If you ask me for social media strategy advice, I’ll ask you four simple questions.
And they’ll have nothing to do with social platforms.
Because the clarity of your goals, audience, and value are a bigger determinant of social media success than any follower, engagement, or algorithm strategies.
Your answers to these questions form the foundation of a meaningful social media strategy.
1. What do you want to accomplish?
Forget social media. What’s your actual goal?
To sell a product? Create an opportunity? Build a movement?
Your answer to this question reveals your success metric.
Success is based on the accomplishment of your goal and that goal is always bigger than social media.
It’s not a follower count. Not engagement. Not views. Those are a means to an end.
Don’t let social media stats distract you from your actual goal and don’t be fooled by the hype of social media metrics.
Social media is a tool you use to accomplish a goal. If the goal isn’t achieved, there is no social media success.
2. Who do you need to reach to accomplish your goal?
Who will buy your product? Who can grant the opportunities you seek? Who will join your movement?
Your answer to this question reveals your target audience.
These are the only people that matter. The ones you need to reach. The masses are meaningless.
Your social strategy needs to reach them where they live.
Focus your efforts on the platforms they like, not the ones you like.
3. What’s unique about you?
Why should someone choose your product over the competition? What separates you from the crowd? Why support your movement ?
Your answer to this question reveals your content strategy.
Play up what’s unique about you. Don’t post anything similar to what your competition does.
Provide more value to your followers than you do for yourself in your posts.
Never forget: It’s easy for people to unfollow you. Treat every post as an audition.
4. If I could guarantee your product or content would be seen by any 500 non-famous people in the world right now, who would you choose?
Are they young or old? Married or single? Rich or poor?
Are they college-educated? Where do they work? What do they read, watch or listen to?
Who do they love? What do they hate? How do they spend their time?
If your answer to this question doesn’t match your answer to Question #2, your strategy will fail.
This question was a test – did you pass?
If you didn’t choose people who match your target audience, then you’re already off track.
If you did and your answers match, then go find where those people are on social media and establish yourself there.
Provide them with compelling, valuable content that reflects what’s unique about you and leads them to take the action you need to accomplish your goal.
If you do, your social media strategy will succeed.