How to Create a Successful Social Media Strategy

Let’s face it: social media is practically unavoidable. Almost everyone uses it — even those family members we thought never would — but there’s a difference between using social media and using it well, especially if you’re running a business or brand account.

And that difference is having a social media strategy.

We’ve spent nearly a decade learning the ins and outs of digital marketing. We’ve crafted social media strategies for small businesses, non-profits, international start-ups, authors, entrepreneurs, and more. And – while the platforms continue to change — here are a few things that have stayed the same:

1. You need to have a game plan.

A social media strategy is the difference between firing one hundred arrows blindfolded versus five arrows aiming straight at your target. Yes, your Instagram presence might be helping your business. Sure, the time you’re spending on Twitter could be beneficial. And, to some degree, we’re sure it is.

However, when it comes to business or branding, your return-on-investment (aka your ROI) matters. What most people don’t realize? With social media, your biggest investment isn’t money.

It’s your time.

Your time is incredibly valuable, whether you realize it or not. It’s what we invest into our passions, into our business, and into our relationships. If you don’t have a social media strategy — or at least a hint of a plan — then you risk wasting your valuable time when it could be spent elsewhere.

2. You need to know your goals.

Your goals drive your methods. In an episode of The Writing Coach Podcast, Rebecca Weber describes “the model.” The model is the process by which we process our circumstances and end up with a specific result.

You might be thinking, “Well, my circumstance is that I’m an unpublished author. I can’t change that result, an agent/publisher does.” Well…you’re wrong. Sorry.

See, the first step of the model is your circumstance. Your circumstance is factual, unemotional, and just IS. Your circumstance might be that you’re unpublished. It might be that you’re unemployed. It might be that you want to move out of your parents’ house. It’s actually less important than you might think. (No offense.)

The second step is your feelings. This is how you feel about the circumstance. Unpublished? This could probably leave you feeling rejected and depressed. Or, it could leave you inspired and driven. Both are valid options.

Next is thoughts. What are you thinking about how you feel? If you’re feeling rejected, you might be thinking, “I must not be good enough,” or “No one will ever publish my book.” If you’re feeling inspired, you could think, “I need to work harder,” or “I should edit my manuscript (again).”

The fourth step is actions. What actions will you take as a result of your thoughts? If you’re thinking you aren’t good enough, will you be driven to improve? Maybe. Hopefully. Or you might be driven to give up.

That brings us to results. What happens if you give up? If you feel rejected, think “No one will ever publish my book,” and therefore stop querying? Stop writing? Stop altogether?

No one ever publishes your book.

That’s because your thoughts drive your actions. (And therefore your results.) This is why goals matter SO MUCH. Take a step beyond the vague — don’t just say “I want to be published” — be more specific with how you’re going to use social media to help you get published. “I want to hit X number of followers on Twitter and connect with ______ agents by January.”

Having that goal will help define your thoughts, which in turn creates your actions, and will drive you to the result you want.

3. You need to be willing to change.

No social media strategy is the same. Ever. We know, we know, you’re probably thinking, “Of course I know that. Every person, every brand, every book, every company is different — so every strategy needs to be different.”

If you thought that, you’re actually in the minority. Most people don’t acknowledge that social media varies on a case-by-case basis because they want it to be easy as doing what Person A or Business B did.

It’s not.

You can glean information from said person or business. You can copy certain elements of their strategy (and by copy, we don’t mean like…copy copy. We don’t do plagiarism, here) and make them work for you. However, you’ll need to find what works for you.

Here’s where it gets difficult.

What works for you now might not work for you in six months. 

As your audience changes, as social media platforms themselves change, as the world changes, so must your social media strategy. Three years ago, our founder Jandra Sutton had a strategy that revolved around Facebook and Twitter. Now, Instagram and TikTok are some of the most important platforms in her arsenal. YouTube is growing in priority for her personal brand, but — for others — it’s shrinking.

You have to be willing to adapt, to try new things, and to get it wrong.

We’re rarely comfortable with being wrong, but we learn best through failure. We learn best when we take a look at our Twitter Analytics and go, “Oh sh*t. No one is seeing my tweets. No one is interacting with my tweets. I’m spending four hours a day retweeting and sharing things to an empty room. I can’t get that time back.”

You’re right. You can’t get that time back. However, that time helped you learn that Twitter might not be the best path for you (right now). It might help you discover that you should be spending more time on YouTube or Instagram or Facebook or even TikTok.

It goes back to that ROI and your time.

Where is it paying off? If it isn’t, it’s time to switch it up.

4. You need help.

Help takes a lot of forms. Before you click away, this isn’t a sales pitch. Sure, you could hire a digital marketer to do this for you. You could hire a coach to walk you through it. We’ve done both, and we’ve spent hundreds — if not thousands — of hours coaching people on (and managing) social media.

But to us, help is learning. Help is reading a blog post (like this!) or listening to a podcast. Or, help can be asking someone a question or getting a book from the library on the subject. Sometimes, help is getting a Chance Card so you can skip a few spaces and pass Go. (If you want to share some of that $200, hit us up.)

And when it comes down to it — that’s our driving mission in everything that we do. We want to help people reach their full potential so they can live happy, healthy, and creative lives, and we want to support creatives, brands, and business owners in their journey to bringing their dreams to life.

And if you’re looking to hire additional help, we’re here for that too!