10 Steps to Creating an Effective Social Media Content Strategy

Social networks continue to gain importance to companies around the world and it is important to develop a clear content strategy for each of the platforms you use. Regardless of your type of business (business-to-business: B2B or business-to-consumer: B2C) your social media strategy should aim to engage users according to their preferences on each platform. Depending which specific social network platforms you have chosen to use, you’ll need to adjust your content according to the products or services you sell.

Our social media management agency present a series of important points to keep in mind when developing a social media content strategy.

1. Define your goals 

To assess the impact of your activities on social media, you’ll first need to identify specific business goals.

We recommend using the SMART method, which is perfect for determining effective and achievable objectives. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic (or Relevant), and Time-bound. This method will help you to clarify your ideas, focus your efforts, use your time and resources efficiently, and increase your overall chances of achieving the goals you set. 

2. Know your target audience 

To make your social media content strategy a success, you need to know your target audience well. This will allow you to ride market trends and make content that will help you stand out.

By creating a "Buyer Persona", a semi-fictitious profile based on real data, you’ll be able to precisely define your target audience. Compile information including age, industry, shopping habits, and specific challenges so you can craft more personalized and effective marketing campaigns that will resonate with your users.

3. Do a competitor analysis

Doing competitor analysis will help you to optimize your social media content marketing strategy. This approach involves first identifying and studying the platforms used by your competitors, in order to understand their choices and approaches.

Next, you need to analyze the types of content they share, paying attention to which formats engage their audience the most. This step will allow you to identify the most effective content strategies in your field.

The goal of monitoring competitors is not to copy what others are doing, but rather to be inspired by it to design your own content and stand out. This means constantly staying up to date with the latest trends and adapting your marketing strategy accordingly, while staying true to your brand identity.

4. Choose the right social media platforms

Choosing the right platforms is crucial when developing a social media marketing strategy. Here is a short summary of the features and best practises for each of the most popular social networks, brough tot you by the social media management professionals at My Little Big Web.

4.1 Facebook

Facebook is the most widely used social network in the world. Every business with a presence on the platform has to learn how to use it effectively, which includes being aware of the types of content that users like best:

Average posting frequency:

• For a brand: 1 post per day or 3-5 posts per week
• For media (press, radio, TV): 3-5 times per day

Best types of content:

• Text + native video (a native video is a video viewable directly on the Facebook video player): This format works best because it's the one favored by Facebook's algorithm.
• Text + Youtube video: This format also works well but will get fewer impressions, resulting in less “reach” (i.e. the number of people who see your post).
• Facebook articles: Facebook allows you to publish articles directly on the platform. This is becoming more and more popular, as it means users can enjoy your content without having to click through to another page. Before publishing, ask: Will more people read your article if it’s published on Facebook, or would you get more out of your content by redirecting users to your blog?
• Live streaming: Facebook now offers a feature that allows anyone to stream live video. This type of content gets a lot of attention from social media users because it’s so easy to access, especially for events happening in real time.

4.2 X (Twitter)

Twitter is unique social network. Even if it is currently losing momentum, you can still make the most of this platform by offering the types of content X users like best.

Average posting frequency:

• For a brand: 2-3 times/day
• For media (press, radio, TV): 8-10 times/day

Best types of content:

• Tweets: A text-based tweet is the simplest and most used type of Twitter post. Text tweets usually share relatively recent news.
• Tweet containing text + link: This format is also very popular. It’s a simple way to share information by directing users to a site.
• Tweet containing + video/photo: This is gradually becoming the go-to format for business and brands. In fact, it’s slowly replacing the first two classic tweet formats. This type of content is excellent for attracting users’ attention because visuals are easily noticeable and can be quickly understood.
• Live streaming: Ever since the “Periscope” app appeared on Twitter in March 2015, it’s been making live video streaming on X more and more popular. The app lets you broadcast live videos that can be viewed by millions of users. Live video is a trend that combines instant communication with authenticity, making it a very valuable marketing tool.
• Tags and keywords: Twitter’s biggest advantage is how well it lends itself to the use of tagging individuals and brands. By using the “@” symbol, you can tag people directly within your Tweets and create an instant link to their content. Also, you can use keywords in association with hashtags (words preceded by the “#” symbol) to clearly identify the subject of each of your Tweets (like #webmarketing) and attract the right users to your content. When publishing content on Twitter, tagging and hashtags are integral to an effective social media content strategy.

