What Makes An Idea Social Media Strategy?

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Navigating the ever-evolving landscape of social media can be a daunting task for businesses, and crafting an effective social media strategy is way more than just posting content; it’s about creating a dynamic plan that resonates with your audience and drives meaningful engagement.

If you’re a business seeking to strengthen your social media presence, navigating the vast landscape of platforms and trends (hello TikTok and Reels!) might seem like a daunting task. So, we’ve pulled together our top 10 tips that makes an ideal social media strategy. And to find out more about how we can support with your social, pop the team a message.

1. Understanding Your Audience

A successful social media strategy begins with a deep understanding of your target audience. Who are they? What do they care about?

Tailor your content to meet their needs, interests, and pain points. Knowing your audience allows you to tailor content that not only attracts attention but fosters a genuine connection.

How do you do this? Conduct surveys, analyse social media insights, and actively listen to the conversations happening in your industry. By aligning your strategy with your audience, you create a connection that goes beyond just marketing.

 

2. Have Clear Objectives

 You’ll want to define your social media objectives clearly, ensuring they align with your overall business goals. Are you aiming to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, or gain a larger following?

Establishing specific and measurable objectives helps you track your progress and adjust your strategy as needed. Remember, the more precise your goals, the easier it is to determine the success of your social media efforts at the end!

 

3. Consistent Brand Voice

 Maintaining a consistent brand voice across all platforms is the bedrock of successful social media communication. Whether your tone is professional, witty, or informative – ensure it aligns seamlessly with your brand identity. Brands like Innocent and Ryanair are a great example of this. Consistency builds brand recognition and fosters trust among your audience. It’s not just about what you say, it’s about how you say it across every interaction you have.

 

4. Content Variety

 The ideal social media strategy won’t advise a copy and paste job every week. Diversify your content to keep your audience engaged and interested. Share a mix of static regular content, written content, and reels/videos. Instagram Reels have become a major player in the social media scene lately, catching our keen eye as a noteworthy trend. So, we highly recommend kicking off your social media journey right there!

Business content and behind-the-scenes glimpses add a human touch to a brand. The digital landscape is dynamic, and so should be your content. Embrace trends, experiment with formats, and always keep an eye on what resonates most with your audience. Have fun with it – and things may just perfectly fall into place.

 

5. Strategic Posting Schedule

 Timing is crucial in social media. Analyse when your audience is most active on each platform and schedule your posts accordingly. Consistency is key, so establish a posting schedule that aligns with your audience’s habits.

Use scheduling tools to plan your content in advance, allowing you to maintain a steady flow of posts without being tied to your screen.

At Source, we use software for our clients to guarantee the consistent delivery of their social media posts, precisely at the times when their audience is most engaged. It works really well and we’d absolutely suggest including this to craft the ideal social media strategy.

 

6. Engagement and Community Building

An effective social media strategy goes beyond broadcasting messages; it involves active engagement. Respond to comments, messages, and mentions promptly. Foster a sense of community by encouraging discussions and user-generated content. Acknowledge your audience’s input, showcase user testimonials, and make them feel like valued contributors to your brand. A thriving community not only enhances brand loyalty but also extends your organic reach.

 

7. Utilise Analytics

Regularly analyse social media analytics to track your performance. This can help you identify what’s working well and areas that need improvement. Analytics provide valuable insights into audience behaviour, content performance, and platform effectiveness. By using this data, you can refine your approach and maximize the impact of your social media efforts.

 

8. Embrace Adaptability

In the dynamic world of social media, trends and features pop up regularly, shaping the landscape swiftly.

Keep your finger on the pulse of trends, algorithm shifts, and emerging platforms. Ready yourself to adjust your strategy, embracing fresh opportunities and tackling challenges in the ever-evolving digital terrain. Flexibility is your secret weapon; so be willing to experiment with new formats, platforms, and engagement techniques.

 

9. Incorporating Visual Appeal

Visuals are powerful in capturing your audience’s attention. If you want to promote your business as high quality, investing in high-quality images and graphics will reflect your brand aesthetic.

Eye-catching visuals can significantly enhance the impact of your social media content, so experiment with different types of visuals, from infographics to behind-the-scenes snapshots. Consistency in visual style contributes to brand recognition, making your content instantly identifiable in a crowded feed.

At the same time though, while beautiful photography portrays your brand well, we’ve also found that some of our best performing Reels and TikToks are just filmed on an iPhone. Users like authenticity as much as they enjoy beautiful aesthetics.

 

10. Strategic Partnerships

Finally, consider collaborations and partnerships with influencers or other brands in your industry.

This can extend your reach and introduce your brand to new audiences. Authentic partnerships resonate well with audiences and can lead to mutual benefits. Choose partners whose values align with yours, ensuring a seamless integration that feels organic to both your brand and theirs.

