Social Media Strategy
On This Page:
Overview
Strategy is integral to achieving success on social media and developing a comprehensive plan that outlines your goals and how you will achieve them will allow you to target your audience and establish the key messages you wish to communicate.
Setting goals will help you choose the appropriate platforms on which to be present, and will help you create impactful, relevant content that will engage your audience in a positive and beneficial way.
Work backwards. Start with your end goal and map out step-by-step how you can use social media to get there.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Who is the audience that you are trying to reach?
- What do you want to communicate?
- Which platforms are your audience using?
- When will you be posting?
- How much content do you have to post and how often will you post?
Depending on your answers you can decide what social media platform(s) will best suit your needs.
If you’re considering creating a new social media account, take the time to gauge your resource allocation and consider the time commitment involved in building a community from the ground up. Do you have time to regularly create content, properly monitor your accounts, interact with your audience and answer questions, stay up to date with best practices and analyze content performance?
By partnering with an existing U of G account related to your content that has an established reach and influence online, you’ll be able to achieve your goals and reach your intended audience. For example, academic departments and schools within a college would benefit from promoting content through their respective college’s social media platforms. When we work together to help amplify each other’s work, we can reach our goals efficiently. This will help eliminate online clutter and stagnant accounts.
Plan Ahead and Be Timely
Social media allows us to share information instantly, and it is also the expectation of followers. Each platform has its own generalized best practices for content type, posting frequency and follower engagement. However, social media platforms are evolving faster than ever and as communicators we must adapt quickly to new changes and trends to maintain a consistent and engaged presence.
It is best to spend time “listening” to the conversations and seeing how others interact. Think of it as joining a new group of friends. Observing is the best way to get to know the social culture and expectations of the group.
Develop a content calendar to maintain consistent and relevant posts; understand that the platform(s) on which you are communicating will determine the frequency of your posts and your level of engagement.
Link Back to Website
Link back to your website whenever possible to refer your followers to the long-form content within your web environment. Use a CTA (call to action) and the branded URL shortener to keep content concise and branded.
Most platforms allow clickable links in the post descriptions, however, Instagram does not. In this instance, ask yourself how you can direct your followers to the intended landed page for an optimal user journey. Instead of typing out the link in the description copy that users won’t be able to click, direct them to the link in your bio and utilize platforms like Linktree to include multiple links.
Tell the U of G Story
Utilize the Brand Guide to help plan your branded story. The posts should resonate with your audience and be relevant to their needs and experiences. Support your presence on social media with brand-rich, vibrant and authentic media, such as photos, videos, animation and audio. Make sure to also follow AODA guidelines, as found on the DARC website.
