How to Build a Social Media Content Strategy That Actually Works

The content you post on social media can turn your brand into a household name and turn casual followers into people who actually root for you. That kind of pull only comes from a real content strategy. Showing up on every platform and posting whenever you happen to have a free minute won't get you there.

What sets a brand apart on social is simple to say and harder to do: pick clear goals, create posts that move you toward those goals, and put that content on the platforms that fit your audience. From there, you measure what happens and adjust as you go.

There's no one-size-fits-all playbook that guarantees results. Your strategy will look different depending on your industry and the people you're trying to reach. Still, there are specific steps that build a plan with staying power, the kind that helps your brand and your business grow.

Set your goals first

The first move toward a long-term social strategy is deciding what you actually want your content to do. Goals give you a starting point for the kind of content you'll create.

This part means getting honest about what your brand stands for and doing real homework on your audience.

Start by getting clear on your bigger marketing goals and how you want your content to serve them. The more specific those goals, the easier it is to shape posts that hit them.

Say your goal is to drive more sales from social. Then your content needs posts that push people toward a landing page or somewhere deeper in your funnel. Vague goals get vague results.

Plan your social content

Once your goals are set, run an audit of everything you've already posted. Look at what performed, what flopped, and what you put out on each platform.

If you use a social media management tool, all your data and analytics live in one place. A reporting feature gives you a full picture of how every post is doing.

No tool? You can still get there by exporting each platform's analytics into a spreadsheet.

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest Business, and LinkedIn Business all let you pull your post and page analytics straight from the platform.

What you're hunting for in the audit should line up directly with your content goals. If one goal is brand awareness, look at your follower count on each platform and figure out which posts brought in new followers. Now you know which content gets your brand in front of new people who want to follow along.

An audit also lets you back up your gut with real numbers that show how each post actually did.

You might spot a gap between the posts you assumed would crush it and the ones that really did. When that happens, look hard at the language and tone in the posts that underperformed. Chances are you drifted away from your brand's real voice. Followers can read those posts as off-brand or beside the point, and engagement drops. Irrelevant posts are the second biggest reason people unfollow brands on social.

Some posts exist to push bigger marketing goals. But even promotional content should stay on-brand and true to your voice. Your audience followed you for a reason. Don't make them regret it.

Keep your voice and style yours as much as you can, and create content that markets your brand without sounding like a billboard.

A steady brand voice also helps you understand who your audience really is. You can't make good social content without knowing your followers. During this phase, dig into your target audience. Build a customer persona and hold it up against who you think your audience should be. Include the basics: demographics, where they come from, what content they like.

While you research, note which platforms your content does best on. It's tempting to run ads everywhere, but expecting strong results on every platform isn't realistic. Put your resources where they serve your brand and your audience most.

Build a content calendar

Once you know what works and you've nailed down your top goals, it's time for a social content calendar. A calendar lets you see the whole plan at once. It helps you map out ideas and organize them in a way that makes the strategy easy to run. Think of it as the hub for everything you publish.

As you plan, don't be shy about reusing content and scheduling it across different platforms to squeeze the most out of every piece. When you decide what goes where, factor in which content types perform well on that platform based on your audit. And remember there are ways to figure out the best times to post on each one.

Your strategy pulls in knowledge from a lot of people across your company. A content calendar makes it easy to collaborate on posts with different teammates. Bringing in different departments usually gives you a fuller, sharper plan.

Promote and distribute your content

Your social strategy goes way beyond what you post on your own channels. Planning and publishing is only a small slice of what makes social work. A good strategy means actively finding ways to get your content in front of as many people as possible. Once you set up a distribution plan, you're building posts that travel further.

If you blog regularly, add share buttons to your posts so your audience can pass your content along to their own followers.

You can also get your audience interacting by asking a question and inviting them to share their answers, whether on social or in the comments of a blog post.

Other people sharing your content is strong social proof, too. Your strategy should include replying to and reposting the folks who share your work.

Knowing when your audience is online and posting at the right moment helps you reach more of them. If you only post the second your content goes live, you're leaving reach on the table.

Individual platforms also have their own ways to help you stretch your reach. On Twitter and Instagram, hashtags are a great way to push your content further. They get you in front of people who don't follow you yet but do follow a specific trend or interest. On LinkedIn and Facebook, join groups tied to your industry and share content when it fits the conversation.

Another smart distribution play is networking with bloggers and creators in your niche. Other brands are more likely to share your content with their audience when you've got a real relationship, and they'll return the favor. Just keep in mind that anything you share with your audience has to be valuable to them and connected to your brand.

Measure your results

The last step in a strong social content strategy is measuring what all your work produced. Tracking the right things is what gives a strategy real staying power. Keeping detailed metrics helps you adjust and sharpen the plan over time.

Ideally, review your content every month to keep tabs on what's working. When you analyze your data, take a high-level look at your content over a set period. See how each piece performed and what variables were in play. Ask how well it pushed the overall content goals you set back in step one. Some of the most important social metrics to track include:

• Awareness: how many times people saw your content, based on impressions and reach.
• Engagement: the reactions, comments, clicks, and shares your content earns.
• ROI: conversions and referrals from outside sources.

Just like with the audit, tie your analytics back to your overall marketing goals. Using those goals as an anchor helps you fine-tune the strategy. Check your numbers every month and you'll only need small tweaks to keep your social content strategy improving.

Putting it all together

Planning a social content strategy is an ongoing cycle, but it doesn't have to feel like a mountain. Map out your process with the ideas above and follow these steps to build content planning that puts strategy first.