This is another arm of what we do here at Source PR. We find that strategic partnerships can really enhance your overall following and engagement – so we offer these collaborations to many of our clients and have been able to build great relationships with local influencers too.

 

 

As a business, its pivotal to recognise that the ever-evolving landscape of social media demands a strategic and adaptive approach. Navigating through trends, engaging with dynamic content, and fostering connections with your audience are integral components of a successful digital presence.

 

Within our agency one of our most popular services is seamlessly handling your social media, tailoring strategies that align with you and your business goals. If you are interested in finding out more on how we can help with your social strategy, drop us a message.

When’s It Time To Hire Help For Your Social?

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It’s often said that managing social media is like making a cocktail, anyone can do it but not everyone can do it well. Doing social media effectively, effort and knowledge of the platforms so here we outline some tips for businesses who think they might be ready to get some additional help with their social.

If you or your senior team members are spending more time on social media then on the jobs they excel at, then, it may be time for you to hire help for your social.

If your business is growing but your social media pages don’t quite match up to that, it may be time for you to hire help for your social.

If you’re finding it hard to keep up to date with all the ongoing social media trends, it may be time for you to hire help for your social.

And… If you don’t have any social media at all but want to get your name out there in the digital, then we think it’s definitely time for you to hire help for your social.

What Should You Look For?

When looking to choose a social media agency, we would suggest that you consider the following checklist:

  1. Specialist experts – Do they have dedicated experts available to support and understand your businesses aims and objectives as well as having knowledge of the platforms you are looking to use? Social media platforms are constantly changing and updating to ensure users get the right experience.  Your team needs to be ahead of the curve so your brand is able to cut through and stand out.
  2. Do they know your industry? Do they understand the sector you work in or are they willing to learn? You may not want to hire a social media agency that is handling a competitor’s account but it is useful if they understand the sector and have some experience in it. If that’s not possible to find the right fit, it’s important to have a team that has the right attitude to learning and can support you with real and relevant advice.
  3. Do they have the right tools? It’s not just about creating engaging posts, it’s about working efficiently, monitoring the channels and tracking engagement.  Whether scheduling posts, creating graphics or improving video or images – make sure they have the right tools of the trade to make social media management as efficient and effective as possible.
  4. Are they on hand to react? Social media can change quickly, whether reacting to a negative issue or boosting viral content, the team needs to be on hand and responsive. Although posts may be scheduled a week in advance, the best teams are those who are also able to react to opportunities or trends that present themselves.
  5. Do they plan and are they proactive? The social media agency needs to take the time to understand your business so they can be creative and plan effective campaigns. Have a team that selects the trends, offers creative suggestions and advice, and delivers on a weekly basis. As always, we advise being on the front foot with communications.
  6. Check their track record. When looking for a social media agency, ask for some case studies that show the work that they do or even their own social media accounts.  A good social media agency should be more than willing to share their successes.

Why Getting Help is Important

But why is it so important to get your social media right?

Social media offers businesses an unparalleled opportunity to reach and engage with audiences wherever they may be. But first, you must understand who your audiences are and where they are found.

Taking a brief look at the demographics of each social media platform will help a business choose which platform is right for them.

Facebook is still one of the largest platforms amongst marketers and consumers, accounting for nearly 60% of Meta’s income compared to Instagram. However, the platforms continue to evolve and amongst younger users Snapchat and TikTok are now the predominant channels.

Instagram has reportedly more than 2bn users, with 30% being made up for the 18-24 age group with the average user spending more than half an hour on the platform each day.  Although the platform may be feeling pressure from TikTok, its decision to push Reels and short videos has reinvigorated and increased the platform’s engagement levels.

Instagram is increasingly being used as a gateway to support e-commerce and nearly 60% of businesses aim to use the platform for this purpose in the next 12 months (already more than $43bn was spent via the platform last year).

TikTok is growing and growing quickly, particularly amongst the slightly younger audience.  The site is also accessed by users daily with an average of 45 minutes spent on the site each day.  As the site ‘matures’ we’re likely to see it become more business orientated and as the users age with the platform we may see further changes to the video format and content used.

There is much change happening at Twitter and this is likely to continue until the company’s leadership decides in which direction to take the business.  It is however still a powerful platform and remains the space to be if wanting to discuss breaking news or to share opinions and thoughts.  More than a third of Twitter users have been to university and the platform is increasingly attracting a high-earning and well-educated base.

Elon Musk deciding what to do with Twitter?

For B2B clients, LinkedIn remains the premier platform with more than 930m users worldwide.  It remains predominantly male (57%) and has a slightly older demographic, with a third aged between 30 and 39.  It is however a highly engaged platform with two-thirds (63%) accessing the platform each week and nearly a quarter (22%) accessing daily.

