A social media content strategy involves planning, creating, and implementing various types of content to engage audiences on different platforms. By creating a strategy that resonates with your target market, you can drive engagement, build a strong online presence, and ultimately drive potential customers to your business.
In this guide, our experts outline creating an effective social content strategy in seven steps, discuss its importance for businesses and organizations, and share examples from some of the most successful brands today.
Table of Contents
- What Is a Social Media Content Strategy?
- How To Create a Social Media Content Strategy in 7 Steps
- Why Do You Need a Social Media Content Plan?
- 4 Expert Tips for Creating a Social Media Marketing Plan
- 3 Best Examples of Content Strategy for Social Media Marketing
- Social Media Content Strategy Takeaways
- Social Media Content Strategy FAQs
What Is a Social Media Content Strategy?
Social media content strategy involves planning, creating, and distributing tailored content that resonates with your target audience. When done correctly, it fosters meaningful connections with your followers and enables you to improve brand awareness across multiple platforms.
Over the last two decades, social media has emerged as one of the most effective marketing channels for organizations. More than five billion people browse socials daily, and it is crucial for businesses to create an effective social media content strategy to reach their intended audiences.
Building an effective content plan for social media will depend on a lot of factors such as the social media management tools you use, the content you create, your audience’s preferred platforms, and so on.
Many B2C and B2B businesses don’t have a documented content marketing strategy, which is why their presence on social media channels generates limited added value.
How To Create a Social Media Content Strategy in 7 Steps
- Step #1: Audit your socials
- Step #2: Set achievable and measurable goals
- Step #3: Research and understand your audience
- Step #4: Learn about your competition
- Step #5: Establish the vital metrics and KPIs
- Step #6: Create high-quality content
- Step #7: Track social media performance
Step #1: Audit Your Socials
If you have existing business social media accounts, a critical first step is auditing your current presence on these platforms. Generate quantitative and qualitative data on your previous posts to guide your strategy moving forward.
You can export your data directly from Meta Business Suite, LinkedIn Business, and other platforms. You can also use top social media tools like Sprout Social, Buffer, and Zoho Social to access account analytics. Then, assess your previous efforts and identify areas for improvement. Here’s how:
- Review each account and ensure profile pictures, contact information, bios, links, and other basic details are up-to-date and consistent.
- Identify the top-performing posts on each platform and determine why they received higher engagement than others. Note what worked so you can incorporate it into your strategy moving forward.
- Analyze which content types (images, videos, infographics, etc.) generate the most engagement.
- Investigate factors that may have contributed to audience growth (or lack thereof) over time.
- Assess performance per channel and determine if resources are being used appropriately or spread too thin across too many platforms.
- Review paid ad targeting and overall performance to determine their effectiveness.
- Evaluate the overall return on investment (ROI) from your social media efforts and identify areas where you can optimize spending.
- Create a timeline for implementing changes to your social media content strategy.
Step #2: Set Achievable and Measurable Goals
A successful social media content strategy requires robust goal-setting. Here are some of the vital questions to ask in this stage:
- Do you want to increase brand awareness? This is the process of fostering familiarity between your product and social media users. It is a common goal for marketers who are about to announce a new product or simply want to make their presence more known in their niche.
- Do you want to boost brand engagement? This should be your priority if you’re getting less likes or traction than before. Creating interactive content suited for your audience can help with this.
- Do you want to drive traffic to your eCommerce site? This is possible through social media ads, and you can use them efficiently to track and target your audience.
Clearly outline what you want to achieve within a specific period. SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) objectives will drive your strategy and help you maintain your focus.
Here’s an example of a SMART goal for brand engagement:
Increase social shares on Instagram (specific) by 20% (measurable and achievable given current resources) in the next quarter (time-bound). More shares mean increased audience reach, which can lead to more conversions and sales (relevant to a broader business goal to boost revenue).
Step #3: Research and Understand Your Audience
Researching your audience and using hard data is key to creating a robust social media content strategy. Use the following methods to learn more about your target audience and how to engage them:
- Direct feedback: Post surveys and polls on your social media channels to gather information about your followers’ preferences, interests, and how they perceive your brand.
