Posted on July 14, 2022 by Webfor Do. It. That’s it. That’s the most important aspect of your social media strategy if you yearn for growth in followers, engagement, and leads. via GIPHY Let me explain what I mean… But First, Allow Me To Introduce Myself Hey there, I’m Drew (he/him), Senior Advertising Specialist here at Webfor which means that I lead the Community team (read: Social Media and Paid Advertising). When I’m not working at Webfor, I’m helping my pals run their clothing brand, creating content, and spending lots of time with my spouse and son. Alright, let’s get into it! Forget About Your Social Media Strategy Well, don’t completely forget about it! A social media strategy is imperative to a successful profile. But its value is contingent on your actions. If you set a brilliant strategy that includes creating multiple types of content (videos, written posts, images, etc.) for all different platforms, addresses all your target audience’s needs, and converts those users into paying customers or clients but you don’t actually make any of the posts, you will not reach your goals. via GIPHY I know, you’re thinking, “Drew. Duh. Of course I won’t see results if I don’t actually post anything.” And I get it! It sounds so incredibly simple! And yet I, a Social Media Manager, am writing this mid-July and have 2 Reels and a handful of Stories posted on my personal Instagram. Do I have a strategy I could be using for my personal brand? Yep. Do I know that growing my own following means I have to be active? Sure do. Do I have the skills to execute that strategy? Certainly. Nonetheless, my profile sits idle as I continue to tell myself I’ll get to it tomorrow. I share this to show you that this happens to all of us. And it’s ok! It’s ok to not post on social media even if you have a perfect strategy. It’s ok to take a break when you need it. And, that means stifled growth. So, How Do You Start Actually Winning On Social Media? Start posting. You know what your brand is, the business you’re in, and what you wish you could do. So do it. Content Generation Exercise Ok, so I know that statement feels overwhelming and alarming — so do it. Let’s go through a simple exercise to help inspire you a bit and break things down! Get a pen and paper Yes, I mean a literal piece of paper and a writing utensil, not a digital alternative Write the numbers 1 through 10 on the left hand side of the page and set a timer on your phone for 2 minutes Start the timer, then write down 10 content topics. Here are some examples: The Best Social Media Strategy The Intersection of Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Media LGBTQIA+ Representation in Marketing The Importance of Mental Health Days at Work When the 2 minutes are up, get up and go do something else — go for a walk, watch an episode of your favorite show, listen to a podcast or music…just something to take your mind off social media for at least 15 minutes. Come back to that list and indicate which 2 topics are most important to you. You can highlight them, circle them, star them…whatever indicates “important” in your mind. Now, what are 3 ways you can create a piece of content related to each of those topics? I’ll give you an example: Topic: The Importance of Mental Health Days at Work Content Piece 1: Reel/TikTok-style video talking head sharing why mental health is so important to care for Content Piece 2: Graphic image/carousel highlighting the benefits of offering employees mental health days Content Piece 3: A person-centric photo with a caption summarizing the importance of mental health care, and maybe a CTA for a free download of a worksheet someone could fill out to help decide whether they need to take a mental health day. Now you have 6 pieces of content to share! (Once you actually record/design the assets, that is) Repeat this process, picking another 2 topics to focus on each week. This will give you 30 pieces of valuable content total! That’s a whole month’s worth of content! via GIPHY Once you have all these ideas thoroughly thought out, with details around the type of content you will produce, start executing a few at a time. Maybe that means you do 1 the first week, and do a little more each week after that. Use this as your baseline. You can grow from here later, producing more and more content as time passes. This will help get you in the routine of creating content, hopefully help you feel more inspired and confident in your skills, and, ultimately, help grow your social presence. But Drew, I Don’t Have Time For That I know, you’re busy! You’re running a business for crying out loud! It’s ok if this all feels like too much to add to your plate. If that’s the case, it’s time to hire a social media marketing agency (hey, that’s Webfor!) to manage your social media for you. We collaborate with you to develop and execute your custom social media plan. We’d love to work with you to enhance your social media presence. Get in touch with us to see how we can help!