business plan for social media marketing

Social Media Marketing Business Plan Template

• Written by Dave Lavinsky

Table of Contents

Social media marketing business plan.

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their social media marketing businesses. On this page, we will first give you some background information with regards to the importance of business planning. We will then go through a social media marketing business plan template step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What Is a Social Media Marketing Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your social media marketing agency as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Social Media Marketing Business Plan

If you’re looking to start a social media marketing business or grow your existing company, you need a business plan. A social media marketing business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your business in order to improve your chances of success. Your business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your social media marketing agency grows and changes.

Funding Sources for Social Media Marketing Agencies

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a social media marketing business are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans and angel investors. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business. Personal savings and bank loans are the most common funding paths for social media marketing agencies.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

How to write a business plan for a social media marketing agency.

If you want to start a business or expand your current one, you need a business plan. Below we detail what should be included in each section of your own social media marketing business plan:

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of social media marketing business you are operating and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have a social media marketing business that you would like to grow, or are you operating social media marketing in multiple markets?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan. For example, give a brief overview of the social media marketing industry. Discuss the type of social media marketing business you are operating. Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers. Provide a snapshot of your marketing plan. Identify the key members of your team. And offer an overview of your financial plan.  

Company Analysis

In your company analysis, you will detail the type of social media marketing business you are operating.

For example, you might operate one of the following types of social media marketing businesses, or a full-service agency:

• Paid Ads : this type of marketing business focuses on creating social media ads and optimizing social media ad campaigns. A social media marketing agency may specialize in ads for one platform in particular or across all platforms.
• Content: this type of business focuses on creating content, either for specific platforms or across all platforms.
• Strategy: this type of marketing is where campaigns are created around specific goals that help businesses or individuals tailor where and how to best achieve results that will help them succeed.

In addition to explaining the type of social media marketing business you will operate, the Company Analysis section of your business plan needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to questions such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of customers served, number of positive reviews, total campaigns, etc.
• Your legal structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry analysis, you need to provide an overview of the social media marketing industry.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the social media marketing industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your strategy, particularly if your research identifies market trends.

The third reason for market research is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your social media marketing business plan:

• How big is the social media marketing industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential market for your social media marketing business? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your business plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: corporations, small business owners, nonprofits and individuals. Customers may also be segmented by industry, such as healthcare, technology, beauty, restaurants, music, B2B, and more.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of marketing business you operate. Clearly, individuals in the music industry would respond to different marketing promotions than corporations in the healthcare industry, for example.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, include a discussion of the ages, genders, locations and income levels of the customers you seek to serve. Only select social media marketing agencies primarily serve customers living in their same city or town. However, if your niche is to provide social media services to local businesses, such demographic information is easy to find on government websites.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can understand and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.  

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other social media marketing agencies.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t direct competitors. This includes digital freelance platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr. You need to mention such competition as well.

With regards to direct competition, you want to describe the other businesses with which you compete. Most likely, your direct competitors will have a similar niche audience.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their businesses and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as:

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What types of social media services do they provide?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide better social media strategy, content and ad services?
• Will you provide services that your competitors don’t offer?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.  

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a social media marketing business, your marketing plan should include the following:

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of social media marketing agency that you documented in your Company Analysis. Then, detail the specific products you will be offering. For example, in addition to social media marketing, will you provide web design services, copywriting or any other services?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your marketing plan, you are presenting the services you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the location of your agency. Document your location and mention how the location will impact your success. For example, is your business located in a busy professional district (good if targeting local businesses), or is it fully remote (good if targeting clients that aren’t place-specific). Discuss how your location might be the ideal location for your customers.

Promotions : The final part of your marketing plan is the promotions section. Here you will document how you will drive customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertising in local papers and magazines
• Reaching out to local websites
• Social media marketing
• Local radio advertising

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your business, including discovery calls, onboarding new clients, attending campaign meetings, managing employees and working on campaigns.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to take on your 10th client, or when you hope to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to expand your social media marketing business into a new market.  

Management Team

To demonstrate your social media marketing business’ ability to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally, you and/or your team members have direct experience in managing social media marketing businesses. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act like mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in managing social media marketing agencies or successfully running small businesses.  

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statements.

Income Statement : an income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenues and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you gain one new client per month or per quarter? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets : Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your social media marketing business, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a bank writes you a check for $50,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement : Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and make sure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt.

In developing your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a social media marketing business:

• Location build-out including design fees, construction, etc. (if there will be a physical location)
• Cost of equipment and supplies (including hardware and software)
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Taxes and permits
• Legal expenses

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your office location lease or outlines of campaigns you are currently working on.   Summary Putting together a business plan for your social media marketing business is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will really understand the social media marketing industry, your competition, and your customers. You will have developed a marketing plan and will really understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful social media marketing business.  

Social Media Marketing Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my social media marketing business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily complete your Social Media Marketing Business Plan.

Where Can I Download a Social Media Management Business Plan PDF?

You can download our Social Media Management business plan PDF  here. This is a business plan template you can use in PDF format.

What is the Goal of a Business Plan's Executive Summary?

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of social media marketing business you are operating and the status; for example, are you a startup, do you have a social media marketing business that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of social media marketing businesses?

  OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.

Click here to see how Growthink’s professional business plan consulting services can create your business plan for you.   Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

Social Media Marketing: The Ultimate Guide

Discover how social media marketing can help you generate leads, boost conversions, and increase brand awareness.

THE SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT CALENDAR TEMPLATE

Manage and plan your social media content with this free template

Updated: 01/24/24

Published: 01/24/24

Marketers’ top goal with social media marketing is increasing engagement. However, their top challenge is creating content that inspires the engagement they look for.

Since social media plays such an essential top-of-the-funnel role, it’s important to understand how to use the platform to meet your goals.

In this post, we'll dive into all things social media marketing — what it is, its benefits, and how to build a social media marketing strategy that drives the results you want.

Benefits of Social Media Marketing

Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy

Social Media Marketing Resources

What is social media marketing.

Social media marketing is the process of creating content for social media platforms to promote your products and/or services, build community with your target audience, and drive traffic to your business. With new features and platforms emerging every day, social media marketing is constantly evolving.

Social media marketing is all about meeting your target audience and customers where they are and as they socially interact with each other and your brand.

