Social media strategy. It’s the one thing that gets brought up in almost every conversation with small business I go into.
It makes sense, after all. Pre 2016, you could post a photo, write a small call-to-action, and then wait for the inquiries to roll in. Here’s the thing – that was almost 10 years ago! As much as I hate to say it, AI and algorithms have gotten incredibly advanced and social media is no longer the organic game it once was.
1% of your followers are seeing your posts on Instagram, Facebook, and other social channels. (TikTok is really good right now, but history has a tendency to repeat itself…)
Here’s the thing – social media is not going anywhere. It’s like Rock ‘n Roll. It’s here to stay.
Ok, Derek, if 1% of my followers are seeing what I share, what’s the point in posting?
Good question – because if your audience isn’t there, why would you spend your time on it? Always start with creating your avatar and curating your brand.
But if they are spending time there, then it may make sense to be there too. Luckily, there’s a way to win at social media, no matter what industry you are in.
The Ultimate Social Media Strategy
Click bait heading? Nope. Social media is the ultimate way to bypass any gatekeeper.
CEOs are on LinkedIn. Brides are on Instagram and TikTok. Small business owners are on all of the major platforms.
And guess what? Their DMs are open. Social media isn’t meant for selling though. It’s meant to be social.
Step-By-Step Strategy
I’m about to give you the step-by-step social media strategy B.Human uses to make connections with people. It’s connections that drive actions – whether that be making a sale, booking an appointment, or for the sake of vanity, gaining a new follower.
1. Post Awesome (Branded) Content
If you aren’t posting anything, then you have no proof of life. It’s simple as that. Disregard all algorithms and hashtags to use…posting anything shows you exist. However, we’re not about “posting anything.”
If you are going to do something, do it with intention.
The way you determine what you are going to post consistently is simply defining your pillars and your cadence (or how often you are going to post).
For a wedding photographer, it may look like:
- Personal (Monday)
- Engagement (Tuesday)
- Wedding (Wednesday)
- How-To (Thursday)
- Vendor Highlight (Friday)
- BTS (Saturday / Sunday)
A posting strategy for a coffee shop may include pillars like:
- Customer Appreciation (Monday)
- Seasonal Highlight (Tuesday)
- Barista Highlight (Wednesday)
- Coupon / Special (Thursday)
- Coffee Highlight (Friday)
- Event (Saturday / Sunday)
By having a cadence you can stick to, this means you only need to come up with 4 or 5 posts for each pillar.
2. Give Clear Calls to Action
People have this tendency to not do anything until they are given directions or permission. Unless they’re toddlers. They don’t listen to anyone.
If you want someone to share a post with their best friend, just say, “share this with your best friend!” I’m not going to lie – that’s too “look at me” for my taste, but it’s still a clear call to action.
Other examples of a clear call to action would be:
- We post tips every Thursday, so make sure you follow us so you don’t miss any more tips.
- We love pups – tag us in a photo of your pup, and we’ll send you a code for a free pup cup.
- Brides, which dress is your favorite? 1, 2, or 3? Leave us a comment or vote in our story.
3. Be a Human and Engage
Let’s say you are posting now, and people are starting to leave comments on your posts and tag you in stories. What do you think the expectation is?
I’ll give you a hint – they’re not hoping to hear from crickets. They want to hear from you!
Start with comments – they’re the most important (outside of DMs). For every comment you receive, you need to respond to every single one.
I don’t care if you went viral and have 200 comments to go through, you get someone on there to respond. If you don’t have the time, you get a social media manager to help.
After that, you check your DMs.
Advanced Tip: You can use ManyChat to help facilitate specific CTAs, such as sending a DM to someone who comments with a keyword you told them to leave on a specific post. Just make it sound human.
4. Be Even More Human By Engaging On Their Posts
Social media is this land of, “Me! Me! Me!” People want to be seen, but there isn’t enough of seeing others.
Dale Carnegie wrote in How to Make Friends and Influence People, “A person’s name is to that person, the sweetest, most important sound in any language.”
This holds true on social media platforms. Humans crave dopamine – that’s why we’re always on the search for the next rush.
It’s also why social media platforms use notifications and dings – it’s a dopamine hit and brings people back to their platform.
Now, imagine that notification being because of you seeing your followers or your customers?
Perhaps you shared their story of them at your restaurant.
Maybe you left a comment on their post from 1 week ago when they posted a photo of their puppy in a jacket.
Or, you simply invited them to an event happening next week at the store across the street from your business.
5. Measure The Effectiveness Of Your Interactions
Is there a way to immediately say how much this will affect your business? Absolutely, yes.
Here’s how at it’s simplest form.
Track the number of connections you made. This would be comments left, stories shared from others, and DMs made. Then, track your sales or appointments made, or whatever your goal may be.
If it is website traffic, then look for the users by source in Google Analytics, and track the platform they came from. (You may see your direct traffic and organic traffic increase too).
If it’s appointments, compare the number of appointments made previously and by the source.
Get To Doing The Thing, Or Let Us Help
I’ll be the first to say, for a long time, I hated social media. I didn’t see the point, until I actually started viewing it as a way to actually connect with people.
Still, there’s the time investment – especially for a social media strategy as involved as this.
You can take this strategy and run with it, or you can let us run with it for you. Your call – but here’s where to go to learn more about our social media management services.
You can do this. Or not. Your call.
