Social media managers — before you prep all of your #BellLetsTalkDay posts, the campaign is going to look a little bit different this year. Instead of donating 5 cents per text and hashtag use, Bell is going to make a lump-sum donation. But whether you choose to use the hashtag or not on Jan. 25th, I still think brands should post about mental health. It’s an important issue, whether Bell wants us to talk about it or not.
In today’s newsletter:
Five steps to a strong social media strategy (+ a free audit template!)
Twitter is launching “Verification for Businesses”
And Gen Z takes tech back a few decades
WORK YOUR STRATEGY
We all want to be successful on social media. And that can sometimes make us chase trends. For example, short-form video is very popular with Gen Z. But short-form video takes a lot of resources to create, and may not be a fit for our brand. Social media platforms are also constantly shifting their strategies as they battle to be No. 1. For example, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri recently talked about a 2023 strategy of inspiring more creativity, helping people discover more content, and encouraging conversations. Great strategy for Instagram — but again, that may not be a fit for you.
Instead of creating a strategy based on what the social media platforms want you to do, go back to the basics and implement a strategy that includes these five essential elements:
1/5 Start With Goals and Objectives
If you don’t know what you want social media to do for you — drive sales, increase subscribers, etc. — you will end up working for social media. By that I mean that you’ll constantly be posting content, but it will really only benefit the platform because you might not even know “why” you’re posting. And you’ll never been able to measure whether you are successful or not.
So, even if you’ve been using social media for a while, take some time to jot down the goal(s) for your business, organization, or you personally. For example, “I want to build an industry-leading newsletter.” And then set out objectives that will measure that using the SMART criteria: For example, I want to grow my newsletter subscribers by XX by Dec. 31, 2023.
Once you know your goals and objectives, then you can create social media strategies and tactics to support those.
2/5 Create a Platform Strategy
You don’t have to be on all of the platforms. In fact, it’s better to be really great at one platform than so-so on three. So, how do you pick? Based on these three elements:
Your Resources: All of the social media platforms take time and energy if you want to be good at them. But content that is more visual — like Instagram and TikTok — require special photography, videography and editing skills. So if you want to be on those platforms, you need to ask yourself whether you have the time to do that, or if you have the money to hire someone to help. If the answer is no, you might need to consider another platform — at least for now.
Your Strengths: In addition to your level of resources, you’ll want to consider how you prefer to create content. If you love taking photos and videos, you’re probably going to love Instagram and TikTok. But if you prefer written text, LinkedIn and Twitter are probably best. It’s important to be honest about where your strengths lie.
Your Passion: This is actually a huge factor. Because even if you don’t have the resources, or you need to learn new content creation skills, you’ll likely be successful on a platform you love because you want to be there. But if you hate a platform, you probably won’t use it that often.
3/5 Conduct an Audit
When you’re first creating your strategy, I suggest doing an audit of your current social media platforms to see where you’re seeing engagement and success in your content. This will help make you more strategic about the type of posts you create. If you don’t know how to get started, I’ve provided an audit template below. You’ll also want to take a look at the competition (pick 2-3 accounts) to see what they are doing that is and isn’t working.
4/5 Be Consistent
Once you’re ready to implement your strategy, consistency will be the key to your success. And while it sounds so easy — like “eat right and exercise” — it’s actually pretty hard to implement. There are so many things competing for our time that posting on social media can often fall off the list.
Here are a few tips to help with this:
Have a regular weekly meeting (even if it’s just with yourself) to consider your posts for the week
Create a content calendar that outlines the number and type of posts you want to create each week
Create content in batches; for example, set aside a day each week or month to do this
Use design templates in a tool like Canva so you aren’t spending a lot of time recreating designs every week
5/5 Measure Your Efforts
This is your chance to see if your strategy is working, or whether you need to pivot. Consider reviewing your platforms on a monthly or quarterly basis. As for what to measure — that all depends on what is important to you. If you are in the build phase of your platform, then followers might be important. Engagement and engagement rate are always helpful when determining the types of content that are resonating with your community. And don’t forget to take note of qualitative metrics, such as comments on posts. This is an overall snapshot of where you are today, and should help you become more strategic and efficient about where you want to go.
Good luck!
SOCIAL SNACKS
Twitter Plans to Launch “Verification for Organizations”
@TwitterBusiness says the company is planning to launch Verification for Organizations soon. But first, you’ll have to apply to get on the waitlist. There aren’t many details, such as how much a subscription will cost. But here’s what @TwitterBusiness tweeted: “As a subscriber, you and your business will receive business accounts and affiliation badges through our self-serve administrative portal.” Twitter says it will begin opening up access to a “limited group on a rolling basis in the coming weeks.”
*One note of warning: The Terms of Waitlist Participation states: “Please note that this does not constitute an express or implied promise that Twitter will fully or successfully launch a Verification for Organizations program.” So it still seems a bit unclear whether this will ever launch. 🤷♀️
ICYMI
Instagram is removing the Shop tab, moving Reels from the centre spot in a design overhaul next month [TechCrunch]
Twitter’s For You tabbed interface begins rolling out on desktop web browsers [Engadget]
TikTok is testing a new option to help facilitate more brand deals for top creators in the app [Social Media Today]
Meta is further limiting how advertisers can target teens on Facebook and Instagram [The Verge]
VINTAGE TECH
As ChatGPT and other innovations seem to be speeding us towards a new technological reality, some younger folks seem to want to slow things down. That’s right — some Gen Zers are opting for digital cameras over the cameras on their smartphones, and favouring blurry photos over the crisp Instagram pics we’ve come to know (authenticity is a big trend in 2023). Meanwhile, others are in the middle of a flip phone revolution, including celebrities like Camila Cabello.
And honestly, social media can be so overwhelming that it’s hard not to imagine wanting to take a break — even if it’s just leaving your smartphone home for a night.
Anyone want to predict what’s next? I’m voting fax machine. 📠