problems your products/services solve
- Do competitor research and see what competitors are posting
- List the benefits your product/service provides
- Search popular trends and see how you can use them to be relevant to you
- List questions you often get asked about your service/product
TIP: FX Web Studio releases a FREE yearly social media calendar full of content ideas every month. Found through the ‘Free Resources’ page on our website, you can use this for ideas and influence.
Are you looking for more social media tips? Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram and check out our blogs. On top of social media, we also offer web development and SEO services to Western Sydney businesses.
To discover how we can help your business, enquire now to find out more.
