Every brand needs a customized social media strategy based on its current social media goals, standing, and resources.

And while every aspect of social media seems to depend on a set of independent factors, there are some basic elements you need to have in place to ensure your brand is taking full advantage of its social media initiatives.

In this article, you will learn about the four elements that underpin any successful social media strategy and why they are so important.

1. Social media presence

Obviously, you can’t implement a social media strategy if you are not online. More importantly, you have to choose which platform you want to be present on. 

But why is it so important to choose which social media platform you should be on? There are two reasons for this:

  • First, your target audience is not everywhere.
  • Second, not all social networks are the same. 

Picture this: The Kardashians sell products for women, but not all women buy the Kardashians’ cosmetics. That’s why the family members use Instagram or even TikTok to advertise their products — because their targets are there, and not on LinkedIn.

You’re probably wondering how you can find out which platform your audience is on. It’s very simple: All you have to do is gather the data.

Don’t make assumptions; only make data-led decisions. Think Twitter is a better network for reaching Generation Z than millennials? Well, the numbers show that millennials still outnumber Gen Zers on the platform.

When deciding which social networks to use, you will also need to define your strategy for each one.

Write a mission statement for each channel — a one-sentence statement to allow you to focus on a specific goal.

For example, you can say: “We will use Facebook for customer support to reduce the number of e-mails and calls,” or “We will use Twitter to promote and share our corporate culture to help with recruitment.”

After you have done all this, you can then plan your activities on social media.

2. A social media calendar

One of the core elements of any successful social media strategy is a reliable editorial calendar.

Understanding what tasks and important dates are coming up will help you keep your target audience and your team on the same page. 

An editorial calendar will also give you the flexibility to spend more time interacting with your audience or conducting social listening.

An excellent social media strategy will always make room for engagement. Besides, the algorithms determine your level of engagement when showing your posts to your audience.

To back up your social media calendar, you need to have a content bank.

An organized content bank will help you keep an inventory of old content that you can repurpose if you find gaps. Better yet, it allows you to have content in stock and eliminates the need to write every social media post on the go.

If you are struggling to manage your social pages, you can hire a brand strategy agency in Dubai or anywhere in the world to develop a plan that works for you.

3. A social media audit

A great social media strategy is based on a big-picture mentality. At all times, you need to look at your social media presence’s overall state and see whether you are making progress towards your goals.

Get into the habit of conducting regular social media audits on each channel. 

A self-audit can help you detect inconsistencies, learn more about campaigns that have worked, and review benchmarks. 

The audit should not be limited to your accounts. You should also take a look at the social commitment of your competitors.

You can do this by paying attention to:

  • The types of media: Do the carousels or images seem to work well compared to text-only posts?
  • The voice and tone: Do messages with an informal tone work?
  • The types of messages: Do jokes seem to work? What about stories? Motivating quotes?

4. Social tools

Without the best tools, social media marketing would be donkey work.

Effective social media strategies lean on a mix of timely engagement and automation.

The tools can be applications integrated into each platform, such as Facebook Story or Fleets on Twitter, or Sales Navigator on LinkedIn.

Here’s what the list of useful tools looks like:

  • Curation tool: This kind of tool allows you to automate your content publication and focus on other tasks. 
  • Google Analytics: It allows you to determine where your audience is most active.
  • In-application analytics: These allow you to know what kind of content works best with your audience, the time of day when you register the most engagement, etc. 

The social media landscape is continually changing, but you will continue to get results by sticking to basic tactics. As one of the leading branding agencies in the UAE, we are well-positioned to help you better establish your brand online. Contact us today so we can begin devising the best social media solutions for your business.