While social media marketing is incredibly valuable and beneficial to your business growth (as you'll see in the following section), your strategy will differ based on which social networks your audience spends their time on.

Before we dig deeper into social media marketing, let's segment the strategy by platform .

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The State of Social Media in 2023

Explore the top trends in social media for brands to know and optimize your social strategy.

• Short-form video trends.
• Social media and ecommerce.
• AI in social media.

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

To illustrate the benefits of social media marketing, let's take a look at the experience from the user's perspective. Well, my perspective, to be exact.

As I scroll through my Instagram feed every day (cough, cough...multiple times a day), I consistently notice new posts and stories by The Frye Company . I’ve always been a fan of their boots, clothing, and accessories, but I also love the content they share on their Instagram profile.

All of their photos have the same filter to ensure they match — this makes their profile look professional, artistic, and organized when visitors, like myself, browse their page.

Frye’s account also encourages interaction between the company and its followers by providing them with a specific hashtag to use so they can be featured on the page when they post photos with Frye products.

Frye’s Instagram account is a great example of successful social media marketing — it’s attractive, distinctly Frye, engages their ~200K followers, and promotes their products.

But why is social media marketing so important? And how do you build a social media marketing strategy that’ll work for your business?

There are a variety of reasons why your company should use social media marketing. We've created a list of the most beneficial reasons to consider.

Let's dive in.

1. Increase your brand awareness.

Due to the sheer number of people on social media, you're missing out on the potential to reach thousands, and even millions, if you don't have a presence.

In fact, social media has proven to boost brand awareness by driving up engagement, including things like comments, likes, shares, reposts, and saves.

It also helps you increase brand awareness by directing traffic straight to your site. You can do this by including links to your website and other offers in your profile, bio, and posts.

Featured Resource

• How to Build a Brand for Your Company

2. Generate leads and boost conversions.

Promoting and sharing your products on social media is a simple way to improve lead generation, boost conversions, and increase sales because you're advertising to people who have opted to engage with you by following your account.

Here are some examples of ways to use social media to generate more leads.

• Create contests for your visitors and followers to participate in on your social media profiles.
• Include links to your website and offers in the bio sections of your profiles.
• Host live videos to announce new products and provide updates or details about exciting news at your company.
• Implement a social media marketing campaign on one of your channels.

If you don't already have a Facebook page for your site, here's how to make one. 

3. Foster relationships with your customers.

Connecting and engaging with your social media followers can build lasting relationships between them and your business. You can do this by interacting with them on your posts, responding to their questions and comments, and providing them with any help they may need.

You can also ask your followers questions about your products and their pain points or create giveaways to help you build trust and show them how much you value their input and support.

4. Learn from your competitors.

Social media is a great way to keep tabs on your competitors — whether it's their social media tactics, the products they're promoting, the campaigns they're implementing, or their level of interaction with followers.

Social media allows you to look at what is and isn't working for your competition and, therefore, helps you decide what should or shouldn't change regarding your company's approach.

Lastly, reviewing your competitors' social accounts can help you make sure your marketing stands out and is unique to your brand.

Learn how to conduct a competitive analysis to discover how you can beat the competition.

Now, let's talk strategy. I'll walk you through the steps below, but if you're a visual learner, check out this helpful video that dives into everything you need to know.

How to Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy

• Set clear goals.
• Research your buyer personas and audience.
• Determine which social platforms you’ll market on.
• Establish your most important metrics and KPIs.
• Get to know your competition.
• Create unique and engaging content.
• Organize a schedule for your posts.
• Review and adjust your strategy.

Although social media constantly evolves, most foundational steps to succeed stay the same. Essentially, you're following the same steps you would take to create a marketing strategy and narrowing it to a specific channel.

I'll cover these steps in more detail so you can begin applying them to your business.

Step 1: Set clear goals.

The first step to creating a social media marketing strategy is to define your social media goals and ensure that they align with your overall business objectives.

Ask yourself: What do you want to achieve through your social media efforts? Examples could be increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, generating leads, boosting customer engagement, or improving customer satisfaction.

Once you've set your high-level goals, break them down into smaller, actionable steps. This helps you identify the specific actions and strategies needed to achieve your goals.

For example, if my goal is to increase website traffic through social media, helpful, actionable steps could include increasing posting frequency, optimizing content for sharing, or running targeted ad campaigns.

Recommended Resources:

• How to Write a SMART Goal

Step 2: Research your buyer personas and audience.

Whatever Thoreau once said about building castles and setting foundations under them is absolutely true.

Okay, yes , he was definitely not talking about social media marketing, but bear with me — you’ve set your goals (built castles), and now you need to define how you’ll meet them (the foundation). Your goals will mean nothing without the foundation that helps you meet them.

That’s why, after establishing your goals, the next step is to outline how you’ll meet them, and one of the best ways to start is to determine who your buyer personas and audience are so you can target their needs and interests appropriately.

Without knowing who they are, you won’t be able to share the content they’re looking for to entice a response from them that helps you meet your goal.

To do this, consider the people you're trying to reach, why, and how you would classify them as a group. For example, if your company sells trendy leggings and joggers, you might classify your target audience as millennials who like to wear stylish athletic apparel regularly — a style known as athleisure .

By considering your buyer personas and audience, you'll then be able to determine what content will attract the type of followers and customers you hope to gain. Plus, learn how to create engaging content to keep your followers interested.

Pro Tip : I recommend gathering feedback from your followers to get insights into their preferences, pain points, and satisfaction levels. This data can help you identify areas for improvement and refine your buyer personas.

Recommended Tools

• Buyer Persona Templates
• Make My Persona Tool

Step 3: Determine which social platforms you'll market on.

As a social media marketer, it’s important to determine which platforms you’ll use.

I can’t give you a yes or no list regarding which social channels your business should use — it's more about the needs of your target audience, where they spend their time, and the kind of content you want to create.

"It's important to be where your audience of potential customers is today, and where they might be tomorrow," said Andrew Delaney, former social media marketing manager at HubSpot. "It's better to be ahead of the curve than behind."

For example, Gen Z is all about TikTok . If that’s your primary audience, I would consider it a best practice to use that platform and meet them where they already are.

