Swipes & Likes: Crafting Your Social Media Strategy

We’re living in a world of constant scrolling, where swipes and likes dictate our digital interactions. Social media has become a powerhouse of connectivity and influence, and brands need to take a strategic approach when it comes to their social media marketing to not be left behind.

In this blog, we will dive deeper into why having a social media strategy is important, how to create one and provide examples of popular brands' social media strategies and marketing campaigns. Keep scrolling to unlock the power of a solid social media strategy.

Understanding Social Media Strategies

In 2023, an estimated 4.9 billion people used social media across the world, highlighting its pervasive influence on modern communication. But what exactly is a social media strategy? At its core, it is a comprehensive plan that outlines how a business or individual will utilise social media platforms to achieve specific goals. It encompasses various components, including audience analysis, content creation, platform selection, posting schedules, and performance measurement. By defining these elements, businesses can effectively leverage social media to enhance brand awareness, drive engagement, and achieve their overarching objectives.

Central to any effective social media strategy are social media campaigns. These targeted initiatives are designed to achieve specific objectives within a defined timeframe, whether it's promoting a new product, increasing website traffic, or boosting brand engagement. Social media campaigns leverage various tactics, such as hashtag campaigns, influencer partnerships, contests, and multimedia content, to capture audience attention and drive desired actions. By incorporating social media campaigns into their overarching strategy, businesses can amplify their reach, cultivate meaningful connections with their audience, and ultimately drive measurable results.

Best Social Media Strategies

To be successful on social media it requires more than just posting content sporadically. Effective social media strategies are those that are carefully crafted, tailored to the unique needs and preferences of the target audience, and aligned with overarching business objectives. By analysing successful approaches, businesses can gain valuable insights into what works and what doesn't.

At the heart of every successful social media strategy are well-executed campaigns. These campaigns serve as the driving force behind achieving specific goals, whether it's increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, or generating leads. Crafting successful social media campaign strategies requires careful planning, creative execution, and continuous optimisation. Key considerations include identifying clear objectives, defining target audiences, selecting the most appropriate platforms, creating compelling content, and measuring performance metrics. By incorporating these elements into their campaign strategies, businesses can maximise their impact and drive meaningful results in the competitive social media landscape. But we will go into more depth around these elements a little later in the blog.

Social Media Strategy Example: Checking In On Airbnb’s Social Media Strategy

A standout example of a great social media marketing strategy is Airbnb. Rather than solely focus on pushing bookings for the accommodations, they leverage the power of storytelling to create meaningful connections and create a community of travellers and hosts. They are also one of the best brands out there that leverages user-generated content (UGC) and beautiful photography in their marketing strategy. Showcasing unique travel experiences and real-life shots from travellers, it allows them to appeal directly to their target market of millennials.

A recent social media campaign that really showed off their excellent social media strategy was using real-life stories throughout their social media. The posts you’ll usually see across their social platforms are beautifully captured locations, homes and experiences, ready for you to book. However, this storytelling campaign was a great way to humanise the brand and add that sense of community the Airbnb app brings. Across social media, they share insights into the lives of some of their hosts and the background of some of the buildings. Another look into their strategy shows they only use photography throughout their content, they don't use templates or heavily branded images. The photographs are great for showing the collaboration the app creates between itself and users.

How to Create a Social Media Strategy

Crafting an effective social media marketing strategy requires careful planning and consideration. We will look at some steps, offering practical advice and insights on creating a useful social media strategy for your business. You can use these insights as a template for your own social strategy.

1. Firstly, you need to define your clear objectives on what you are trying to achieve on social media profiles. Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic or generating leads, having specific goals will help guide your social media strategy.

2. Knowing your audience is extremely important for your strategy. Conduct thorough research into your target audience's demographics, interests and online behaviours will arm you with the information you need to create compelling content that will resonate with your audience. Knowing how your audience thinks and how they make their decisions is vital, which is why we wrote a whole blog about this to help you understand your audience on a deeper level.

3. Once you know your audience you’ll be able to select the right social media platform for your marketing efforts. This is a key part of your social strategy. You want to focus your marketing efforts on platforms that align closely with your target audience and business objects to capture where your audience is most active.

4. Content is king. Having a clear goal, a set audience and knowing what platform you’ll be focusing on will all feed into what content you create. Your call to action in your content must clearly align with your objectives. The content must fit the style of the social platform you chose and you want to make sure the media resonates with your audience. The best way to plan out your content is by creating set social media campaigns each with its set goals and strategies working like mini projects to work towards the overarching social strategy.

5. Finally, to tie your social media strategy off with a bow it's great to produce a content calendar that helps keep you organised, ensure your team is aligned and allows you to stay accountable and consistent.

Maximising The Impact Of Your Social Media Marketing Strategy

If you’re looking to make the most out of your social media marketing there are several things you can do to help boost your strategies. You could consider influencer marketing and partner with influencers in your niche to reach a wider audience and build credibility for your brand. Influencers are massive on social media right now and depending on your brand could be the perfect strategy for your social media marketing, if you want to learn more about influencer marketing and where it stands in 2024 head over to our blog page.

Another great strategy that can help boost your social media marketing is, If you have a certain marketing campaign you're proud of and think really hits the mark you could use it within a paid advertising plan to help reach your audience, drive traffic or attract more engagement.

Your community is key when it comes down to your marketing strategy, especially on social media. Building and maintaining strong relationships with your audience is a great way to build trust for your brand and reach your goals. Engaging with your audience by responding to comments, messages and mentions promptly shows your brand values its customers and is willing to get involved in the community. By utilising these strategies you can help reach your social media goals.

Mastering Your Social Media Strategy

In a world where every swipe and like counts, having solid social media strategies is key for businesses. By setting clear objectives and goals, knowing your audience and choosing the right platform and content you can make a real impact and level up your social media game.

If you’re looking to boost your social media strategy but you’re unsure where to start, chat with the team today!

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Image source:

Image @airbnb Instagram profile