Social Media Strategy Checklist

<aside> ✔️ Overview of Social Media Strategy:

A social media strategy is a plan for how a business or organization will use social media to achieve its goals. It involves identifying target audiences, creating content that resonates with those audiences, and engaging with followers and other users. A social media strategy is important for each social media platform because it helps to ensure that a business is using the platform in a way that aligns with its broader goals and objectives. Without a strategy, it can be easy to spend time and resources on social media activity that doesn't actually drive meaningful results. By developing a clear social media strategy, businesses can ensure that their efforts on social media are focused and effective.

Go through the checklist on the right-hand side of this template to put together a social media strategy. Remember that you should have a different strategy per social media platform, as their target audiences and engagement strategies will be different!

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<aside> 1️⃣ AUDIT:

A social media audit is a valuable tool for ensuring that your social media strategy is optimized to meet your business goals. It’s important because it allows you to take a step back and evaluate your current social media presence. By conducting an audit, you can identify what is and isn't working in your current strategy, which in turn can help you make more informed decisions about where to focus your efforts going forward. Additionally, an audit can help you identify areas where you may be falling behind your competitors or missing out on opportunities to engage with your audience. If you do not have any social media presence in place, then skip this step.

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<aside> 1️⃣ AUDIT:

[ ] Identify all social media accounts and platforms currently in use
[ ] Review account information and ensure it is up-to-date and accurate
[ ] Analyze engagement metrics, such as likes, comments, and shares, to determine which content performs best
[ ] Evaluate follower demographics and assess whether they align with ideal client [SAVE THIS INFO FOR PERSONA BUILDING]
[ ] Check for consistency in branding and messaging across all social media accounts </aside>

<aside> 2️⃣ GOALS:

Setting clear social media goals is an essential step in creating an effective social media strategy. By defining specific and measurable goals, you can focus your efforts and ensure that your social media activity is aligned with your broader business objectives. Without clear goals, it can be difficult to measure the success of your social media activity, or to identify areas for improvement. Additionally, writing out your goals can help to communicate your strategy to other stakeholders within your organization, and ensure that everyone is aligned and working towards the same objectives.

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<aside> 2️⃣ GOALS:

[ ] Define specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals
[ ] Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress towards goals
[ ] Make sure to create short term and long term goals & check in with them quarterly
[ ] Align goals with broader business objectives
[ ] Write out goals to communicate and ensure alignment with stakeholders </aside>

<aside> 3️⃣ TARGET AUDIENCE PERSONAS:

Identifying target audience personas is an important step in developing an effective social media strategy. Personas are fictional representations of your ideal customers or followers, and they help to ensure that your messaging and content resonates with your target audience. When creating personas, it's important to consider factors such as age, gender, location, interests, and pain points. By understanding your target audience's needs and preferences, you can tailor your messaging and content to better meet their needs and increase engagement. Creating well-defined target audience personas can also help to guide decisions around which social media platforms to focus on, what type of content to create, and how to engage with your audience.

Check out our free target audience persona template on the main hub or HERE

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<aside> 3️⃣ TARGET AUDIENCE PERSONAS:

[ ] Identify key demographic information, such as age, gender, location, and income
[ ] Determine the specific pain points and challenges that your target audience faces
[ ] Consider the goals and aspirations of your target audience
[ ] Identify the values, beliefs, and attitudes that your target audience holds
[ ] Determine where your target audience spends their time online and what social media platforms they use
[ ] Consider the type of content that your target audience is most likely to engage with
[ ] Use the information gathered to create 2-3 distinct target audience personas that represent your ideal customers or followers

Don't forget to check out our free target audience persona template on the main hub or HERE.

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<aside> 4️⃣ CHOOSING BEST PLATFORMS:

When choosing the best social media platforms for your business, it's important to consider your target audience personas. Look at the demographic information you've gathered and determine which platforms are most popular among your target audience. For example, if your ideal customers are primarily aged 18-24, you may want to focus on platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, or TikTok. On the other hand, if your target audience is primarily professionals, LinkedIn may be the best platform to focus on. It's also important to consider the type of content that performs well on each platform and whether it aligns with your content strategy. Finally, consider the resources you have available to manage your social media presence and whether you have the bandwidth to maintain a presence on multiple platforms.

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<aside> 4️⃣ CHOOSING BEST PLATFORMS:

[ ] Identify target audience personas that relate to your products and services
[ ] Research social media platforms most popular among target audience
[ ] Consider type of content that performs well on each platform and whether it aligns with content strategy
[ ] Assess resources available to manage social media presence and whether there is bandwidth to maintain a presence on multiple platforms </aside>

<aside> 5️⃣ CONTENT BUCKETS AND PILLARS:

Content buckets and pillars are two important concepts in creating an effective social media content strategy. Content buckets refer to the broad categories of content that you want to create, such as educational content, promotional content, or inspiring content. These buckets should align with your overall content strategy and goals. Content pillars, on the other hand, are the specific themes or topics that set your business apart from your competition. For example, your buisness may have buckets such as: educational, entertaining and connecting while also talking about your pillars: social media strategy, target audience personas, and small business marketing.

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<aside> 5️⃣ CONTENT BUCKETS AND PILLARS:

[ ] Identify 3-5 content buckets that align with overall content strategy and goals
[ ] Determine specific themes or topics that set your business apart from your competition (content pillars)
[ ] Ensure content pillars align with overall business objectives
[ ] Develop a content calendar that incorporates both content buckets and content pillars
[ ] Create content that aligns with both content buckets and content pillars </aside>

<aside> 6️⃣ ORGANIC ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY:

Organic engagement strategy refers to the methods used to increase engagement on social media without relying on paid advertising. This can include tactics such as creating high-quality content, engaging with followers and other users, and using hashtags and other tools to increase visibility. A successful organic engagement strategy can lead to increased brand awareness, more followers, and ultimately, more sales or conversions. It's important to continually analyze engagement metrics and adjust your strategy accordingly to ensure maximum effectiveness.

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<aside> 6️⃣ ORGANIC ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY:

[ ] Check TTSMA social channels for up to date tips on platform specific organic engagement stragegies
[ ] Create high-quality content that aligns with content buckets and content pillars
[ ] Engage with followers and other users
[ ] Use hashtags and other tools to increase visibility
[ ] Continually analyze engagement metrics and adjust strategy accordingly </aside>

<aside> 7️⃣ TRACKING AND MEASURING:

Tracking and measuring social media analytics is an essential step in evaluating the success of your social media strategy. By analyzing engagement metrics such as likes, comments, shares, and click-through rates, you can determine which content performs best and adjust your strategy accordingly. Additionally, tracking metrics such as follower growth and website traffic can help you to understand the impact of your social media activity on broader business objectives. It's important to regularly review and analyze social media analytics to ensure that your strategy is effective and aligned with your goals.

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<aside> 7️⃣ TRACKING AND MEASURING:

[ ] Record key performance indicators (KPIs) from goals section to measure progress towards social media goals
[ ] Determine which social media analytics tools to use (e.g., Google Analytics, Hootsuite, etc.)
[ ] Regularly track and analyze engagement metrics, such as likes, comments, saves, shares, views and click-through rates
[ ] Analyze follower growth and website traffic to determine the impact of social media activity on broader business objectives
[ ] Adjust social media strategy based on insights gained from analytics
[ ] Review and analyze social media analytics regularly to ensure that the strategy is effective and aligned with goals </aside>