If you're going for that target audience of athleisure-loving millennials, you may want to focus most of your social media efforts on Instagram — millennials are the largest user base on the platform.

Stephanie Morgan , founder and CEO of Social Lock , a top social media agency , echoes this sentiment.

"Think about their behaviors and where they hang out online. If that's Pinterest, use that platform for your brand. If that's TikTok, use that platform for your brand," Morgan adds. "Don't waste time on a platform that your ideal client avatar is not very active on."

When it comes to the content you want to create, consider what each platform specializes in. For example, if you want to share video-forward content, a platform that favors that, like YouTube, is your best bet.

All of this to say, you aren’t restricted to best-fit channels. Having a presence on multiple platforms is important, and I always encourage experimentation on emerging platforms or platforms that don’t entirely align with your social media marketing needs. Not only does it diversify your strategy, but it also helps you interact with the unique audiences and requirements of each platform.

However, I can only recommend this type of experimentation for businesses with established marketing strategies on platforms that work and deliver your desired results. Placing all of your stake in something new if you’re just getting started can do more harm than good.

Recommended Tools and Resources

• A Marketer's Guide to Snapchat for Business
• 50 Facebook Ad Examples We Actually Clicked
• YouTube for Business: A 30-Day Roadmap for Growth
• How to Use Twitter for Business (+ Follower Tracking Template)
• 12 Pinterest Templates for Business

Step 4: Establish your most important metrics and KPIs.

Your social media strategy should be data-driven, regardless of your goals or industry.

That means focusing on the social media metrics that matter . Rather than focus on vanity metrics, dig into data that aligns directly with your goals.

What metrics am I talking about? Check out the breakdown below:

• Reach . Post reach is the number of unique users who saw your post. How much of your content actually reaches users’ feeds?
• Clicks . This is the number of clicks on your content or account. Tracking clicks per campaign is essential to understanding what drives curiosity or encourages people to buy.
• Engagement . The total number of social interactions divided by the number of impressions. This shows how well your audience perceives you and their willingness to interact.
• Hashtag performance . What were your most-used hashtags? Which hashtags were most associated with your brand? Having these answers can help shape the focus of your content going forward.
• Organic and paid likes . Beyond a standard “Like” count, these interactions are attributed to paid or organic content. Given how much harder organic engagement is to gain, many brands turn to ads. Knowing these differences can help you budget your ad spend and the time you invest in different formats.
• Sentiment . This measures how users react to your content, brand, or hashtag. Did customers find your recent campaign offensive? What type of sentiment do people associate with your campaign hashtag? It’s always better to dig deeper and discover how people talk or feel about your brand.

Recommended Resources

• Which Social Media Metrics Are Marketers Tracking?
• The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Analytics

Step 5: Get to know your competition.

Whether you’re just starting with social media marketing or have years under your belt, it’s always important to understand the current state of your industry, especially when it comes to your competitors.

This is where I call your attention to a trusty competitive analysis: it allows you to understand who the competition is and what they’re doing well (and not so well). You’ll get a good sense of what’s expected in your industry, which will help you set your own social media targets.

It will also help you spot opportunities. Say, for example, my main competitor is dominant on Facebook but puts little effort into Twitter or Instagram. Rather than solely focusing on winning fans away from a dominant player, I can also look to networks where my audience is underserved. I’m not abandoning Facebook (because I know it works), but I’m diversifying my strategy and building a presence where an untapped audience is ready to hear from me.

Pro Tip: I recommend monitoring your competitors’ customer reviews to gain insights into what their customers like and dislike about them. Pay attention to common complaints or recurring themes to understand their pain points, and aim to solve those pains in your own strategy.

• What's a Competitive Analysis & How Do You Conduct One?
• A Marketer's Guide To Competitive Intelligence
• How to Monitor Your Competitors' Every Move in Social Within HubSpot

Step 6: Create unique and engaging content.

With billions of social media users around the globe, there's no question that at least some of your followers — or the people browsing your profile — have also seen your competitor's content or that of other businesses in your industry.

This is why it’s important to have engaging social media content that stands out and provides viewers with a reason to click that "Follow" button and interact with your brand. If your content keeps them engaged, social media algorithms will also work in your favor and prioritize showing them your content because they’ve demonstrated an interest in it.

This is entirely true of my social media experience. I follow quite a few brands on Instagram, but I only regularly see content from 3 or 4 because they have the most engaging content that inspires me to interact. The algorithm learns what I like and prioritizes their posts over others, so I only get to their Stories when I’ve relentlessly tapped through every other story (doesn’t happen that often) or scrolled to the bottom of my feed (happens even less).

Not sure what's considered engaging? Morgan has a recommendation.

"My number one tip to brands for creating engaging content on social media is to do market research first because what will be engaging depends on the audience," Morgan said. "When you know what your audience likes and needs to know, you can create content that engages those interests."

Want some hard facts about what content to create? Here’s some insights directly from consumers, thanks to my teammate Max Iskiev's research into consumer trends:

• Consumers spend the most time engaging with visual content, specifically images/photos/infographics (53%) and short-form video content (44%)
• Millennials spend the most time engaging with short-form video content
• Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X enjoy video content the most, and Boomers enjoy images/photos/infographics.
• Relatable content is the most memorable content overall among consumers. For Gen Z and Millennials, funny content is the most memorable.

Another tip to help you get creative is to consider the content your competitors are sharing and how you can uniquely promote your products.

Also, take advantage of the features offered by the platforms you use. For example, you can create live videos on Facebook to share the latest details about a product launch or conduct a giveaway.

You can also use your current customers' and promoters’ content (user-generated content) and re-post their content or encourage them to use a hashtag to share their experiences and pictures with your products.

Lastly, leverage trends. Social media trends are always coming up, especially on short-form video platforms like TikTok. Don't be afraid to join in but you still have to be intentional about how you do it.

"If the trend started happening three weeks ago, you've probably missed the boat," Morgan said. "Catching the trends early is the best way to capitalize on it without coming across as inauthentic or like you're trying too hard, or worse [as] 'chuegy' – see Gen Z for that one."

• The Social Media Trends Report

Step 7: Organize a schedule for your posts.

Using a social media management solution is one of the easiest ways to ensure your content is shared as planned. These tools let you write captions, prepare pictures and videos, and schedule posts in advance. Some even automatically share your content on schedule and monitor post interactions and engagement.