- Social media analytics: Use social media tools to learn about the people engaging with your brand across platforms.
- Social listening: Monitor conversations related to your brand and industry to understand your audience’s interests, preferences, and opinions on particular topics and trends.
- Online resources: Leverage resources like Social Media Today and benchmark reports from industry leaders to gather broader market insights.
Step #4: Learn About Your Competition
By examining your competitors’ social media activities, you can perform a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis and refine your own strategy. Here are some key steps to follow:
4.1. Identify Key Competitors
Divide your competitors into three categories:
- Direct competition: Those who target the same audience and have similar offerings.
- Indirect competition: Those who share a similar target audience but do not offer the same products or services.
- Emerging competitors: These are new entrants gaining traction in your industry.
4.2. Evaluate Competitors’ Social Media Presence
Identify which platforms they are active on and evaluate metrics like likes, shares, and comments. It is also important to answer these questions:
- Top-performing content: Which content type or format gained the most engagement and reach? What qualities made these posts particularly successful?
- Content types: Do they post mostly photos or videos? Do they focus on informational or promotional content? Would you engage with their posts if you were a follower?
- Engagement strategies: Do they respond to all comments? Do they solicit user-generated content? Do they partner with micro-influencers in your shared niche?
- Paid ads: What types of ads do they run? How much do they spend? Do they focus on purchases, signups, or awareness?
- Hashtags: Do they leverage popular industry hashtags or tap into trending conversations? Do they have a branded hashtag that’s garnering thousands of impressions?
4.3. Analyze Competitors’ Audience Demographics
Determine what types of audiences your competitors are engaging with. Identify potential gaps or opportunities to capture segments they don’t particularly focus on. Furthermore, track audience sentiment (positive, negative, or neutral) to evaluate how well their content resonates with their followers.
Step #5: Establish the Vital Metrics and KPIs
Social media metrics and KPIs are essential for evaluating how well your strategy is performing. They help you determine if you’re on your way to achieving the goals you set and help you adjust accordingly otherwise. Some of the most important metrics to monitor include:
5.1. Awareness
Measuring brand awareness helps you understand how your brand is perceived by your target audience. You can gain insights into the effectiveness of your content strategy on different platforms and determine whether your messaging resonates. Additionally, you can gauge your competitive position and strategize more effectively within your niche.
KPIs for brand awareness involve the following metrics:
- Impressions: The number of times your content is displayed, but not necessarily clicked or engaged with in any way.
- Reach: The number of unique users who have seen your content. This metric helps you assess the true size of your audience.
- Share of voice: The percentage of all online content and conversations about your brand compared to your competitors across all platforms. It is a good illustration of your market position.
5.2. Engagement
Engagement is another key indicator of social media success and how well your content resonates with your target audience. By measuring engagement, you can identify which types of content perform best and produce more of what your followers enjoy.
Engagement KPIs consist of the following metrics:
- Likes: This simple metric clearly indicates a post’s resonance with the audience.
- Comments: These go a step beyond a simple “like,” in that the user felt compelled to chime in and share their thoughts on your post. Comments provide insights into your audience’s preferences.
- Social shares: These indicate strong approval from your audience and extend your post’s reach.
- Engagement rate: The ratio of engagements to impressions gives you a picture of how engaged your audience is.
5.3. Conversions
Converting engaged social media followers and website visitors into paying customers is the most important goal for all digital marketing strategies. Conversion KPIs will help you assess campaign ROI and enable more efficient use of your resources in the future.
Measuring social media conversions involves these primary metrics:
- Conversion rate: This is the ratio of conversions to visitors from social media.
- Revenue: This includes the number of sales conversions from social media clicks.
- Non-revenue conversions: This tracks conversions that do not involve direct sales, such as filling out a form to attend a webinar or signing up for a brand’s newsletter for updates.
Step #6: Create High-Quality Content
This is what the previous steps led up to. Content is the king of your social media strategy. Some types of content that have been proven to bring results are:
- Short-Form Videos: These are the best-performing content types, especially at a time when video consumption has increased, and the average consumer’s attention span has shortened. Videos are extremely effective ways of boosting engagement.