There are numerous other platforms to consider whether Snapchat, Pinterest or others but when working with a social media agency they should also help spend time understanding your audiences and how best to engage with them.  This can include an audit of existing platforms and an action plan to take the business forward to capitalise on the opportunities.

If you’re looking to choose a social media agency, get in touch and let us walk you through the world of social media and how together we can build engagement, awareness and opportunity for your business.

Fake News & Clickbait… Who’s Views Are You Getting On Social Media?

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One of my favourite adverts back in the 1990s was from The Independent newspaper (now the i-newspaper of course). The ad drew the reader’s attention to the fact that the majority of large mainstream newspapers back in the day were owned and operated by ‘media moguls’.

The advert cleverly printed ‘Conrad Black’ into the same font and layout of the famous Daily Telegraph and the name ‘Rupert Murdock’ into The Times mast head.  The objective being that they were trying to convey that the newspapers were anything but independent and instead simply portraying the views of their owners and paymaster generals.

Historically, Britain has proudly had one of the freest and boldest press corps in the world that rightfully and skilfully has ‘held power to account without fear of favour’.  The highlighting of the newspaper ownership therefore resonated with me as we were often advised (when studying history at university) to look at the author of the work before determining any bias to the information presented.

As technologies and 24 hour news cycles developed, the pressures on newspapers to keep up has been intense.  Not only have they seen significant drops in readership that have led to a corresponding drop in revenue, but we are also seeing strategies that undermine the quality of the news presented in an effort to attract readers to more sensational stories – otherwise known as clickbait.

The sad reality however is that newspapers are not winning.  Recent research now shows the impact social media is having on not only everyday life but also on what we view, believe and how we consume information.

On average, UK consumers already spend an hour and 52 minutes every day on social media, with over half of them using the platforms to post or send private messages (56%) and to stay in touch with family and friends (53%).

Interestingly, nearly 8 out of 10 (79%) of 16 to 24 year olds say that social media is their main source of news.  Due to the open platform nature of social media, the quality and content of this news is very hard to regulate and there have been numerous cases of alleged ‘fake news’ whether relating to the US elections, Covid management or celebrity stories.

Although UK law allows users to report illicit content to the police, there is currently no legislation covering social media regulation nor the publication of ‘fake news’. The process of putting in place a form of regulation has been in progress for quite some time, however it has received heavy criticism for long delays in its implementation.

The Online Harms Bill, first proposed by Theresa May’s government in April 2019, sets out strict guidelines governing the removal of illegal content such as terrorist material or media that promotes suicide. Social networking sites must obey these rules or face being blocked in the UK.  This may be all well and good but there is disagreement as to where to draw the line between ‘harmful’ and free speech and who will be responsible for policing the content which is likely to be a much more complex affair.

The recent Covid pandemic highlighted just how complex the issue is.  Faced with a serious threat to public health, the government looked to ‘control the narrative’ both in mainstream media and also online. Many of the legacy media outlets towed the line with regard to messaging, in part due to government media spend, and also through their ‘public duty’ however social media platforms came under scrutiny over the content of posts that were shared.

In some cases the platforms were accused of sharing ‘conspiracy theories’ that challenged the narrative, while those sharing the alternative views felt that they had their accounts arbitrarily cancelled or ‘shadow banned’ where the content of their posts did not reach their usual audiences.  By May 2021, Facebook’s fact checking team had removed 16 million pieces of content and added warnings to around 167 million posts. YouTube removed more than 850 000 videos related to “dangerous or misleading Covid-19 medical information.”

This raises the question as to who are the fact checkers and what medical or specialist knowledge do they have to undertake their roles?  Professor Sander van der Linden, a professor of social psychology in society at Cambridge University comments: “I think it’s quite dangerous for scientific content to be labelled as misinformation, just because of the way people might perceive that.”

This naturally leads to the question on who is determining what is right or wrong on social platforms as this in turn leads to what can and can’t be shared.

We have already seen the democratically elected President of the United States banned on Twitter.  If a company’s executive team are calling the shots on essentially who has a voice or not, this has serious implications.  The new owner, Mr Musk, has also introduced a subscription cost to Twitter, suggestion those who don’t cough up will have their accounts effectively silenced.  It begs the question as to what other topics or views could be silenced if they don’t marry with his agenda?

 

Fake news & Click bait - Trump banned from Twitter

Fake news & Click bait – Trump banned from Twitter

Twitter is not alone, TikTok is facing a total US ban because of its Chinese ownership (with the US government afraid of data being shared with a malign body and the potential influence it could have on a population).  If this happens I would expect other countries to follow.

The algorithms of the platforms already favour certain content over others and decide who has their views shared over others.  This is most apparent in how businesses now essentially need to pay to be heard on any platform. As the saying goes, “If you are not paying for it, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold.”