I recently tested a few social media content calendar tools ( you can check out my tests here ), and I can’t recommend them enough. They were all extremely easy to use, and the time-saving benefits are a worthwhile investment for any social media marketer looking to optimize their process and save time.

Here are a few examples of some of your options.

HubSpot offers a social media tool — as part of the marketing software — to help you publish and monitor your content and create real connections with your followers. You can schedule and publish your content in advance and compare in-depth reports on your posts’ engagement to understand the performance of various platforms, types of content, and posting times.

Sprout Social

Image Source

Sprout Social is a social media marketing and management solution designed to help your team organize and plan content creation, manage campaigns, understand engagement, and review content reports and analysis.

Hootsuite is a social media management platform for finding, scheduling, managing, and reporting on your content. You can schedule posts in advance on all of your channels at once and measure your ROI with comprehensive content analysis.

How often should you post on social media?

As a rule of thumb, you should only post on social media when you have quality content to share (meaning that there’s a reason you’re posting it). This can help you strike the right balance when it comes to posting frequency.

Morgan says the top mistake she sees brands make regarding social media marketing is focusing on quantity of content instead of the quality of content.

"They think they need to post every day, so they force themselves to create posts to fill up the calendar," she said. "Odds are, every single one of those posts isn't going to be very valuable to the ideal customer, I've coined this 'clutter content.'"

Instead, she recommends downsizing in quantity and upping the quality.

"It's better to post two or three times a week with super valuable content, versus posting seven times a week with only one or two valuable posts," said Morgan.

There are plenty of studies and resources available explaining social media post frequency standards by industry and platform for you to follow. Every business is different, so find what works for your audience.

I do have a cheat code for you, though. Iskiev, who I mentioned above, asked marketers how often they post on social media, and they most commonly said multiple times per week. This can be a guiding metric but, as always, make final decisions based on your audience.

Look at your analytics to see when you get the most engagement, and create a posting schedule that speaks to those times. Then, you can begin experimenting with more or fewer posts – as well as other factors such as the time of day you're posting on social – to determine what provides the highest level of engagement.

• Social Media Content Calendar Template
• Social Media Content Calendar Template for Startups

Step 8: Review and adjust your strategy.

Social media is always evolving, so it’s important to periodically check in and make sure your strategy is still effective.

I recommend setting a regular cadence for reviewing your social media strategy. This could be monthly, quarterly, or annually, depending on your business needs and resources. Use these reviews to determine what's working, what needs improvement, and what new opportunities to explore.

When conducting these reviews, take the time to assess whether you're making progress toward your social media goals and objectives. Compare your actual performance against the benchmarks and KPIs you established. Then, identify any gaps or areas that need improvement.

It’s also important to keep up with the latest trends. Be sure to monitor changes in social media algorithms, user behavior, or new features, as well as emerging platforms and technologies.

For instance, if you heavily use Twitter as part of your social media strategy, consider the implications of the platform's rebrand to X and the new competitors since Elon Musk purchased it.

Before we dive into analyzing your social media marketing efforts, lets take a look at key social media platforms to give you a sense of how social media strategies look on different platforms.

Social Media Marketing Platforms

• Users : 2.8 billion daily active users worldwide
• Audience : Cusp of Gen Z and Millennials ( most users aged 24-35 )
• Industry impact : B2C
• Best for : Brand awareness, advertising, community building

Facebook is the largest and most established social media platform. Since its launch in 2004, it has become an invaluable tool for B2C businesses, offering advanced advertising tools and organic opportunities.

Featured Resources:

• Facebook Marketing: The Ultimate Guide
• How to Run Facebook Ads: Step-by-Step Guide to Advertising on Facebook

• Users : 1 billion active monthly global users
• Audience : Primarily Gen Z followed by Millennials
• Industry impact : B2C, then B2B
• Best for : Short-form, creative video content, user-generated content, building brand awareness

When you think of short-form video , you probably think of TikTok. The platform rose in popularity in 2020 and shows no signs of slowing down. It's one of the best platforms for community building, with marketers ranking it in third place behind YouTube .

• How to Use TikTok: A Step-by-Step Guide
• How Does the TikTok Algorithm Work?
• 13 Best TikTok Tips & Tricks, According to HubSpot’s Social Team + Marketer Data

• Users : 1 billion monthly active users
• Audience : Nearly even distribution of Gen Z and Millennials
• Best for : High-quality images and videos; user-generated content; advertising

Instagram launched 13 years ago and has taken the world by storm. When it comes to sharing visually compelling content, Instagram is where brands go. Another thing that sets the platform apart is its advanced eCommerce tools.

Today, users can discover brands, browse their products and/or services, and complete a purchase without leaving the app – making Instagram a hard platform to beat. In fact, consumers say Instagram offers the best in-app shopping experience , and Instagram Shops is the most popular social selling feature among social media marketers.

• Instagram Marketing: The Ultimate Guide
• How to Gain Your First (or Next) 1,000 Instagram Followers - 31 Tips
• 41 Instagram Features, Hacks, & Tips Everyone Should Know About

X (formerly Twitter)

• Users : 550 million daily active users worldwide
• Audience : Primarily Millennials
• Industry impact : B2B and B2C
• Best for : Public relations, customer service, community building

While Instagram focuses on visuals, X (formerly Twitter) focuses on words. Since the early days of 140-character Tweets (the limit is now 280), the platform has now expanded to include an audio tool called X Spaces , a community-building tool for creators called Twitter Subscriptions, and Twitter Blue for those interested in an elevated Twitter experience.

Featured Resource:

• Twitter Marketing: The Ultimate Guide

• User s : 770 million active users worldwide
• Audience : Older Gen Z (24+), Millennials (largest user base), and Gen X
• Industry impact : B2B
• Best for : B2B relationships, business development, and social selling

LinkedIn is Facebook's professional cousin. It's perhaps the only platform where its audience is clearly defined: Working professionals looking to network and seek out new opportunities.

That makes it the ideal platform for B2B companies looking to identify key decision-makers and build an industry-specific community.

