Social media is (still) king. And while it’s imperative to position your brand in front of the correct audience, it’s crucial content mirrors the context of each social channel. If your goals are to establish scalable and lucrative connections, as well as grow sales with loyal and prospective customers, this article will teach you how to develop channel-specific social media content marketing strategy.

No Double Dipping

The first step to crafting and executing a context-driven social strategy is to stop using the same/similar content and copy across every social channel. Many times, you’ll see brands, and agencies alike, using software to push the same post to multiple platforms. This typically occurs because they don’t have the capacity to develop a contextual strategy and/or perform from a place of quality rather than quantity. Whatever the case may be, publishing the exact same posts on every social channel your brand operates may work against your strategy’s objectives. Breaking this habit is the key to more engaging content and better results.

Visual Content Wins

Social media users are visual creatures. Eye-catching content demands immediate attention, and can translate complex, lengthy ideas into images our brains can comprehend in a fraction of a second. This can be accomplished using anything from illustrations, mini-graphics and images, to charts, diagrams, GIFs, factoids and quotes.

Because visual content concisely conveys macro subject matter, it allows room in post copy for additional ideas, content and opportunities for engagement. You’ll find that the quicker it is for your users to digest your content, the more likely they are to share.

Copy Matters

The text attached to your graphic has the potential to support or, unfortunately, hurt your post. Your copy should fall into one of three categories: education, enlightenment or entertainment, ultimately to gain the “fourth e” – engagement. A witty remark in the middle of a learning experience seems like a friendly, less daunting approach and is generally appreciated by the reader. However, an overwhelming amount of humorous analogies can mask the entire purpose of the post and consequently cause friction for the reader, whose objective was to learn instead of being bombarded with your standup routine.

Influencers Are the Gateway to Exposure

Many potential customers are seeking honest reviews from people they can connect with. Your loyal customers reveal themselves by commenting on their experience or love for your brand outside of a “review” section. It’s important to encourage “experience sharing” by asking open-ended questions in response to their comments.

Follow your customers on the same social platform, mention them when appropriate and become involved in the conversation they initiated. You’ll find that small steps will lead to big results. And before you know it, you’ll have an influencer who not only took a chance on your product or service, but who loved it enough to write about it voluntarily. This strategy proves to be cost effective while potentially reaching millions.

Let’s Talk Platforms

Compelling content is ineffective if it’s not displayed on the right platforms. Understanding your target audience is the first step to reaching them. What is their demographic? What about their interests? The answer to these questions is key to revealing which platforms your audience optimize the most, and how to leverage your posts accordingly. While there’s a multitude of social platforms—with many still on the rise—the following platforms that have proven to make a home in the world of social media.

Facebook

Currently, Facebook is the most notable social channel simply because it has a vast database of users and an impermeable, community-based format for building relationships. Keep in mind, the average user’s age range is from 25 to 54. This means your content needs to speak to a variety of interests, rather than ages, and hone in on brand loyalty. Build your brand on Facebook by including privatization tactics and highlighting mission statements, community outreach and showing camaraderie amongst like-minded organizations.

Instagram

 With 200 million active users viewing and sharing images on Instagram, it is easy for your business to get lost in the fray. This social platform is a universe of impulsive posting and sharing and isn’t suited for expecting to gain loyalty from your customers. Retail, art, food, entertainment and beauty thrive on this platform and if you can find a way to incorporate any of these industries into an impactful, edited image, you can be a part of the visual conversation. What will set you apart is your angle and personalizing your social media content strategy. Choose a tone for your brand and personalize your call-to-action approach. This automatically omits the typical “Purchase here!” message and replaces it with “I really needed this break today.”

Twitter

This is the optimal platform for social listening, community involvement and trending conversation. The individual who manages your company’s Twitter account must be witty, factual and efficient in responding in a timely manner to all interactions. Unfortunately, many businesses upload ads on their Twitter feed and miss valuable opportunities to start, end and/or be a part of conversations that matter to their customers. We dive a little more in-depth into this topic in a previous article, Twitter’s Greatest Strength Is Its Greatest Weakness. Here’s Why.

LinkedIn

Although many people have considered LinkedIn to be a mildly interactive resume builder, it is, in fact, one of the most untapped, powerful social channels for new business development and consumer sales. There is an art to offering your brand to consumers on LinkedIn and it is much simpler than one would think—direct all of your product/services to LinkedIn’s main users: professionals. Think micro when positioning your content, and speak directly to the professionals who work in industries you want to excel in.

The possibilities are endless with social media, as long as you know how to use each platform to its best ability. Your social media content strategy should coincide with your brand, audience and social platform. Finding success in your social media strategy is an exciting journey. It’s one that sharpens the blurred lines of your brand and helps you unravel what your audience is looking for. Find more insight on all things social media, explore our industry-specific blogs here.