With more than 12.5bn hours collectively spent by the UK population on social media in 2021 (or an equivalent of 1.4million years for one person!) and five out of the top 20 websites being social platforms, social content undoubtedly has the biggest influence on today’s population.

As social media and their platform’s owners become more powerful, just as it was back in the 1990s with newspapers, we all need to consider who really owns these platforms, as this massively influences what we watch, listen to read and absorb.

Why Social Media Management Is Necessary For Your Brand

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Social media management has dramatically changed the way we interact with each other, with business developing and changing marketing strategies to incorporate social media trends with many now using it as a key element of their marketing strategy.

Social media management has become one of the most important tools in the marketing world and is now one of the most important pieces of armoury in any business’ arsenal. But, with so many types of social media channels available to you and your brand, it can be difficult to know where to begin!

For example, did you know in the Social Media Advertising segment alone, the number of users is expected to rise to 65.23m by 2027?  These numbers can be daunting if you’re trying to compete for visibility across multiple platforms.

But, this also clearly shows how important social media has become for businesses today, whether they’re consumer-focused or B2B.

We can appreciate how many in-house employees often must manage social platforms whilst also carrying out their other duties. Although commendable, the ever-growing and changing nature of the platforms means that to grow your presence and engage with audiences time is also needed to understand the platforms not just post posts.

This is where a social media agency can step in! Let’s take a look at 5 ways a social media agency can help your company.

1. Ever Changing Social Landscape

A social media agency can keep track of any algorithm changes and new trends within the platform, but also adapt your business strategy and content based on the latest updates.

In addition, a social media management team will be evaluating new platforms and consider what strategies should be put in place for clients to successfully adopt new platforms.

Take TikTok for example. A booming new social media platform that has taken the world by storm. As of January 2023, TikTok has a total of 1.53 billion users, yes billion! The site is used all over the world, not just by the general public, but by a large number of brands and businesses. So, it may be worth considering advice whether it’s right for you and your business.

A social media company should be agile with the ever-changing platforms, so they can evolve campaigns to meet the opportunities presented and provide the content needed to meet the specific goals.  For consumer brands TikTok marketing should certainly be considered as part of a strategy these days.

2. Keeping Your Customers Engaged

Believe it or not, social media posts aren’t just put out at random. If done correctly, weekly, content is scheduled on set days and times to best engage with your customers / following.

Social media companies also look at a range of different ways to engage your customers by creating relevant, authentic, engaging content that will resonate with your audience, provide value to them, and keep them coming back.

Using a social media agency can help you to organise, plan, and schedule content regularly, so your platform always has positive engagement.

Regularly scheduled content will keep your business / brand featured on people’s feeds, not giving them time to forget that you exist! With the number of ads and competitor posts, your business must be promoting itself regularly, so you stay at the forefront of people’s minds.

3. Creating Reports & Tracking Stats

Social media is a numbers game. As social media managers, we can see every click, comment, share, and link back to brand websites. From this knowledge, we can see exactly what works for your brand, and well what doesn’t.

From these stats, we can create campaigns best suited to your brand to hit a higher engagement and following. At the end of every campaign, or month, it’s simple for social media agencies to extract this data and present it to a client in an understandable way. This way, both manager and client can come together and discuss tactics on what they liked and what can be improved.  With tracking social stats, we can always guarantee improvement with every campaign we run!

4. Protecting Your Reputation & Engaging With Customers

Social media is usually the first-place people go to ask a question or even make a complaint. Managing feedback on social media platforms is critically important – whether positive or negative – and having a team on stand-by to monitor and respond can be all important.

Engaging with customer comments and messages promotes a strong brand image and making sure the customer is seen and heard will always resonate positively with the public.

Keeping on top of this is extremely important, as you don’t want floods of comments with no replies, making your business look uninterested, this is where a social media manager from an agency can help cement a positive relationship with all your followers.

5. Social Growth

Social media is all about growth, the more followers you have, typically the more people are interested in your business. Over time, we expect to see growth across social pages, but this doesn’t come without the work.

As previously mentioned, regularly scheduled posts are key when it comes to showcasing your business. The trick is that the more people see your brand the more chance they will follow and engage. Social media managers can keep a concise message across your page, as well as keeping up to date on keywords, resources, and trends to ensure they develop the content best suited to your industry and your brand.

The more authentic and genuine your business is, the better it resonates with the general public. Organic long-term growth is what we love to see best for our clients!

I hope this blog has given you a better insight as to why managing social media is so important and giving this role to an expert can benefit you and your business in the long run.

Thinking of hiring a social media manager? Introducing Source PR – where our team of skilled professionals can take your social platform to the next level. If you’d like to find out more about how Source PR can support you, drop our friendly team a line. We’re always happy to chat.