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05 Mar 2014
social media strategy model

Social Media Strategy Model

Most companies already understand that sharing consistent content is one of the keys to using social media effectively. However, realizing the need for regular content only scratches the surface of all that lies within the world of social media. To truly succeed, and stand out from the rest of your competition, you need a successful social strategy.

The strategy shared below covers all of the top social media platforms and outlines how to best approach each one. Because of the unique nature and audience connected with every platform, it is necessary to develop a very tailored plan of action, unique to the platform itself.

Content Sharing

The first question most people ask when starting social is, what content should we share?  Due to the far-reaching nature of most industries, a hybrid, multi-pronged approach that captures visitors at multiple stages of the funnel is recommended:

  • Thought Leadership (News, In-depth industry articles, case studies)

  • Product Promotions

  • Inspiring and Beautiful Images and Quotes

  • Funny Images and Videos

  • Holiday & Current Events 

These are general content types that you can consider sharing across social channels.  Now let’s get into the specifics of a strategy for each major social profile:

Google Plus

social media strategy model

Currently, Google Plus can be considered uncharted territory. Many industries have yet to branch out into Plus, so getting your feet wet now will ensure that by the time the rest of your competition does catch up, you’ll be miles ahead.

  1. Daily Content Shares:
    1. Content would be shared on Plus consistently 2-3 times / day.
    2. The type of content shared initially will be 50% general, including such content as beautiful images, popular news, etc and 50% industry specific content.
    3. Content should be shared between the hours of 9-5 East Coast time, as that seems to be when most people are available on Plus.
    4. Competitive Advantage: Post on weekends as well.  Most companies do not post on Plus during the weekends, but people do consume content on Plus on weekends.  If you are one of the few companies sharing, your content will be viewed and shared.
  2. Influencer Outreach
    1. Identify influencers and add them to an “Influencers” circle.  Engage with them regularly.
    2. Communicate with, at least, three major influencers of 25k plus followers to assist with “plus mentioning” and “plussing” content.
  3. Google Hangouts
    1. Monthly Hangouts
      1. Influencer Interviews:  Identify industry influencers and interview them on HOA.
  4. Communities
    1. Strategy:
      1. Create a Google Plus community that talks about  both general and industry specific topics.  This will be centered around your Brand.
      2.  Create several niche specific communities focused around different aspects of your industry.
  5. Follower Growth
    1. Build followers from communities. Find large, active communities and follow people daily.  Create circles around those communities that you can keep adding people to.  Many of those people will follow you back.
    2. Comment on influencers post on a daily basis.  Identify people or pages with at least 20K followers and comment often.  Then, when you follow them, they’ll be notified, be familiar with you, and hopefully add you back.
    3. Go to Popular posts and circle those people.


LinkedIn

LinkedIn’s main target is professionals. Becoming active on LinkedIn is a sure way to establish your brand as an authority in the industry.

  1. Linkedin Groups: Join and actively participate in Linkedin Groups.  Key to accomplishing a Linkedin strategy successfully is to not just self-promote – join other conversations and contribute to the discussions, so when you share your own content, people will be more inclined to share it and engage.  Develop a LinkedIn influencers outreach approach.
  2. Run linkedin ads to targeted psychographic users

Facebook

social media strategy model

Facebook tends to be the platform where industries are the most active. Thus, it is vital to keep up with what is going on around you. Consistent, shareable content is essential, as audiences lose interest quickly if their attention isn’t being held.

  1. Daily Content Shares: 1-2 posts shared daily.  Types of content to be shared include:
    1. Content from the Blog
    2. Industry trends & statistics
    3. Fun pictures and stories about the company, including employee profiles
    4. Topical industry news.
    5. Questions about the industry, business practices, and other relevant information
    6. Special offers and coupons
    7. Company announcements
    8. Captivating and humorous images or quotes
    9. Weekly roundups of interesting content around the web
  2. Daily Engagement: Visit other popular pages and like and comment as the business page.  This may also include direct messaging and connecting with other people who share interests and posting to relevant Facebook groups.
  3. Weekly contests like “caption this” or “fill-in-the-blank” that encourage people to regularly check-in with the community.
  4. Advertising: Use paid organic amplification to boost visibility of content shared.   Blog articles should be re-packaged and posted on FB, and amplified using psychographically relevant users.  Use different types of ads and KPI’s to keep the profile varied.

Twitter

Twitter is one of the easiest places to find people with like-minded interests. It’s also a place where jumping into conversations as a way to meet new people is perfectly acceptable and, if you’re hoping to grow your brand, is actually encouraged.

  1. Daily Content Shares: The average for this industry is 10 posts / day. Types of content shared will include:
    1. Content from the Blog
    2. Relevant Industry News
    3. Retweets from other influential accounts
    4. Conversations based on relevant Hashtags
    5. Customer Service queries
    6. Company announcements
    7. Sales Promotions
    8. Product showcases & Features
  2. TweetChats
    1. Host or jump into existing hashtag chats
  3. Follower Growth
    1. Follow relevant people on a daily basis to increase the number of follow-back followers
  4. Weekly Vines
    1. Create a fun, interesting, engaging Vine video that gets shared through the company account on a weekly basis.  This can also be hosted and shared on YouTube.
    2. These vines can then be cross-promoted across all social profiles
  5. Promoted Trends & Posts:
    1. Create a monthly hashtag that gets promoted as a trend
    2. Boost blog posts on a weekly basis to increase visibility by using Twitter ads

Pinterest

social media strategy model

Pinterest might not be where your targeted audience is hanging out, but it is still a great tool to build out a consumer base you may not know is there.

  1. Weekly Board & Pins Growth
    1. Create at least 1 new board will be created every week.  Boards will be centered around topics specific to your industry.  Be sure to include keywords in the name of your boards!  Consider also including some Holiday related boards, Travel boards, and other “popular” subjects, albeit still professional and related
    2. Add about 10 pins on a daily basis
  2. Follower Growth
    1. Follow relevant people on a daily basis to increase the number of follow-back followers
  3. Pin it to Win it Contests
    1. Once a month, run a pin it to win it contest to increase growth and social signals
  4. Collaborative Boards
    1. Join and pin to collaborative boards to super-charge visibility and growth

YouTube

YouTube exists as the second largest search engine. Without a doubt, it must function as a foundational piece of your blueprint.

  1. Weekly Q&A videos (via Google Hangouts)
  2. Monthly Influencer interviews (via Google Hangouts)
  3. Monthly explainer videos about social media, using tools, etc
  4. YouTube Ads to increase visibility to the content

So there you have it! Incorporating each platform into your social media strategy and taking the time to hone your resources and skills will go a long way toward building your brand and setting you apart from the rest of your competition.

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Search engine marketing expert with 15 years of experience in the industry, working with small mom and pop shops as well as large corporate websites. I have experience with all aspects of inbound marketing, including SEO, Link Building, Social Shares, Usability, Conversions, PPC, Email Marketing, and more.