4.3 Instagram

In the last two years, Instagram has become the ‘hot topic’ among social networks. The platform is intuitive and easy to use, and lets users share, “like” and comment on images (among other things). Once again, there are rules to follow if you want your Instagram content strategy to work:

Average posting frequency: 1 -2 times/day or 3 -5 times/week

Best types of content:

• Photos, videos and GIFs: even if the kinds of content posted on Instagram remain classic, the particularity of the network lies in the real, authentic side: without any major editing of the photos/videos
• Stories: are a feature that allows users to share photos, videos, text and other types of content for a short period of time. Stories are popular precisely because they are only temporarily available. This format is short-lived, interactive and visually appealing, the perfect foramt for sharing authentic and engaging moments.
• Tagging and keywords: As with Twitter, some of the ‘buzz’ surrounding Instagram is due to tagging people, or inviting them interact using the ‘@’ symbol (e.g. @mylittlebigweb). The platform also functions with hashtags that use the “#” symbol to identify topics for each post (example: #webmarketing). To make your Instagram content a success, you need to incorporate these two features into your content publishing strategy.

4.4 TikTok

TikTok has quickly become a very important social network that is particularly popular with younger generations. It’s recognized as a platform that is easy to use, where people can create and share short videos:

Average posting frequency: Consistency is key on TikTok. For brands, we recommend posting at least 1-4 times a day to maintain user engagement.

Best types of content:

• Creative, authentic, entertaining videos are the core content on Tik Tok. Users value originality, humor, and content that reflects current trends. Popular formats include tutorials, challenges, comedy skits, and videos on niche topics.
• Sounds and hashtags: TikTok uses a system of sounds and hashtags to increase the visibility of videos. Using trending sounds and relevant hashtags can significantly increase the reach of your videos.

Tapping into trends: Be on the lookout for the latest trends on TikTok and incorporate them creatively into your videos to help increase visibility and engagement with your content.

4.5 LinkedIn

LinkedIn  is the most important social networking platform for the B2B (business-to-business) sector. To create an effective social media content strategy for LinkedIn, stick to the following guidelines:

Average posting frequency: 1-2 times/day or 3-5 times/week

Best types of content:

• “Showcase” content: LinkedIn posts are similar to Facebook posts. Businesses use this social network to share communications related to employer branding and job offers. This platform is dedicated to professionals and offers the possibility of making yourself known within a professional community.
• Business-oriented content: LinkedIn is also the right place to demonstrate your expertise and direct other professionals to your corporate website or blog.  Internet users who are looking for information by attracting them to your site (and mainly your corporate blog).

4.6 Pinterest

Pinterest is a social network whose principle is based on the photo sharing. It is fairly simple to use:

Pinning system: On Pinterest, users develop their presence via “pins”. Each pin is added to a “board” based on a theme or topic of your own choice. Each image on Pinterest remains linked to its source, so users can click on photos and navigate away from the platform to the website that originally published the image.

Main platform uses:

• Inspiration: The vast majority of Internet users use Pinterest to draw inspiration from the photos they pin, either for their work or for personal use.
• Keeping track of websites: Others use Pinterest to keep track of sites they have visited so they can go back and review their contents later.
• Professional use: Some users like web designers for example, use Pinterest to discover new visuals related to their industry.

5. Develop your social media content strategy 

In an ever-changing digital world, creating an effective social media content strategy has become a must-have for any business that hopes to stand out. Developing an effective strategy is based on three pillars: demonstrating expertise, telling the story of your brand name, and creating quality content.

5.1 Demonstrate your expertise(B2C/B2B)

The first step when talking about a content strategy on social networks is to focus on demonstrating your expertise. Your main goal should be to reassure and advise Internet users by helping them find an answer to a given problem.

One way to do this is to improve your company’s visibility by posting articles on your blog. If you make the effort to create blog content that is structured around relevant keywords, you’ll also improve your website’s SEO.

