A social media strategy might feel a little like a box-ticking exercise. Do you really need one to be successful on social media (especially if you’re a creator, rather than an enterprise social media marketer?).
If getting views for views’ sake is all you’re after, maybe not — loads of folks go viral by accident. But where to from there?
Even if you do manage to successfully build an audience, how will you monetize? Turn them into subscribers?
Convert them into customers?
That’s where your social media strategy comes in. Your social media strategy defines where you want your social media presence to be in six months, one year, or five — and it’s the map you’ll use to guide you there.
Here’s a lightweight guide to creating your own from scratch.
Wait, what is a social media marketing strategy, exactly?
Good question! Let’s talk about what it is — and isn’t.
Social media marketing is using social media platforms — like Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, X, etc. — to promote your business and build a community. It also includes paid social media marketing, like running ads and influencer marketing.
So, like a social media calendar then? Well, not quite.
What’s the difference between a social media calendar and a social media marketing strategy?
A social media marketing strategy is the driving force behind why you post what you post and choose the social media platforms you’ve selected. It outlines your social media goals and the metrics you use to measure your success. Think of it as a roadmap, a guide to help you get where you want to go.
A content calendar is the place where you slot your social media posts. It shows what content will go live, when, and on which social media platform. Your strategy is your big-picture roadmap, then your content calendar is every mile you’ll travel along the way.
Why do you need a social media marketing strategy? To give direction to your social media marketing efforts and get clarity on what success looks like. The ‘throw stuff on the wall and see what sticks’ approach doesn’t work if you want to achieve a positive return on investment (ROI).
If you’ve already been dabbling in social media marketing for a while, begin with the first step in the following section. If you’re starting from scratch, jump straight to step two.
1. Conduct a social media audit
If you were already posting on your social media accounts, even if only occasionally, consider the following: What kind of posts get the most engagement for your social media accounts?
Which types of social media content led to the most profile visits?
What types of social media posts did you enjoy creating the most?
Look at your social media analytics and also reflect intrinsically on what you think worked the best for you. These insights are important to determine how you want to move forward.
Maybe you decide to switch channels because you didn’t enjoy creating content for a social media platform. Or perhaps you found educational posts got the most direct messages (DMs) and engagement for your target audience.
Once you’ve done that, take those findings with you to the following six steps. And remember, the below steps don’t have to follow a chronological order — they will inform and impact each other.
2. Know your target audience deeply
Some resources will start with setting social media goals, which is a great first step, but Instagram creator and consultant, Elise Darma, recommends putting audience research front and center.
“Customer research isn’t just part of my strategy,” she says. “It’s the foundation of everything I do.”
You need to understand your target audience deeply to create social media content that genuinely helps them. What should you know about your target audience?
Basic audience demographics: Their age, gender, location, job title, salary, etc.
Jobs to be done: What are they looking to accomplish with your product or service
Challenges: What are their pain points and struggles (that your product or service can alleviate)
Social media platforms’ preference: Where do they hang out online
Types of content they love: Entertaining, educational, funny, relatable, etc. and video vs. image posts
Influencers in the industry they trust: People they follow on social media who are thought leaders in your niche
For Jade Beason, creator and social media consultant, understanding your target audience’s pain points is the most crucial finding:
“Get really, really clear on what your audience’s pain points are,” Jade says. “This will help you create content that solves those pain points — whether it’s via educational, entertaining, or relatable content.”
Now, the next question arises: How do you gather these insights about your target audience? Jade says the best way to practice audience research is via social listening:
“Listen to what your audience is saying about your content. But also monitor what your audience is saying under other people’s content (which is similar to yours).”
Elise says she gathers customer insights from four places:
Analyzing DM interactions
Direct conversations with her audience
Student feedback during and after programs
Studying which content gets the most meaningful engagement
I won’t sugarcoat it: Audience research is a beast. You need to understand what your audience likes, cares about, enjoys, and so much more. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth the investment. When you know your audience’s pain points, you can create truly helpful content on your social media profiles.
I recommend that you begin audience research in the following manner: If you’ve already been posting on social media, analyze your DMs, posts, and comments
If you’re putting together a strategy for business, ask your adjacent marketing, growth, sales, and customer support teams for insights about your ideal customers
Spend time in online spaces where your target audience or customers hang out — other social channels, forums, private communities, Discord servers, etc.
Subscribe to industry newsletters and follow thought leaders in your niche to stay up to date about current events and trends
As a business, you could, incentivize customers (with gift cards, coupon codes, etc.) to chat with you directly via 1:1 calls or surveys
If you can, invest in an audience research software (like SparkToro) or social listening tools
Remember: Audience research is never done. You need to continually stay in touch with how your audience’s needs evolve. It might be a boulder to tackle initially, but once you start getting some followers on social media, it becomes easier to gather feedback.
3. Set SMART social media goals
Knowing why you are on social media is one of the most essential ingredients of a successful social media strategy. It’ll help you understand what social media success looks like and give direction to your efforts.
How do you set social media goals? If you’re a social media manager for a business, find out your business goals for the quarter or year. Are you focusing on customer acquisition? Or do you want to retain existing customers? Perhaps you want to save costs and improve efficiency.
Whatever it is, your social media efforts must work in the same direction as your broader business objectives. Why? Because as social media marketers, impacting the bottom line is crucial to prove the impact of your social media strategy and show a positive ROI.
Achieving business objectives using social media marketing will also help you get buy-in for hiring more social media managers, investing in new social media channels, getting the budget for social media advertising, etc.
How do you set social media goals as a creator? Brainstorm how social media is helping you achieve your goals. Do you want more influencer partnerships to earn money from your content? Or perhaps you want to increase your newsletter subscribers using social media. Keep this goal in mind as you create social media content.
Jade explains how your success metrics will differ based on your overall goals with an example:
“Your success metrics will depend on what your objectives are,” she says. “If you’re on Instagram to grow, then your view-through rate and retention might be the most important. But if you’re on Instagram to build a community, then your interactions are the most important metric.”
To give a creator example, Elise tracks the following metrics:
how her content makes sales (she made $60-80K per month even while she was on maternity leave) How effectively she’s connecting with new audiences (her best content reaches up to 86% of non-followers)
How well she’s serving her existing customers (she has helped over 56,487 students so far)
She advises creators to be flexible in their goals and pivot according to their audience’s needs:
“The key is staying flexible enough to pivot when you spot an opportunity,” Elise says. “It’s not about sticking to rigid plans — it’s about watching what resonates with your audience and being ready to serve them in the way they need most.”
Setting social media marketing goals will also simplify what kind of social media content you should create. For example, if your goal as a business is to boost brand awareness, you’ll post more engagement-centric content. But if you want to generate leads for your digital products as a creator, you’ll create more selling-related content.
How many goals should you have? If you’re a creator, it’s best to have a maximum of three goals to provide focus to your social media efforts. You can layer more goals if you have a social media team and each person can be assigned to specific goals.
Once you set your goals, it’s best to convert them into KPIs or key performance indicators. These are the key metrics that will act as evidence for your social media success.
