Tell a friend to tell a friend – we’re back! And this time we’re wrapping up everything you need to know to BECOME a master of social media.

In part one, we discussed everything you need to know about setting goals that align with your business goals, choosing platforms, getting to know your audience, and developing your strategy for your social media channels. Now it’s time to get into action!

Content Creation

Of course, this is your account, and you should post what YOU want, but your viewers should also be considered when creating content. Make it fun, informative and visually appealing! Just like with any good business model, in order to add value and stand out on social media, you need to be in service to your community. You need to solve a problem, fill a void, or at the very least, entertain! If you are struggling with content ideas, you can always sprinkle in some national days, user-generated content (UGC), informational graphics, behind the scenes, customer reviews and giveaways to keep your content fresh and engaging!

Create A Content Calendar

Planning is paramount! It is super important to keep all your ideas, copy, tags, hashtags and locations in one place. Content calendars allow you to plan your content in advance, batch the creation of that content and ensure you are in control of the narrative and not just at the whim of “oh crap, what am I going to post today!” Tell your story and tell it well when you plan ahead with content calendars!   This will also help you lay out every single detail of your post to help you best optimize it for performance (hint: geotags, account tags, hashtags… all the tags!)

Google sheets and Excel spreadsheets are our go-to’s for creating calendars. They are easy to share and edit across your devices and automatically save, so you don’t need to worry about losing that million-dollar idea when it comes to you at the most random of times.

Scheduling Is Your Best Friend 

Let’s be honest, we don’t always have time to manually post, so scheduling platforms like Later, Buffer and Hootsuite are third-party scheduling tools that can ensure that gorgeous content calendar you created actually gets shared with the world. Meta Business Suite is also a one-stop shop for scheduling, replying and monitoring your accounts and the best part is that it’s completely FREE with a business account.

These third-party platforms often offer optimal posting times that factor in when your users are most active and engaged, so your content is pushed out at the perfect time! Unfortunately, Reels with trending sounds and collab posts will still need to be manually posted, but you can always set reminders to get these posted! Thank you Google Calendar!

Community Engagement

If we have said it once, we have said it a thousand times… Keep the SOCIAL in your social media. The best content in the world, will not help you reach your goals if you are not engaging with your community online. Social media is a SOCIAL place where you can spark two-way conversations at any time of the day, across the globe. The absolute best thing you can do to create a community is to reply to comments and DMs. We also cannot stress the importance of outbound engagement with others. Follow aligned accounts. Comment on their posts, slide into their DM’s. Take the time to tell them how they have inspired or resonated with you. And watch that effort multiply back on your channels. No magic formula, no trickly algorithmic acrobats, just good, plain-old fashion connections. We are social creators, and that is precisely what these platforms were designed to allow us to do.

Metrics

Check your insights! Metrics reflect your platform engagement and will show you areas for improvement along with wins that should be celebrated! Every month will be different, so that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to change your whole strategy after one month of slow performance. You can see areas you need improvement, but if you change everything for the next month, there’s no telling if that was a slower month or if the algorithm required more time to push out your content. Keep going even if the numbers constantly change because social media and user patterns will change!

After a couple of months of analyzing your metrics, the areas that need adjusting will become clear. Ensure you keep track of these each month and stay aligned with your overarching marketing goals.

BECOME a Social Media Master

WOW – we know this all seems like a lot! But once you get going, it will BECOME second nature. And don’t forget, this is your platform and your brand so feel free to experiment with what works best because social media is not a one-size-fits-all model!

We hope our guide gives you the foundation you need to hit the ground running, but in case you need extra support, we offer one-on-one coaching sessions. In these sessions, we will give you the tools, education and strategy to succeed on your own. Contact us today!