The 101 Guide to Creating Social Media Strategy
Social media is a powerful tool and should be a part of any brand strategy. Did you know that 91.9% of major U.S. companies used social media in their marketing in 2021?
Social media is a powerful tool and should be a part of any brand strategy. Did you know that 91.9% of major U.S. companies used social media in their marketing in 2021? Well-known businesses use social media strategy because it’s effective and accessible marketing tool.
No matter what size your business is or what stage of development your company is in, your brand can benefit from utilizing social media in your brand strategy. Here is everything you need to know about social media channels and how to use them for business in LaRue PR’s guide to creating social media strategy.
Utilize The Most Common Social Media Platforms
The first step towards creating an effective social media strategy is knowing which social media channels are out there and their individual benefits. Here are some of the most popular social media platforms that you can utilize to boost your brand strategy:
- YouTube
- TikTok
Facebook remains the most popular social media channel today and attracts around 2.8 billion users each month. 1.84 billion people in the world use Facebook daily. Facebook’s popularity and the large number of people that use it regularly make it a powerful marketing platform to add to your brand strategy.
Beyond its popularity, the benefits of using Facebook in your social media strategy include its ease of use and flexibility. It’s simple to learn how to create an account and to make posts on Facebook. It’s also easy to customize your Facebook page to make it work for your brand’s particular needs.
You can make text posts, add photos or upload videos to your Facebook account, and you can use any combination of these options to communicate the core values and message of your business uniquely. Facebook accounts also make great landing pages for your company where customers can find critical information such as your hours, phone number, website link, and special events dates.
Instagram boasts over 1 billion active monthly users, and this number has been growing steadily over the years. While this social media platform is a great place to post stylized photos of brand products, it can be used for more than uploading aesthetically pleasing pictures. Features such as Instagram Stories and Instagram Shops can be an excellent addition to a social media strategy.
Through Instagram Stories, temporary photos and videos can be shared. This is an opportunity to let followers have an inside look at your brand that can be more candid and authentic than typical posed posts. Instagram Shops allows businesses to have a digital storefront on their profile where users can browse and make purchases.
Twitter does not have as many users as the major social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, but it can still be a useful part of a social media strategy. Twitter’s platform allows brands to create an engaging experience with their followers.
The short format of tweets means that followers can easily scan what a brand posts, so they’re likely to see key product announcements, event details or brand developments when posted and can interact with them by retweeting them. The nature of tweets also offers brands an important opportunity to develop a unique voice on the platform. Regularly posting distinctive and consistent tweets help a brand stand out on Twitter.
LinkedIn is a classic business social media tool. It’s a great way to make connections and participate in the kind of networking that helps a brand grow. LinkedIn allows you to go beyond simply making a profile for your brand. You can also make posts sharing announcements or create hiring posts. LinkedIn is a great way to interface with new potential employees or start with exciting partnerships, such as with affiliates or influencers.
YouTube
When thinking about social media and business, YouTube might not be the first social media platform that comes to mind. It can, however, be a vital part of a strong brand strategy. With over 2 billion active users, YouTube has a lot of potential to be a useful platform for brand strategy. The large number of individuals who frequent YouTube makes it likely that you will reach your target demographic through the platform. YouTube videos also offer a creative outlet for content that can be more effective than materials developed for other media channels. For example, a how-to video describing a service your brand offers might seem too long to post on Facebook but would be optimal for YouTube. Additionally, longer video content is more engaging to followers and customers than longer textual posts.
TikTok
TikTok is newer than all of the other social media networks discussed above, but that doesn’t mean it should be overlooked when creating a social media strategy for your brand. TikTok is a great way to reach a younger demographic and introduce them to your brand. While Twitter allows you to develop a consistent written voice for your brand, you can express your business’s voice differently through TikTok. Creative video clips showing your brand’s unique identity on TikTok are a great addition to a successful brand strategy.
What is a Social Media Strategy?
Now that you have an idea of the potential benefits of the most common social media channels, it’s essential to determine what the term social media strategy actually refers to. Using social media for brand strategy goes beyond simply making a few posts on different social media networks. A social media strategy is essentially a plan for how your brand will use social media and the desired results.
Guidelines for which social media channels will be used, what style or voice posts should follow, how often posts will be made, and goals for follower engagement are all part of social media strategy. A social media strategy outlines how your marketing plan will be carried out on different social media platforms. Navigating the ins and outs of digital marketing and social media strategy can be difficult, but the help of a business such as LaRue PR that has expertise in guiding brands through these areas, can make the process easier and more productive.
Benefits of Social Media Strategy
A well-defined and effective social media strategy can help a brand grow in several ways. Here are a few of the reasons every brand needs a social media strategy:
Consistency
A great social media strategy promotes a clearly defined brand identity. Customers will come to know what to expect of your brand, making it feel trustworthy and authentic.
Efficiency
When you have guidelines in your brand strategy about how and when social media will be used, marketing campaigns become more efficient. Rather than starting from scratch each time, existing content and marketing efforts can be built upon and enhanced.
Brand Growth
A successful social media strategy can ultimately boost traffic to your brand’s website and purchases of products or services. This allows sales to grow and supports the success of future developments such as the addition of new products or partnerships.
Customer Engagement
With so many individuals using social media daily, brands need to use these digital platforms to interact with followers and customers. Favorable impressions of brands on social media and positive engagement make customer retention more likely and aid in public brand perception.
Develop a Strong Social Media Strategy with LaRue
Creating a social media strategy for your brand is essential to achieving success with digital marketing, but you don’t have to do it alone. At LaRue, we can make the process of adding social media to your brand strategy simple. And, we will help you get the results you want.
From creating a clear marketing plan to developing and implementing a strong social media strategy, LaRue can help you with all of your digital media needs.
Contact us today to help your brand create a strong and effective social media strategy and achieve all of your digital marketing goals.
