Carol Stephen
Constructing A Social Media Strategy
Do you feel like you might lose your mind trying to discover what your strategy is on social media? Have you ever considered choosing a daily topic so that you know what to discuss on a daily basis? This idea can save you a lot of time, as you can do a lot of the work beforehand.
Build Your Strategy Around Your Audience
What Does Your Audience Want To Hear?
By now you know who your ideal follower or fan is and what interests them. If you don’t, that’s the first thing you need to figure out. You might want to read my post about branding, for a start. Keep your posts limited to what that person wants to hear. But also bear in mind that others who share your posts are part of your audience, and reposting or sharing their posts also helps you (while helping them).
Daily Strategy
Usually, I like to post about time management on Mondays. And tie this in to social media, too. In my previous incarnation as a professional organizer, I learned that most people feel short on time. So for you, what is the problem that you’re solving? Discuss that at the beginning of the week.
Mid-Week Strategy
Tuesdays through Thursdays are where the meat of your content will come into play. People are into their work week then and hunkered down. So for my audience, I talk about the different platforms (Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn), social media failure and what can be learned from mistakes, etc.
Friday and Weekend Strategy
Friday And Weekend Strategy
On Fridays, most people are thinking about their weekends. So Fridays are lighter, more casual, and more “watercooleresque” than the other days. That doesn’t mean going completely off-topic, but having an eye to the fun and quirky nature of your business.
Strategy Doesn’t Have to Be Written in Stone
Strategy Doesn’t Have To Be Set In Stone
Your strategy is there to help you. As such, it doesn’t have to be something that rules your life. If you can’t find a particular post for the day, you can change it up. But having a strategy can help enormously to shorten the time to find content to post. And of course, the nature of your business might not be typical. For instance, a restaurant’s busiest days are probably on the weekends, so you might schedule your best posts then. You might even take Mondays off if your bar or bistro is closed then.
What Your Competitors Can Teach You About Strategy
Why not look at your competitors and see what they’re doing? You may discover some ideas you can use as well as some strategies that don’t work. For instance, I discovered last night that one of my competitors takes tweets and distributes them across all platforms, including the hashtags. That strategy would not work for me because each platform has its own language. You could do a search within Facebook to see how your competitors are engaging with their audience, as outlined by Social Media Examiner. Or you could go undercover on Pinterest and see which pins are getting the most engagement, as discussed by MCNG Marketing.
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