When I first started working in social media, I have to admit, I had no idea what I was doing with my useless social media strategy. I thought posting pretty pictures and writing a catchy caption was all it took. Of course, that didn’t quite pan out the way I hoped! Over the years, I’ve tripped up, tumbled, and mercifully learned what actually drives success on social platforms. Below are some of those strategies that have helped me-and my clients-build a much sturdier social media presence.
First Step to Creating Social Media Strategy: Setting Clear and Actionable Goals
I used to set untargeted goals like, “I want more followers! ” only to realize it’s hard to tell whether you’re succeeding if you don’t know what “more” means which is a terrible social media strategy. Later on, the magic of SMART goals hit me: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.
Instead of saying, for instance, “I want more engagement,” I’d create a goal thanks to TopTierSMM like, “Increase Instagram engagement by 15% in three months by posting interactive polls twice a week.” And just like that, it got a lot easier to measure the progress and know what’s working and what’s not. You can learn more with TopTierSMM from here!
Human slip moment: I once remember typing out a goal and forgetting the timeframe. So, all the time I was meeting partial goals without any real direction. Setting a specific deadline helped me stop drifting around aimlessly.
Knowing Who You’re Talking To
Trying to appeal to everybody was another lesson learned the hard way. I once ran a campaign for a local coffee shop and used language that could appeal to both coffee aficionados and sweet-tooth pastry lovers at the same time. The message got messy, and no one really engaged.
It would be cool if you can make time for learning about demographics and habits, where your followers lie in age and location and during what times are they active. If that includes high school students who will have after-school snacks, be about it, knowing who is behind the screens:
Picking the Right Platforms
I’ve definitely been guilty of spreading myself too thin across every social network under the sun. After a few burnout moments, I realized focusing on the 2-3 platforms where my audience was most active yielded much better results. If you’re targeting design professionals, LinkedIn or Behance might be better than TikTok. If you run a fashion brand, Instagram or Pinterest might be your best bets.
I once spent weeks crafting content for a Twitter feed that had about 20 followers-most of them were not even active accounts. Once I realized my actual audience was on Instagram, I course-corrected, and suddenly engagement soared.
Building a Distinct Brand Voice
Early on, my posts were all over the place. It’s like I’d sound professional and formal on LinkedIn yet super casual on Facebook. A little customization to platform-specific audiences is okay, but your core brand voice should remain recognizable for your social media strategy. Whether you choose to be friendly and playful or maintain a more authoritative vibe, stick with it to establish trust and familiarity.
I once wrote tweets that were super witty and sarcastic for a brand that usually maintained a calm and thoughtful tone. The audience was confused, and engagement went south. Sometimes consistency, though it might get monotonous, really matters.
Creating Varied and Engaging Content
One of my first clients insisted on posting the same kind of product photo time and again and waited for magic as their social media strategy. Quite logically, the audience got bored. People love variety-videos, quotes, behind-the-scenes glimpses, polls, or even short surveys that keep them involved.
- Videos: Show tutorials, product demos, or a “day in the life” format.
- Interactive Stories: Polls, questions, and quizzes will spur your audience to participate in it.
- Photo and Carousel Posts: These are great to use for before-and-after photos or step-by-step guides.
One of my mentees also used live streams to answer customer questions in real time. He said that after the introduction of this format, engagement almost tripled because people just love that type of personal interaction.
Planning with a Content Calendar
The old me who would wing it-most days would get up, open the application, and find that I had absolutely nothing scheduled to post. Slap on a half-baked caption, attach a random image, and voilà. Needless to say, this “strategy” failed miserably. Using a content calendar has been a huge timesaver, whereby I was easily able to pre-plan content against key dates and campaigns, with everything visual in front of me for the week or month.
Once, I forgot to schedule an important holiday campaign for a client. We posted it two days late—completely missed the wave of excitement everybody else was riding. A simple content calendar keeps those last-minute scrambles and mishaps away.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I define clear social media goals?
Set SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. Example: “Increase engagement by 10% in two months by posting three times a week.”
How do I find my target audience?
Understand through social media insights, analytics tools, surveys, or even direct feedback who your followers are, what interests them, and what type of content they engage with most.
Do I have to be on every social platform?
Not really; you’ll get better results from focusing on the platforms where your audience is most active, and that actually suit your brand style.