It’s a good idea to publish different types of “expert” content, from standard blog posts to infographics or Slideshare presentations. The overall goal is to use the web to “feed” users relevant information.

5.2 Tell the story of your brand

The second step is to tell your own unique brand story through your content, which will help you carefully craft your image online. The main goal here is to create permanent awareness of your brand across social media networks via content that makes use of storytelling. Storytelling is a communication technique based on a narrative structure that resembles a story.

Effective brand storytelling via social media can be a challenge: how do you know when to jump on current trends to get the attention of interested users? Try attracting social media users by linking your content to other hot news topics, like events in sports or politics. You can share your opinion and link the event to your business.

Remember that you need to both create relevant content and decide on the best method for publishing it online.

5.3 Create quality content for social media

One of the main goals of any social media content strategy is to develop your company’s reputation. To do this, you will want to generate quality content. Ideally, your content will engage users so that they interact with the content you offer and it will go viral. Quality content can take many forms:

• Video: Video content should highlight the use of your products or services. The objective is to give concrete examples to viewers of how your product can be used.
• Visuals (infographics, presentations, etc.): Visuals are relatively easy to produce and help capture users’ attention and interest more quickly than text.
• Live streaming: Live video is the most popular form of online content. Users appreciate its authenticity and the fact that it permits real-time interaction between your company and Internet users.

6. Do content planning 

For optimal visibility on social media, you’ll need to plan your posts strategically. Your content calendar should take into account when your customer base is most active, as user engagement varies by hour and day of the week. 

You can effectively use social media management tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, or even the paid version of Canva to schedule your content. These platforms not only allow you to schedule posts in advance, but also offer valuable analytics on how your content is performing. With this data, you can adjust your publishing strategy to better target and engage your audience and develop a more consistent and influential online presence.

7. Use social media advertising

Social media advertising is a pillar of digital marketing, and is often managed by specialized agencies. They use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to create ads for target audiences, increase brand awareness, and drive conversions. Agencies create personalized campaigns for each platform, such as Facebook Ads, and optimize targeting, then analyze performance to maximize ROI. Professional web expertise helps businesses achieve their marketing goals.

8. Prioritise engagement and community management

For a successful social media strategy, you need to keep your community engaged with your content. One way to accomplish this is to ask for the help of a community or a social media manager, but you can also build an engagement strategy on your own.

Start by diversifying your content to keep your audience interested and responsive. Respond quickly and in a personalized way to create a stronger relationship with your subscribers. Using relevant hashtags will help expand your audience and attract users to your posts. You can encourage active participation via interactive polls and post captivating stories that invite people to join the conversation.

9. Organize your content across various social media channels

One of the main issues related to putting an optimized content strategy in place is how to organize that content across the different social networks.

There are 3 types of social media advertising. The following marketing practises are used widely across all media, including TV, billboards, radio and the press, and they can also be applied on social networks.

• Cross-media: Cross media refers to the use of multiple channels to broadcast your content. The aim is to play on the relationship between different networks. Generally, a cross media campaign starts on one or more initial network(s) and later branches out to a complementary network.
• Multi-media: This technique involves using several social networks at the same time, to spread an identical message via ads that are adapted to each platform or medium.
• Trans-media: With this approach, you develop and propose narrative content on several different social networks, adjusting your content according to the characteristics and user preferences of each platform. This method allows users to access content through multiple entry points that are specific to each network.

10. Measure and analyze content performance

To optimize your social media presence and make your social media content strategy a success, you’ll need to measure the performance and analyze the statistics of your posts. This approach helps identify the most engaging content and understand your audience's preferences.

Implementing an effective strategy requires adjusting your plan based on the data you collect, by changing either the frequency of published posts or the type of content. Using tools like Google Analytics, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social will allow you to gain insights into key metrics like post engagement and reach.

Our social media strategy professionals are ready to help!

There are numerous factors to take into consideration when developing a social media content strategy. Hopefully, this article has given you an idea of the main points you need to keep in mind if you want to develop content that suits your business goals.

Feel free to contact us at (514)572-7758 or via our contact form if you would like to speak with an expert who can answer all your questions.

FAQ Social Media Content Strategy