A simple social media marketing strategy should define your BIG WHY on social media, guide your actions and help you know whether you are achieving your goals or not. 

Every comment, reply, like and post count towards the overall performance of your strategy. 

Without a strategy, I bet you’ll be gambling! 

However, if you don’t have one, don’t panic. 

You’re not alone. 

In fact, 50% of businesses (page 9 of the State of Social 2018 report) operate without a documented social media strategy according to a recent survey. 

That’s why in this post, I’ll guide you through the 8 simple steps to creating an effective social media strategy on your own. 

Kindly note this post may contain affiliate links and I may earn a commission if you click any of them and proceed to make a purchase.  This will be at no cost to you.

Let’s get started.

Step 1:  Social Media Strategy Executive Summary 

A one-page summary is enough to start off your social media strategy. It should define your BIG WHY on social media and how it connects with your business objectives and goals. 

What’s your primary goal? 

What specific objectives do you want to achieve on social media? 

Choose and concentrate on a specific social media channel that meets your objectives and avoid having multiple social media channels. 

Set up measurable goals and focus on achieving them. 

For example, you may want to Grow your Facebook followers by 30%.

Step 2: Social Media Strategy Audit 

In this digital world of stiff competition, you need to be wise to remain competitive. 

As much as you keep your friends close, you need to keep your competitors closer! 

Keep an eye on the competition through social listening. You will understand the areas you should concentrate on and how to go about it. 

For example, you may find that a competitor is dominant on Twitter, but not on Facebook. That’s an opportunity for you to focus on Facebook rather than trying to win followers from your competitor on Twitter. 

Also, conduct a social media strategy audit of your channels against those of two competitors. 

Compare the visuals, audience size, tone, response rate, engagement, keywords, hashtags, chatbots and the type of content. 

How is your performance? 

What does Google Analytics Social Media Acquisition Report say about your social media engagement? 

Step 3: Set Your Social Media Strategy Objectives 

What is it that you want to accomplish using social media? 

Brand awareness? 

Sales? 

Customer retention? 

Example: Increase the number of unique visitors that come from social media to the website by 60%. 

Step 4: Create Your Buyer Personas 

Having knowledge of who your ideal customers are on social media is very important in creating highly engaging content. 

Configure your audience values, challenges, and their online behavior. 

This information will help you understand what to say to them and on which platform to engage them. 

You can easily engage an audience with certain behavior and demographics on some social media channels than others. 

Therefore, Social media strategy + Buyer persona = An effective formula 

Step 5: Establish Your Brand’s Voice 

What is the personality, character and the voice of your brand? 

I mean, are you playful, fun, or serious? 

Describe how you would want your audience to perceive your brand when interacting on social media. 

Do you want them to perceive you as encouraging and supportive or bold and sensational? 

Step 6: Set Up Tools And Strategies 

Establish and master a number of tools that you will be using on social media. Tools like Canva for quick and professional social media graphics, Tailwind for scheduling Instagram posts and Recurpost for scheduling other social media channels posts. 

Also, consider categorizing your social media into paid, owned and earned categories. 

For example; 

Paid: On a weekly basis, select and boost a Facebook post that performed well that week. However, wait until it publishes well organically then boost it. 

This planner will help you create content that gets overwhelming response on Facebook. If it helped me, I thought it would help you too. Download it here;

Earned: Find targeted and branded keyword phrases on social media and engage in the conversations. 

Twitter has leveraged this aspect very well and you can take the opportunity to monitor bloggers, influencers, and journalists and engage in their conversations. 

This is a very effective way of getting shares, engagement and media coverage. 

Owned: Come up with a branded hashtag and promote it across your social media platforms. Use it in emails, bios, social media covers, ads, and posts. 

Step 7: Mark Your Calendar 

In social media, showing up early to the party is a must. I mean, you need to have the dates for events and conferences at your fingertips beforehand. 

Keep in mind the days, seasons, trending news, hashtags, and official months for events. 

Keep your social media content calendar filled with festivals, events and holidays to celebrate. 

I have found Angie Gensler’s Social Media Calendar very helpful as she has comprehensively covered a lot, from social media holidays to social media images. You may want to check it out.

Step 8: Finally, Measure What Matters 

Yes, measure what matters to you. Different social media channels have different versions of analytics. 

In this step, remember and keep in mind your objectives. 

You need both the quantitative and qualitative feedback from your social media channels. 

Examples; 

Qualitative: Any positive or negative comments or reviews about your brand on social media channels 

Quantitative: Impressions, email sign-ups, and website sessions. 

Conclusion 

Access your progress and reports and create an effective social media strategy plan following these 8 simple steps. 

Own your social media marketing plan and focus more on being social rather than doing social. I mean, jump into conversations and be part of them rather than just posting on social media. 

Keep it simple and concise and follow it up with attainable goals. 

Related: 56 Social Media Content Ideas that Increase Engagement

Do you have a winning strategy that you would like to share with us? Let’s chat down below!