When it comes to creating and sharing content on social media, does it feel like you are running round in circles without ever seeming to get anywhere. This can be extremely overwhelming and frustrating for business owners. Crafting an effective strategy behind the content you share will have a massive impact on your business’ success as it will allow you to create a road map for how you will achieve your key business goals. Continue reading to learn how to create a winning social media content strategy.

1. Determine your goals

The first step to creating a winning social media content strategy is to set clear and specific goals. Make sure that your goals are SMART. That is, specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. Set out three clear business goals for the quarter and from there, break these down into monthly goals and weekly goals. This will allow you to create a road map to follow. It’s this kind of specific and deliberate action that will generate real results for your business.

2. Define your ideal customer

When I ask most of my clients to tell me who their ideal customer is, more often than not the response I get is “we target everyone. All people can benefit from our product/service”. While this is a nice thought, it’s not realistic and will certainly not help your marketing efforts. When you talk to everybody you talk to nobody. Think about your business and who you love to work with. Who is a breeze to do business with? If you could have a million customers just like this who would they be. Create an ideal customer profile. Get super specific. How old are they? What do they do for work? Are they married? Do they have children? What are their interests/hobbies? What are their problems/pain points? Once you have done this properly, you can then determine what types of content you can create to meet the needs of this specific person.

3. Determine what types of content you will create

Once you’ve outline your ideal client, it’s now time to think about what types of content you will create and share. Are you a strong writer? If so, then blogging is a great option for you. Do you communicate better through video? Consider starting a YouTube channel or creating videos for Facebook, IGTV or LinkedIn. Maybe voice is your strong point, in which case you could consider starting a podcast. Either way, determine the areas you excel in and brainstorm what types of content you will create and share. Other types of content include photos, info-graphics, testimonials and case studies.

4. Brainstorm content ideas/topics

Set aside some time to brainstorm different content ideas and topics. It’s important that the content you create provides massive value for your ideal client. The more value you can provide them, the more you will build your know, like and trust factor. Think about your frequently asked questions and how you can answer them in a creative way. How can you provide even more value for your ideal client? You might decide to share weekly tips and tricks, behind the scenes photos/videos, product/service demonstrations or interesting industry articles. The options are endless so think outside the box and get creative!

4. Create a content calendar

Now that you have a clear idea about what types of content you will be creating you can plan and map out when and how often you will be sharing it. Creating a monthly content calendar will ensure that you post consistently and in line with your key goals. Map out how many posts you will share each week and what you will share on each platform.

5. Publish your content

Once you have completed your content calendar, you can then proceed to schedule your content. Their are plenty of scheduling tools you can use to do this including Buffer, Hootsuite, CoSchedule and Meet Edgar. Scheduling your content in advance will save you time and overwhelm.

6. Monitor and Review

The final step in creating a winning content strategy is to monitor and review your progress. Continually refer back to your key business goals and review relevant metrics to ensure that you are achieving these goals. Creating a winning strategy requires a lot of trial and error so don’t beat yourself up if you aren’t seeing massive results straight away. Every business and industry is different so don’t be afraid to try different things and see what works for you.

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