Starting a social media campaign without a strategy is a bit like setting out on a road trip without any idea of where you’re going. You might end up somewhere great or you might end up in the middle of nowhere. You’ll almost certainly waste a lot of time going to places you don’t want to be and you might hit the occasional dead end.
All of which is fine if you’re someone with plenty of time on your hands but how many of us fit that description?!
Put simply, a social media strategy helps you to understand WHY you’re using social media. Once you’re really clear about this you can put together a plan which will set out WHAT you are going to do.
So, where to start…?
In creating your strategy, it can be helpful to ask yourself these questions:
- Who are we?
- What are we doing (and who for)?
- Why are we doing it – what are our short-term, medium-term and long-term aims?
- What are our values?
- What image do we want to put across?
- Why does the world need us?
The answers to these questions will give you a really clear jumping off point. They will determine what to say (content) and how to say it (tone of voice). Once you’ve got this straight, your social media content will be clear and consistent, whether it is created by one person or 10.
Neither your strategy nor your plan needs to be complicated, in fact the simpler the better. In our workshops we advocate summarising your plan on the back of a postcard. Taking the time to work out your strategy at the beginning and using this to devise your plan will mean you always know what to post… today, tomorrow, next week, next month.
If your destination was the South of France, you wouldn’t head North on the A1 and wonder why it was taking so long to get there! It’s the same with social media. Be clear about where you’re going and you’ll be surprised how much easier it is to get there.
Oh, and remember to have lots of fun along the way.
For more tips about social media, come along to our Writing for Social Media workshop. Click here for details.