• The Beginner’s Guide to LinkedIn Marketing
• Social Selling on LinkedIn: The Ultimate Guide
• How to Craft the Perfect LinkedIn Profile

• Users : Over 2.4 billion users worldwide
• Audience : Primarily Millennials but has a strong audience across gender and age demographics
• Industry impact : B2C and B2B
• Best for : Brand awareness, long-form entertainment, how-to and explainer videos, SEO, advertising

YouTube is the second most visited website in the world . In addition, marketers name it the second-best platform to build community.

In addition to being an incredibly popular platform, its users tend to stay longer because it features mostly long-form content – making it an ideal platform to share educational content.

• YouTube Marketing: The Ultimate Guide
• YouTube Ads for Beginners: How to Launch & Optimize a YouTube Video Advertising Campaign
• YouTube Demographics & Data to Know

• Users : 4 06 million daily active users worldwide
• Audience : Primarily Generation Z
• Best for : Brand awareness, advertising, location-based marketing

When Snapchat came out in 2011, leading the charge in ephemeral content. It introduced content that you could share with your friends and that would expire after 24 hours.

Many thought the brand would disappear once Instagram introduced Stories, the same feature with a different name, but it continues to be popular among young adults.

• Snapchat Marketing: The Ultimate Guide

• Users : 482 million monthly active users worldwide
• Audience : Primarily Millennials with a solid audience in Gen Z
• Best for : Visual advertising; inspiration

Think of Pinterest as a visual storyboard that allows users to get inspiration for everything from fashion to home decor.

85% of Pinners say Pinterest is where they go to start a new project. In addition, 80% of weekly Pinners say they've discovered a new brand or product on the platform. So, not only is it a great discovery tool, but it's also a way for brands to build their narrative through visual stories.

• The Ultimate Guide to Pinterest Marketing
• How to Use Pinterest to Promote Your Business or Blog

• Users : 10 million weekly active users worldwide ( according to latest data from 2022 )
• Best for : Visu

Clubhouse made a strong impression as soon as it entered the social media world in 2020. The audio-only platform allows people to start interesting conversations with followers as well as strangers and build community.

The platform also gained some buzz for its invitation-only set up when it was in beta testing. Today, the platform is open to everyone globally and on both IOS and Android devices. Another big selling point to this platform is that it works well for both B2B and B2C businesses and leverages audio, which has made a huge comeback in recent years.

Now that we've detailed the fundamentals of each social media network, how to analyze your results once you use them.

How to Analyze Your Social Media Marketing Impact and Results

One of the most important aspects of social media marketing is ensuring your efforts are successful in helping you meet your goals. To determine this, you'll need to keep track of your posts on every channel. You can do this by reviewing and managing your social media metrics.

Social Media Metrics

Social media metrics are data related to the success of your posts and your impact on your audience and customers on various platforms. These metrics may include data about levels of engagement, likes, follows, shares, and all other interactions on each platform.

These are the ten most important metrics I recommend tracking:

• Engagement: This includes clicks, comments, likes, and replies on your social media posts. There are also platform-specific types of engagement, such as " Saved " posts on Instagram and " Pinned " posts on Pinterest.
• Reach: The number of people who have seen any content associated with your page or profile is your reach.
• Followers: This is the number of people who have clicked your "Follow" button and regularly see your content in their feeds.
• Impressions: This is the number of times a post is seen, regardless of interaction. Impressions usually come from someone scrolling through their feed.
• Video views: On Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, or any other social channel with video capabilities, this is the number of views each gets.
• Profile visits: The number of people who have visited your profile is the number of profile visits.
• Mentions and tags: This is when someone mentions your brand, business, or profile in their own post. Someone might add your profile’s hand to a piece of their content with a direct tag, usually using the “@” symbol. For example, “loving these new shoes from @nike.”
• Reposts: This is when a member of your audience posts a piece of your content on their profile.
• Shares: This is the number of times people have shared content from your profile to their own or with their network.

You can influence all of these metrics, increase your social following, and improve overall engagement on your profile by using the same tactics you use to generate leads and boost conversions.

Morgan adds that the metrics you focus on will depend on your business’ level of maturity:

• If you're new, focus on building an audience and awareness. Key metrics: reach, impressions, audience growth.
• If you're growing, focus on building trust. Key metrics: Likes, saves, comments, DMs.
• If you're established, focus on retaining and nurturing. Key metrics: Likes, saves, comments, DMs.
• If you're launching something, focus on selling. Key metrics: DMs and clickthrough rate

How to Measure Social Media Metrics

There are multiple ways to monitor your social media metrics. Some platforms even have built-in analytics tools for you to use:

• X Analytics
• Facebook Analytics
• Instagram Insights

You might also choose to use an analytics and tracking tool such as Google Analytics . I view it as a great option if you want to track your social media and website metrics. Lastly, many social media scheduling solutions — as we reviewed earlier — have built-in monitoring and analytics tools.

Any metrics tracking tool you use will give you a better understanding of what your followers and audience respond well to and what you should consider modifying to improve engagement.

Now that we've reviewed the benefits of social media marketing and how to build your strategy, let's go over additional resources available to help you along the way.

There are a plethora of social media marketing resources out there that can help you build a social strategy for your company. Let’s go over some high-quality options.

Social Media Marketing Courses and Training

Here are two ways to earn an education in the field of social media marketing if you feel it's necessary for your specific business situation.

1. Earn a certificate administered by a company.

A certificate is a quick and simple way to gain a deep understanding of social media marketing courses.

HubSpot offers a free social media certification course, which teaches you how to engage with your customers and improve conversions. You'll also get a better understanding of how to develop your strategy, extend your reach, and measure your social media ROI.

LinkedIn Learning is another platform where you can earn a certification and share it on your profile.

2. Leverage YouTube university.

YouTube is a goldmine of educational content.

With a quick search, you'll find hundreds of long-form videos offering in-depth courses on social media marketing. Granted, you can't connect with a live educator. However, it's free and can be a great starting point before you dive into a paid course.

Social Media Marketing Books

Reading relevant content about social media marketing is another great way to learn more about the field. Here are a few examples of some highly-regarded books on the topic.

1. Likable Social Media, Third Edition: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on All Social Networks That Matter by Dave Kerpen

This New York Times Bestseller covers the reasons why being likable and engaging with followers on social media is one of the most powerful ways to grow your base of customers and promoters.

