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The right social media content strategy can vault your brand to a new tier and connect your customers on a deeper level. More than just devising a consistent posting schedule, the right strategy can show you which content resonates and how to better adapt to shifting audience tastes. If you’re thinking that this is all easier said than done, we’ll look at some action steps you can take to pull your strategy together.
Why Have a Social Media Content Strategy?
When you think about social media content, your first thought might be either viral posts or viral campaigns. Snarky responses, ice-bucket challenges, gimmicky contests: there’s a reason why some content sticks and some is forgotten as soon as it's posted.
What people don’t always realize (and what many social media marketers don’t always say) is that viral content is fickle. Instead of trying to plan for it (or worse, guarantee it), a content strategy gives you a solid idea of how you want to represent your brand on each social media platform, which customers you want to speak to, and how you’ll make yourself different from your top competitors.
Arguably more important than going viral, you want to give your employees and followers something that they can count on. A strong social media content strategy helps brands stay consistent, relevant, and visible in front of their target audience. It ensures that content supports business goals, reflects brand voice, and drives engagement over time. With a clear plan in place, brands can build trust, grow their following, and turn social activity into measurable results like increased traffic, leads, and brand awareness.
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Steps to Create a Content Strategy
If you’ve ever seen a company social media page that feels disorganized, e.g. maybe the brand posts content at random intervals, the pictures are fuzzy, or the text is rushed and misspelled, it's easy to see why strategy is make or break on oversaturated platforms.
Define your Business Goals
Identifying your business goals starts with understanding what you want from each platform. If you’re just building brand awareness among a certain age demographic, your content will be very different than if you hope to drive sales among all customers. Once you understand who you’re targeting and why, you can move on to more granular questions, such as how often to post and how to best scale your campaigns.
Define Your Topics
You already know what it’s like to scroll on social media: the more content, the easier it is to get distracted — even from topics that you’re actually interested in learning more about. It doesn't help that the definition of valuable content doesn’t just change from person to person, it changes from day to day.
This is why it’s so important not to get caught up in a viral trap. You should tap into the metrics to see which content drives the most interest and actively ask your audience what they want to see next. You shouldn’t expect that even your hottest takes will catch the right attention. (We’ll dig more into social media topics below.)
Define Your Channels
You may know some general rules about different platforms: Facebook is typically used by Gen X or Boomers while Instagram and TikTok are often used by Millennials and younger generations. When you determine your brand's social media platforms, you may need to dig a little deeper than that.
For example, Pinterest may not be popular among the general 50 – 64 age bracket, but that doesn’t mean it’s not the best avenue for those customers. If you want a presence on every channel, make sure you break down your posting schedule so you’re maximizing your time and efforts. So, maybe you post twice a week on your most popular channels and once a month on the least popular channels.
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Pick Your Content
How-to's, glossy photos, success stories, stats: the content that you choose has everything to do with how you’re perceived by followers:
- User-generated content (UGC): User-generated content is exceptionally popular today because it tells your brand’s story through a real client’s eyes. Unlike influencer content, which usually has a price tag behind it, UGC is viewed as more authentic and relatable. Not sure where to start? Consider having your employees generate fun or informative content about their workdays!
- Short-form video: Videos are extremely popular on social media, and short clips can pack a long-lasting punch. Whether it’s a testimonial or a product demo, this content pairs perfectly on platforms like Instagram.
- Live streams: This content type can bring your customers into the room, which can help them better understand and trust your brand. So, you might use a live stream feed to bring people behind-the-scenes before a conference or to broadcast a popular speaker at a corporate retreat.
- Saucy text: You don’t necessarily need highly edited clips or pics. Sometimes, wordplay is more than enough to connect with your customers. Whether it’s a spicy commentary on a product or a new perspective on a hot headline, it's powerful to share real thoughts and opinions (and invite others to do the same).
- Interactive: Polls, contests, Q&As: some social media content is more interactive than others. If you’re really trying to make a splash on social media and you don’t have much time to play with, consider how incentives can draw more people to your brand and wake them up to your mission.
Create a Calendar
Social media calendars may look straightforward at first, but too many companies create unrealistic posting standards that ultimately fall by the wayside. Your content calendar should state how often you’ll post on which platforms, what types of content are acceptable, and who’s responsible for executing each step.
Just keep in mind that your calendar is a living document, one that can and should be updated based on your social media metrics and analytics. So, if you notice that how-to videos generate 80% of reactions, you can start redistributing resources to focus on these videos.
Update Your Style Guide
Most brands have a style guide, so their content is consistent. Unfortunately, these guides are often neglected after they’re written, especially if your brand has been rapidly growing. Now is a good time to run through each point, clarifying and adjusting all the while, so there are fewer questions about what’s considered appropriate and what crosses the line.
You might even consider creating a specific style guide just for social media, so you can really dig into the differences between the types of content you post on different platforms, and how you want to relate to different types of customers.
Why Your Employees Matter
Consider that your employees are already using social media for a significant portion of their day. When you get them involved in your social media, you create a positive ripple effect that leads to everything from brand awareness to more sales.
Whether it’s a welcome post for a new hire on LinkedIn or a dance video of your boss’ hippest moves at the Christmas party, you can make your hard-working employees the star of your content. This not only acknowledges their contributions, it prompts them to share the posts with their network.
Employee advocacy software can help you narrow down your posting schedule, content types, and even your topics. So, if you’re wondering whether your audience responds better to memes or GIFs, you can get a sense of what’s driving every like, comment, or share.
Ready to elevate your social media presence and improve employee morale? Schedule a demo with Clearview Social today!
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