- Images: High-quality product images and graphics grab attention and engage audiences on social media.
- Carousels: Combine multiple images and videos in one post to provide detailed information about your offerings or a certain topic.
- User-generated content: Share photos, videos, or stories created by your own customers to foster trust in your brand.
A specific theme helps populate your content calendar for months. You can center your content on a certain topic for a week or two and find interesting ways to discuss it across various platforms. Make sure it is relevant to your audience and your niche.
You can also incorporate influencer marketing into your strategy to increase your content’s reach and effectiveness.
Step #7: Track Social Media Performance
Conduct regular performance reviews to assess the effectiveness of your social media content strategy. Compare real-time results against your business objectives and adjust your strategy based on the data you’ve collected.
You can use native analytics and third-party tools to monitor detailed information about engagement, audience demographics, brand mentions, and more. These tools enable the creation of custom dashboards and comprehensive reports for your team.
Analyze which content types, hashtags, and posting schedules generate the most engagement. Test variations of your content across different platforms to see which versions perform best on each channel.
Why Do You Need a Social Media Content Plan?
A social media content plan is more than just a schedule of posts — it’s a strategic tool that can enhance your online presence, save costs, and deliver your desired results. Here are some of its key benefits in detail:
1. Saves Time and Increases Efficiency
A detailed social media content plan can save time in the following ways:
- Organized content creation: When you plan ahead, you can focus all your time and energy on creating high-quality content. You don’t need to scramble for ideas at the last minute.
- Automated scheduling: You can leverage tools to schedule posts in advance.
- Efficient collaboration: All team members know what needs to be done and when, ensuring smooth collaboration among creators, designers, managers, etc.
- Long-term planning: You can focus on long-term strategy and maximize your resources instead of rushing to get things done.
2. Supports Business Objectives
A solid content strategy helps align your social media efforts with your business goals. Planning, creating, and sharing content in a structured way ensures each piece contributes to your brand’s overall goals.
By planning content, you can make your posts more engaging and effective across multiple platforms. Additionally, reaching the right audience at the right time increases engagement and drives conversions.
3. Delivers Measurable Results
Setting SMART goals and defining relevant KPIs and metrics ensure that every element of your social media content strategy is primed to deliver results. This way, you can easily measure progress and make adjustments as needed
A content plan also supports data-driven decision-making through performance monitoring and A/B testing. You can identify areas for improvement and ensure that future content will perform better.
4 Expert Tips for Creating a Social Media Marketing Plan
A successful social media content strategy involves strategic thinking, creativity, and a deep understanding of your audience. Here are some expert tips to craft an effective plan:
- Choose the appropriate platforms
- Maintain a content calendar
- Utilize paid advertising
- Engage with your audience
1. Choose the Appropriate Platforms
Focus on the social media platforms that align with your target audience and business objectives. Each platform has its unique strengths, and it is important to adapt your content strategy to leverage the corresponding features and audience demographics.
Use the following data to inform your social content strategy:
| Platform | Monthly active users | Gender distribution | Largest age group | Content types |
| Over 3 billion | 43.2% female, 56.8% male | 25 to 34 years old (31.1%) | Photos, carousels, videos, Reels, Stories, Live | |
| 2.5 billion | 49.4% female, 50.6% male | 18 to 24 years old (31.7%) | Photos, carousels, videos, Reels, Stories, Live | |
| TikTok | Over 2 billion | 45.7% female, 54.3% male | 18 to 24 years old (36.2%) | Videos, photos, Live |
| X/Twitter | Over 600 million | 39.1% female, 60.9% male | 25 to 34 years old (36.6%) | Text, photos, videos, Live |
| YouTube | 2.5 billion | 45.7% female, 54.3% male | 25 to 34 years old (21.2%) | Videos, Shorts, Live |
| 1 billion members | 43.6% female, 56.4% male | 25 to 34 years old (50.6%) | Text, images, videos | |
| Over 500 million | 69.4% female, 22.6% male, 8% unspecified | 25 to 34 years old (30.9%) | Images |
2. Maintain a Content Calendar
Create a content calendar that outlines what you will post, when, and on which platforms. Mix different types of content, such as informational posts, promotions, interactive posts, user-generated content, and more, to keep your audience engaged in the long run.