The book teaches you how to make impactful content for your followers to interact with and share with their networks. Author Dave Kerpen also describes why you need to ensure you're consistently delighting your followers to avoid losing them at any point in time.

2. Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuk

According to author Gary Vaynerchuk, the key to social media marketing success isn't about pushing out a lot of content — it's about pushing out specific content tailored towards your target audience and using the right platform to do so.

In his book, Vaynerchuk covers how to do this as well as connect with your followers and customers on a deeper level through social media. You'll learn how to create memorable and unique content that stands out in comparison to the competition's content.

3. The B2B Social Media Book: Become a Marketing Superstar by Generating Leads with Blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Email, and More by Kipp Bodnar

HubSpot's CMO, Kipp Bodnar, writes about the ways B2B businesses can generate more leads and conversions through social media marketing.

There are actionable methods you can take to increase your base of followers and drive leads as well as understand the ROI of various B2B social media marketing strategies.

Emerging Social Media Platforms

Recent HubSpot Blog Research found that marketers are constantly on the lookout for new or emerging platforms.

Though it can take a while for platforms to take off, once they do, you’ll want to have a plan of attack.

Chipotle, for example, was one of the first brands to try sharing short-form video content on TikTok, and it now has a strong presence on the platform. Other brands haven’t been so lucky and still struggle to find their place. (TikTokers don’t shy away from telling brands when they don’t like something and won’t mince their words).

Emerging platforms can offer a new avenue to reach your target audience in a way that may be more effective than what you're doing now. In 2024, Threads and Lemon8 are among some of the most popular emerging platforms, and Bereal is also working to make its mark.

Want to learn more about what's out there? Check out this article on social media platforms to keep an eye on this year.

Start Marketing on Social Media

Considering there are billions of people on social media today, it's easy to see why so many businesses and marketers use the channel to promote their products and engage with customers.

Although determining your company's social media course of action may seem daunting, you can avoid feeling overwhelmed by understanding how social media marketing works and leveraging the resources available about the topic (like this piece!)

Start working on your business’s social media marketing strategy today to increase your followers, improve engagement, and boost conversions.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Don't forget to share this post!

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Social Media Platforms Marketers Should Watch in 2023

Explore the top trends in social media, along with opportunities, challenges, and new data to optimize social content.

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Hey there! Free trials are available for Standard and Essentials plans. Start for free today.

Create a Marketing Plan For Social Media in 8 Steps

Social media platforms allow companies of any size to build their brand while reaching a diverse audience that spans the globe.

By effectively using social media for your business, you can develop a stronger connection with your target audience and establish your brand image and personality. Best of all is the fact that creating and maintaining a social media presence is absolutely free!

So how do you leverage social media marketing for your brand? If you want to find success on social media, the first step you’ll need to take is to create a marketing plan for social media.

A social media marketing plan is a document that lays out the goals your company hopes to achieve through social media and how you intend to achieve them.

With a social media marketing strategy in place, you can take a more organized and focused approach when building your brand and marketing on social media.

Read on to learn more about the importance of establishing a social media marketing strategy and learn how to create one for your own company. Alternatively, you can skip to any section in the article using the links below.

What is a social media marketing plan?

A social media marketing plan is essentially a blueprint for what your organization aims to achieve through social media and how you plan to meet your goals. A marketing plan for social media may include details such as:

• Social media channels you plan on using
• Social media marketing goals
• Social media marketing tactics
• Key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Customer profiles
• Market research
• Social media content calendar

These are just some of the elements that may be included in a marketing plan for social media. As a general rule, the more detailed your social media marketing plan is, the better.

A highly detailed social media marketing plan will help streamline the decision-making process and ensure that everyone on your team is on the same page. Changes and other adjustments can always be made in the future as you begin to see results and get feedback from your target audience.

Why is establishing a strong marketing plan for social media important?

When entering into any new venture, it’s always better to have a plan. When it comes to social media, a marketing plan can help to highlight the priorities and goals of your organization while clearing up any confusion along the way.

There are several ways in which a marketing plan for social media can help your brand. With a strong social media marketing strategy in place, you can:

Set clear goals

One of the most useful parts of a social media marketing plan is that it enables you to identify and set clear, quantifiable goals. As you brainstorm goals for your social media marketing strategy, consider setting SMART goals .

For example, perhaps you want your Instagram page to reach 10,000 followers by the end of the year or you hope to increase traffic to your website by 10% by the next quarter. The goals you set will guide your decisions when it comes to marketing on social media.

A strong social media marketing strategy can save your team a lot of time. Since you’ve already taken the time to outline the content that you will post on social media channels, you won’t have to hesitate when it comes time to make that next post.

For instance, if you set up a content calendar as part of your social media marketing plan, you can use automation tools to schedule posts on different social media channels.

Maintain a consistent voice

It’s important to stay consistent on social media. All of the social media content you post should reflect the voice and values of your brand. With a social media marketing strategy in place, you can clearly define your brand’s personality, values, and mission, making it much easier to stay consistent across all channels.

Measure results

Every social media marketing strategy should lay out a set of goals as well as the KPIs that will be used to evaluate progress toward meeting those goals.

This makes it possible for organizations to measure results as they set out to grow their brand on social media. And by measuring results, you can identify what’s working and what isn’t and make changes to your strategy as needed.

Coordinate a multi-channel campaign

A social media marketing plan makes it easier to coordinate multi-channel marketing campaigns, whether you’re sharing posts across multiple social media platforms or utilizing other channels.

A defined social media marketing strategy allows you to better identify opportunities for multi-channel marketing campaigns and cross-channel promotion. This, in turn, can allow you to reach a wider target audience and reinforce your brand identity across multiple marketing channels.

Steps to create your social media marketing plan

While creating a social media marketing plan may take some energy and effort upfront, it can help you find success on social media while saving you time and trouble in the long run.

If this is your first time developing your social media marketing efforts, it may seem overwhelming—but the truth is that you can build a social media marketing strategy in just a few steps.

Below, we walk you through each step you must take in order to create a strong marketing plan for social media.

1. Goal setting

Setting goals is one of the most crucial parts of any social media marketing plan. The goals you set will often dictate the tactics you use on social media.

As you set goals for your social media marketing strategy, make sure to set SMART goals so that you can measure results.

2. Determine your target audience

It’s important to understand who you’re speaking to with your social media accounts. Build out customer profiles to determine who your ideal customer is.

