beyond the main feed: building a successful social media strategy

To have the best chance at connecting with clients, businesses need to meet them where they are: on social platforms. However, you can’t just create a profile and post a few times expecting to see results. True social media success (and resulting brand growth) comes from building and following a strategy that aligns with your specific business goals. 

Building a social strategy with attainable goals requires careful planning, creation, implementation, and monitoring. That’s why many brands turn to agencies like Blue Seven Studio to help them navigate the complexities of social platforms through a fully custom approach. 

Navigating the social landscape 

To stand out on social platforms when so many brands are vying for the same attention and engagement, nothing is more important than consistent branding. 

While content might differ across platforms (shorter-form content on platforms like Instagram and Tiktok, longer-form content on platforms like Facebook, Linkedin, and YouTube, and highly visual content on platforms like Pinterest), consistent branding is the common thread that ties all your social media efforts together. If you can ingrain your voice, values, and visuals into consumers’ minds through everything you share, across any type of platform, you naturally create an identity that social media scrollers instantly recognize and attribute to your brand; that’s how you stand out and take up space in an incredibly crowded landscape. 

Considering the alternative, brands that neglect their social media efforts risk missed opportunities to engage with current and future customers, learn about key wants and needs, and discover actionable ways to grow their brand. 

Pillars of social success 

For many, the idea of building, creating, and maintaining a social presence can quickly become overwhelming. To help make the process more approachable, you can think of social media planning as three main pillars: 

Audit & Strategy

Before creating new content, take time to understand where your social strategy currently stands. Who is your current audience - and are they the intended audience for your brand? Is engagement where you’d like it to be? Where are you falling short? Use these questions as a guide when building a future strategy. 

During the strategy phase, keep your target consumer at the heart of all decisions - even if they’re not the same audience that’s currently engaging with your brand. If you’re looking to reach younger audiences instead of older generations, what are those consumers’ goals, frustrations, wants, and needs? Does your brand voice accurately ‘speak’ to your desired customers? 

This stage is crucial for long-term social platform success. While auditing and strategizing, you may even realize that certain platforms aren’t worth your time or monetary investment. Never rush this phase of social planning. Dedicate the time to carefully curate a unique strategy so you can create the right type of content that reaches the right audience. 

Content Creation & Execution 

This is the fun part, creating content for your brand! During the content creation phase with Blue Seven Studio, we’ll put together a strategy based on your brand’s specific goals and any findings from our audit. This includes coming up with copy, graphics & visuals, videos, and other engaging content that aligns with your objectives. 

Consider what’s going on with your brand and also what’s happening in the market as you think about the type of content you want to create and share. Are there fun trends going on that you can jump in on? Is there timely news that makes sense for your brand to address? Mixing elements of your brand with what’s happening in consumers’ lives makes you relatable and memorable. 

Most importantly, the work doesn’t stop once you hit ‘post’. Engaging with your audience through comments and messages is one of the best and easiest ways to foster brand loyalty and customer relationships. 

Reporting & Iterating 

As the third and final pillar to an effective social media strategy, take note of how your content performed after posting. Use key metrics like reach, impressions, and engagement to understand what worked and what didn’t. Good or bad, all social media performance feeds into helpful decision-making. Discuss findings in regular team meetings, brainstorming how to make adjustments and iterate on what didn’t quite hit the mark. 

Additional social considerations

Aside from the main pillars to social strategy, below are a few additional considerations to build a best-in-class social presence.

• Photography & Videography: Use professional visuals to enhance social presence. Social media is largely visual, so if your imagery isn’t standing out, users will quickly scroll right past. This is one of the best areas to invest in when building your social media strategy.

• Paid social / ad campaigns: With so much content available, sometimes you need a little extra push. Paid campaigns make sure your content reaches the right audience and is a very smart way to spend additional budget.

• Influencer matching / partnerships: There’s no denying that influencer culture is booming - and for good reason…it works! Consumers trust those they relate to, so when their favorite influencer is promoting a product, it’s falling on very impressionable ears.

• Cross-platform campaigns: You don’t have to limit yourself to one type of content or platform. Some of the best social strategies leverage a number of platforms to share their content in slightly different ways (e.g. a banner ad on Facebook and a short-form video on TikTok). Just remember - whichever platforms you choose and whatever type of content you create, always keep your brand voice, values, and visuals consistent. 

Sometimes it takes a while (and some trial and error) to find your social media ‘voice’ and niche, but we’re here to help! Schedule your free 30 minute consultation with our team: https://www.bluesevenstudio.com/schedule