If you feel like staying on top of the ever-changing social media platform algorithms is making your head spin, you aren’t alone. Instagram and Facebook are making it increasingly harder to generate engagement with your social media posts. You need a social media content strategy.

social media content strategy

The ever changing algorithms, and the demand on you to create content  to get reach is time consuming and at times irritating.

However, there are some simple writing tips you can apply.

And these can make your message more appealing to more people.

Which is of course the aim of the game.

If you invest time, effort and money into posting on social media, you want to get a good return on your investment.

That return should see you meeting, or exceeding, the goals you’ve identified for each social media platform.

But if you post without a social media strategy, which outlines how each platform will help you accomplish your business goals, many of your efforts will be wasted.

Having a social media content strategy and action plan, based on your unique business goals, resources and available time, is essential to your success.

So what do you need for a sturdy and effective plan to get your social media strategy working for you?

Here is a handy guide of 5 tips.

Build a strong organic presence as part of your social media content strategy 

Posting consistently on social media  is key to getting your content noticed.

Once it was ok to post five times a week and get traction.

Now you really need to think about posting twice, even three times a day to really increase your audience.

In fact, businesses in the growth phase on their accounts should really consider posting five times a day upwards.

That’s if you really want to get your numbers moving on Facebook really fast.

And you don’t want to spend money on boosting posts.

Yes, it really is that often.

And the content needs to speak to your identified audience, and inspire them to take action.

So this is where pre-planning your social media posts comes in really handy.

And when you fail to keep up the content, this is where it all starts to fall apart.

And you stop growing.

So what should you be writing to try and keep that happening on your social media?

Do your research for your social media content strategy 

If you want your audience to notice and engage with your social posts, you need to target specifically.

The more relevant your posts are, the more success you will have.

You also need to completely understand your audience. Go deep!

Know your social media demographic.

What are their needs, obstacles or challenges?

And what are their priorities when it comes to those needs and wants?

Make sure your content and social media posts provide them with a solution to their challenges.

If you want to connect with them on an emotional level, then share stories from your satisfied customers.

This means they can see their own success if they use your product or your solution.

And they will feel positive about the outcome.

Speak your customer’s language on social media 

If you’re in France, you speak french. And speaking to your clients is the same deal.

Speak their language and they will understand you and what you are offering.

Learn your ideal clients’ language and what they use to communicate their needs or challenges.

Use this language when writing your social media posts to ensure your content resonates with your audience.

This will help to show them you truly understand them and their challenges.

So if you are writing a post for senior executives on LinkedIn, it’s going to be completely different to Facebook.

They use completely different language.

Develop your voice on social media platforms

Never be afraid to use your own voice.

Your social media content strategy should of course be in the language of your target audience.

But the overall message should be written in your own voice.

What does this mean?

Your voice (or your brand voice) is how you project your personality and emotion into your social interactions and marketing online.

That language and tone is what you use when creating social media content.

You can get this from your ‘why’ story and it’s also the language used by your ideal customers.

It needs to be consistent throughout your social media content.

And this helps strengthen your narrative with your audience.

It enables you to connect with them, build trust.

And identify your social media posts as yours.

Be positive

Of course every post you create can’t always be happy.

However there is a world of difference between being positive and happy.

Your audience should be excited, and inspired by your social media posts.

That means they don’t always have to be happy.

You can share your opinion and your standpoint on your social media platforms.

That doesn’t mean you have to attack someone or something.

You are entitled to having a point of view without being vitriolic in any way or nasty.

Don’t be critical – this is very unprofessional.

You can outline an experience, but don’t be horrible about it.

If you start posting this type of content on your social media, it will attract negative minded people, and will also destroy trust and credibility with your audience.

Keep social media posts short and simple

Your posts need to be informative, but they don’t need to be super long.

People value their time. So make your posts easy to read and succinct.

Great ways to do this include:

  • Making your content and posts easy to read by writing at an eighth-grade reading level
  • Using headings, bullets and lists – this makes your content easier to scan
  • Keeping paragraphs short – 2 – 3 sentences

You can also use images, graphics and videos to tell a story.

This type of social media content is more engaging and works faster at getting your point across.

An image or video can stand alone in social media posts while still conveying the full message to your audience.

Video, in particular, works as a much better connector with your audience as well as on a deeper level.

People respond well to video on social media, as it can humanize you and enable them to get to know you more intimately.

Facebook Lives and Instagram stories work so efficiently for this reason.

And it gives you an extra level of vulnerability, which will give your video a level of authenticity.

Marketing videos just don’t do this.

People are wised up!

You can also optimize each piece of visual content for the social media platform you’re posting it on to ensure your message is being shared.

If you liked this post, then check out my other post all about How To Create Copywriting Content Which Gets Great ROI.

And don’t forget to like and follow the Facebook and Instagram @theoriginalzoenauman which has a load of great tips and tricks.