Knowing metrics such as a customer’s age, income level, geographic location, and more can help you segment your audience and find a voice that works for your brand.

3. Audit of social media performance

If you already have social media accounts for your business, take some time to look at them more closely and conduct an audit. Take a look at what’s working on your social media pages and what isn’t.

Identify tactics and strategies that have been successful so that you can harness those moving forward. You might also take a look at your competitors’ social media pages and see how you stack up to their presence and performance.

4. Optimize accounts

One of the key things to pay attention to when optimizing your social media accounts is the profile page.

Completely fill out all profile fields in order to optimize your account and make it easier for visitors to determine what your page is about. Make sure that your profile picture, bio, and any other fields are up-to-date and align with your brand’s values.

5. Choose a posting strategy

A posting strategy essentially outlines what types of content you should post and when. The type of content you post will likely vary based on the social media networks you’re using. Some social media channels are ideal for videos, while others are suited to text or images.

You’ll also want to determine how often you should post. In general, you should post fairly regularly so that your account appears active and you give followers opportunities to engage with your content.

6. Create engaging content

This is one of the most important parts of any social media marketing strategy. By creating engaging content that aligns with the social media platform you’re using and addresses the needs and values of your users, you can more effectively build relationships and grow your following.

Whether you produce videos that demonstrate the capabilities of your products or conduct interviews with experts in your industry, create content that resonates with your target audience.

7. Use social media management tools

Social media management software makes it easy to manage and organize multiple social media channels.

With a social media management tool such as Mailchimp, you can save time by scheduling posts and evaluate performance by viewing key analytics and insights. You can also use Mailchimp’s content studio to store and manage all of your digital assets.

8. Analyze performance and optimize

Once your social media marketing plan has been created, it’s essential to analyze performance as you carry it out. By regularly looking at performance data and reports , you can identify what’s working and what isn’t.

Don’t hesitate to make changes and tweak your social media strategy as time goes on—after all, your social media marketing plan should act as an outline, not as a definitive set of laws!

Set your goals and stick to them

Social media may seem like an enigma to many brands, but this doesn’t have to be the case. Creating a social media marketing plan can help guide you as you establish a social media presence for your company and grow your brand on social media.

By coming up with goals, identifying relevant metrics to track, and creating engaging content, you can drive engagement on social media and expand the reach of your brand.

Of course, combining social media strategies with the right tools can make it easier to build a following and connect with your target audience. Mailchimp provides social media marketing tools that allow you to schedule posts, create content, run social media ads, and view analytics.

Try Mailchimp today to make the most of your social media marketing efforts and achieve your social media marketing goals.

Free Social Media Marketing Plan Templates

Choose from the best social media plan templates to streamline your marketing efforts. Below you’ll find free templates for strategic planning, scheduling, and tracking in Excel, PDF, PowerPoint, Google Docs, and Google Sheets.

Templates on this page include a social media marketing strategy plan, a social media content calendar, and a social media audit. You’ll also find details for creating an effective social media strategy and mastering calendar planning.

Social Media Strategy Plan Template

Create a strategic social media marketing action plan. The template features a simple layout to help you organize each stage of planning and implementation; separate sections for research, competitive analysis, objectives, and actions; and space for revising social media goals based on performance. Edit the template to meet the specific marketing needs of your business or organization. Use the social media channel plan template to help execute your strategy. 

Download Social Media Strategy Plan Template - Excel

Social Media Marketing Plan Template

This social media campaign marketing plan template includes sections for defining goals, identifying a call to action, scheduling important dates, and planning marketing tools and content. The form is easy to read and edit, thanks to alternate row colors. Create a clear campaign plan that includes social media platforms, related online marketing tools, and metrics for tracking progress. 

Download Social Media Marketing Plan Template - Excel

Social Media Planning Calendar Template

Adjust the dates on this template to create a custom daily and weekly social media calendar. Perfect for small businesses and startups, the template has an hourly schedule and sections for multiple social media networks. Plan your posts and keep track of images used, linked content, and customer engagement. 

Download Social Media Planning Calendar Template - Excel

Social Media Editorial Plan Template

Designed as an annual social media plan template, this editorial calendar includes multiple spreadsheets. Use the first sheet for an overview of important events occuring during the year, with months and quarters highlighted. Each month also has its own sheet for detailed planning and tracking. For each month, schedule social media projects while tracking target audience, editorial goals, and measurements of success.

Download Social Media Editorial Plan Template - Excel

Social Media Content Plan Template

Create a monthly and yearly content plan for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other social media outlets. Use this template to build a comprehensive marketing plan for each month while also viewing a yearly outlook on one page. Keep track of the status of each post, whether it’s in progress or on hold or it needs updating.

Download Social Media Content Plan Template - Excel

Social Media Posting Plan Template with Dashboard

This social media plan template includes a sheet with sample data so you can see how the dashboard displays posts per week for each social platform. The schedule covers a four-week time period, so you can create a 30-day social media plan template for all content channels. Create a log of social media posts while tracking content type, topics covered, and posting stats.

Download Social Media Posting Plan with Dashboard Template - Excel

PowerPoint Social Media Marketing Plan Template

Enhance a marketing presentation with this social media PowerPoint template. Include key elements in your marketing plan for each section: target audience, objectives, strategy, and content. Use the bullet points to describe your customers, what makes your company unique, how your business and marketing goals align, and how you plan to meet those goals with social media tools.

Download Social Media Marketing Plan Template - PowerPoint

Social Media Multichannel Plan Template

Organized by month and channel, this template helps you track activities on all your social media outlets. Add or delete sections to create a yearly, six-, or three-month social media plan template. To create a detailed schedule, add rows under each social platform and list upcoming posts and publishing dates. Keep track of assigned owners, calls to action, and the sales funnel stage that matches your marketing goals.

Download Social Media Multichannel Plan Template - Excel

Download Social Media Multichannel Plan Template - Word

Social Media Schedule Template

This basic social media template provides a spreadsheet for scheduling posts. Use it as a calendar, log, and planning tool for social marketing. Columns include publishing date, post status, topics, content description, hashtags, and character count. You’ll also find a checklist with various social media outlets that offers a quick view of where you are posting and when.

