Get Social: Tips for a Successful Social Media Strategy

According to HubSpot’s annual, State of Marketing Report 2021, “the No. 1 way companies are approaching marketing is social media, suggesting that personalized marketing and conversational marketing is the preferred approach.” And according to Pew Research 53% of Americans get their news from social media which tells us that people like to use social media to be informed.

With social media becoming such a popular marketing strategy, organizations cannot afford to not use it in their efforts. Many organizations, however, struggle to find the time to do social media right which can prohibit them from being as effective as they can on social platforms. Below are some important pointers to enhance your strategy as you either start or continue social media marketing.

Create a strategy for each platform

Social media platforms have different audiences and are popular for different types of content. For example. Instagram skews younger (between 25 and 34) and is centered around sharing visuals such as photos and video. Whereas the largest audience on LinkedIn is 46-55 years old and the content shared on this platform is more centered on professional advancement and thought leadership. For this reason, your organization needs to strategize and determine the best type of content to share on each platform as opposed to simply duplicating posts across the board. Sometimes it’s as simple as just altering a post a bit to get your message across and speak to the audience you are trying to reach.

Create a content calendar

Your organization should be proactive and develop a social media calendar by month, quarter or year. This allows you to develop a timeline and content for those events, holidays, promotions, etc. that you already know will happen. By planning ahead, this helps when timely topics, unplanned events/announcements or crises arise. A simple Excel spreadsheet with a tab for each month works well and allows you to copy and paste as appropriate.

Tag partners

Tagging your partners in appropriate posts is a great way to reach a larger audience than your own page can on its own. By tagging, you expose your organization to those following the ones you tag. In addition, it increases engagement because the individuals or organizations you are tagging will receive a notification and are more likely to like, comment or share your post.

Test content

Your organization cannot afford to create and post content simply to “say you have a social strategy” or to “fill your page with content.” Test your content to determine where you are most successful and where you are seeing the most engagement and ROI. This includes monitoring which platforms your audience engages with you more, what type of content they like and how they engage with you. You may determine certain platforms are not for you or that certain types of content are not worth your time. This also includes testing the days and time of day you are posting to see when you see the most interaction.

With social media becoming such a powerful marketing tactic, it’s important to have a plan. Chartwell Agency helps many organizations to manage their strategy and would be elated to get you started or determine if your strategy needs a refresh.