A content calendar will help ensure consistency and alignment with relevant holidays or events.
3. Utilize Paid Advertising
Paid ads on social media offer robust targeting options to reach your desired audience. Your marketing goals will guide the ad format and best targets for your ads.
Optimize visuals for the platform’s ad requirements and write clear, concise ad copy with a strong call-to-action that will entice audiences to click. Use A/B testing to determine the best-performing copy, formats, and targets for your ad campaigns. Track paid ad metrics and adjust your ad strategy depending on performance.
4. Engage With Your Audience
Audience engagement is crucial for building relationships with potential customers, fostering brand loyalty, and creating a vibrant community around your brand. Here are some ways to achieve this:
- Respond to mentions, comments, and messages as quickly as possible. These responses should be tailored to the context of the inquiry.
- Post open-ended questions in your content and invite your followers to share their own thoughts and opinions.
- Polls and surveys are interactive elements that can generate substantial engagement and help you collect valuable audience data.
- Livestreams on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok enable you to engage with your audience in real time.
3 Best Examples of Content Strategy for Social Media Marketing
The best examples of brands leveraging social media with excellent content strategies offer valuable insights for marketers. Here are three brands that have excelled in this area:
1. Gillette: The Best Men Can Be
The men’s skincare and grooming brand, Gillette, demonstrated that a social media content strategy can go beyond just marketing a product. In 2019, it launched a YouTube ad titled, “The Best Men Can Be.”
The ad addressed the conventional concept of masculinity by showing how men question and struggle with these stereotypes. It conveyed the message that not all men are the same, and they should support each other in setting positive examples for the next generation.
The ad responded to the #MeToo movement and acknowledged the role of toxic masculinity in the current environment. The campaign also included a three-year commitment to donate $1 million annually to non-profit organizations addressing these issues.
The ad garnered over 23 million views in the first week and sparked productive and meaningful social conversations.
2. Apple: #ShotOniPhone
Apple launched the #ShotOniPhone campaign on social media in 2015 to promote the iPhone 6S release, and it has since become a major part of all iPhone releases.
The hashtag advertises the iPhone camera’s features, improvements, different functions, and the many ways it can be used to capture life’s moments and milestones. It also cleverly encourages users to share their content across different visual platforms.
After nine years, the campaign continues to be a rousing success, with the hashtag generating over 30 million posts on Instagram. The latest iteration, Shot on iPhone 15 Pro, has over 18 million views on YouTube.
3. Loot Crate
Loot Crate does an amazing job with its social media content strategy by knowing its audience. It is a subscription service that sends a box of curated items to its customers, targeting fans of popular franchises like Harry Potter, Marvel, Fallout, Cartoon Network, and more.
The brand’s Instagram posts combine high-quality product photos, pop culture memes, unboxing videos, and trending topics that engage audiences. It has gained over 630,000 followers on Instagram and more than 230,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Social Media Content Strategy Takeaways
Building a social media content strategy for your business is both immensely valuable and daunting. This guide aims to help you in developing a solid social media strategy with valuable, engaging, and relevant content that drives engagement and conversions.
Alternatively, consider partnering with the top social media marketing agencies to take your marketing efforts to the next level!
Social Media Content Strategy FAQs
1. What are the key elements of social media content strategy?
Key elements of social media content strategy are:
- Custom content plan aligned with your goals
- Achievable and measurable goals
- Target audience research
- Metrics and KPIs to track your progress
- High-quality content
2. What content works best on social media?
High-quality images, short-form video content, and live streams are popular and effective content types in 2024. Hopping on fun social media trends also leads to more engagement. Furthermore, audiences respond to authentic content that represents brand values.
3. How does a social media content strategy increase social media reach?
A well-executed social media content strategy ensures your content is optimized to resonate with your audience and is distributed effectively across multiple platforms. A consistent posting schedule, optimal timing, diverse content formats, and active community engagement are important elements that increase social media reach.
