It’s a Waste of Time Without a Content Strategy
Social media alone won’t get you anywhere. If your plan is just to start “getting the word out there” by posting to Facebook or Twitter – stop now. The outcomes will never be worth the time you put into it.
Prospective clients come to me all the time saying that they’ve “tried social – and it didn’t work.” Usually, this is because there was no plan behind it. Like anything else in business, it requires that you go in with more than just intent. You need a set of objectives, a pathway to get there, and a way to measure your progress along the way.
But let’s strip it down to the basics. Wrapping your social strategy in a well-designed content strategy has three advantages:
- You’ll have content to pull from in creating social posts.
- You’ll create a next step in the customer’s journey.
- You’ll be building content as a business asset.
These points alone make it worthwhile to stop and reassess your social strategy. Listen to Episode 105 here (or in iTunes) for a quick gut check.
Show Notes
Let’s talk social media. When prospective clients come to me asking for me to run their social media accounts, I say no – UNLESS it’s going to be a part of a complete content strategy. Otherwise it’s a waste of time. It doesn’t mean that I don’t want to help, though:
- Here’s an introduction to my 16-part Social Media Strategy Series, to help you pick which social media platforms might work for your business.
- On the topic of how we tend to overvalue what we contribute: I Am Not Special.
- Repurposing content makes you way more efficient, and is a key benefit of having social media be integrated into your overall content strategy. Here’s more about my “downstream method” for reusing content, as a part of this 6-part series.
- I also referenced last week’s episode, Marketing and the Experimental Mindset.
CreateBiz: Content Marketing for Creatives
If you want deeper training on social media, my new online course has a whole unit on Social Media as Your “Relationship Toolset.”
This course is for writers, musicians, and visual artists – all the folks just like you and me who can’t stand to be self-promotional. It’s 42 video modules, with dozens of worksheets, templates, and guided assignments.
If you want to work with me one-on-one, please contact me directly here. I’ll have a slot or two opening in November.
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