Download Social Media Schedule Template - Excel

Social Media Audit Template

Conduct a social media audit to inform your marketing plans. Analyze your activity, customer engagement, audience reach, number of followers, and recent changes. Use this data to refine your social media strategy, as well as create and share more effective content. Customize the template to include all the marketing channels and KPIs you want to measure.

Download Social Media Audit Template - Excel

Maximize Your Social Media Strategy Plan with Smartsheet

The best marketing teams know the importance of effective campaign management, consistent creative operations, and powerful event logistics -- and Smartsheet helps you deliver on all three so you can be more effective and achieve more. 

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed.

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time. Try Smartsheet for free, today.

Creating an Effective Social Media Strategy Plan

For more templates, as well as information on creating a social media strategy and planning a social media content calendar, visit our post “ Free Social Media Templates for Excel .” We also offer a guide to social media calendars , including benefits, best practices, planning tips, and additional calendar tools. For a comprehensive marketing overview, see the “ Definitive Guide to Strategic Marketing Planning .”

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The complete guide to social media for businesses

Written by by Brent Barnhart

Published on  May 25, 2023

Reading time  10 minutes

Hot take: mastering social media is what sets businesses today apart.

Competition is fierce among brands and attention is scarce. Establishing an identity and sense of community via social is key to standing out.

Not to mention attracting valuable new customers.

Done right, a goal-driven social strategy means positive results for your business. Countless brands have been built from the ground up via Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Wrangling your social media strategy can be daunting with so many moving pieces. This is especially true if you’re totally new to the space. We get it.

That’s why we put together this post breaking down the basics of social media for business.

Table of contents

Benefits of social media for business

Setting social media goals for your business, follow these 5 social media tips for business.

• Use social media marketing tools for business

Uncover social analytics and reporting for business

Involve your c-suite and employees to amplify your business, work on a corporate communication plan.

• Go beyond the basics of social media for business

“Okay, so why is social media important for business?”

Good question! A decade ago, the upsides of social media for business were tougher to quantify.

Thankfully, times have changed and ROI is no longer a question mark. Let’s be crystal clear:

Social media is valuable for businesses of any size or industry. Finding customers on social media has a direct impact on sales and your bottom line.

Building awareness. Nurturing leads and driving sales. Community-building.

The list goes on given that the benefits of social media aren’t one-size-fits-all. That said, here are five upsides that brands can see from a smart social presence.

Like it or not, social media has become a go-to research channel for consumers at large.

Think about your own experience looking up businesses.

Chances are you’ve visited a restaurant’s Facebook to confirm their hours. Maybe you’ve combed a company’s IG content and comments to see if their products live up to the hype. This highlights how social media builds awareness for brands in a way that your website can’t.

Your business’ social presence is a powerful touchpoint with new customers. That’s because social media serves as an authentic reflection of what a company is all about.

Comments and shout-outs from satisfied customers speak volumes about your business. If someone’s first impression of your business is a glowing social review, that’s a huge plus.

Create a meaningful connection with your customers

It’s no exaggeration to say that social media serves as a Swiss Army Knife for customer support .

For reference, many brands use their social presence to…

• Answer questions from potential customers
• Handle concerns from existing customers
• Celebrate and welcome new customers
• Gather feedback from your target audience

Show off your products (and what makes them compelling)

From testimonials to tutorials and beyond, social media is a prime place to show off products.

As noted in the Sprout Social Index™ , the most popular types of posts teach people how products work.  For example, an IG Reel or TikTok can educate a potential customer in a matter of seconds. Contrast this with static photos and traditional product descriptions.

Formats such as short-form video empower brands to bring their products to life. Bonus points if you can feature real people and satisfied customers in your content.

Increase your brand’s visibility and reach

Recent demographics show us that people are spending hours per day on social media, not just a few minutes here and there.

This highlights the value of businesses having an established social presence. Many potential customers will see your brand’s Facebook or IG before they see your website.

Look no further than the rise of social search as evidence of this. Trends and research say that young consumers treat social media like a search engine .

The more word of mouth your business earns, the easier it is for your audience to find you. This applies to social searchers and potential customers alike.

Gather real-time insights to make data-driven business decisions

Social media marketing for business is about so much more than promotion.

Consider how you can use analytics to research the following in real-time:

• Audience pain points
• Competitor messaging and content
• Sentiment analysis (and how people feel about your brand)
• The most popular types of products and content among your follow
• The latest trends in your industry

And that only scratches the surface!

From your audience to competitors, there’s no better place to conduct market research . That’s because social media is a treasure trove of data points that are all out in the open.

The benefits of using social media for business speak for themselves.

That said, achieving them doesn’t happen by accident. That’s why goal-setting is so important.

Keep in mind that social media goals > are unique as they’re totally dependent on your business. Also, you can set multiple goals that actually overlap and influence each other. Goals affect everything from your content strategy to the social platforms you use.

Setting social media goals for business

There’s no “right” way to set goals but the process can be a lot. A few tips to get you started:

• Start with the big picture before getting granular. Why does your business need a social presence? What resources do you need to make those results a reality?
• Look at your target audience and customer personas . For example, how are your customers using social media? Is your audience glued to TikTok or Instagram? What types of content do they want to see? Brainstorm how using social media for business can help you reach your audience.
• Think about your business’ holistic marketing strategy and how social media fits in.
• Tie your social media goals to actual metrics and KPIs . This is a big one in an era where marketers are under pressure to prove ROI. From engagement to traffic and beyond, there’s plenty to track.

Sample B2B social media goals and KPIs

• Brand awareness (growth, engagements) and consideration (link clicks, web traffic)
• Lead generation (marketing qualified leads)
• Competitor analysis (share of voice) and market share
• Audience engagement (likes, replies, shares, etc.)
• Drive customer loyalty (+ CX) and reduce churn
• Customer service efficiencies (engagement speed and rates)
• Reputation management
• Customer satisfaction
• Positive reviews
• Customer sentiment online

Sample B2C social media goals and KPIs

• Find new sales opportunities (conversations to join)
• Uncover brand expansion opportunities
• Reputation management (engaging with inbound messages)
• Increase customer satisfaction
• Inspire customer loyalty
• Product launch analysis
• Competitive analysis

Create a social media strategy for business

Let’s say you have your goals squared away.

Remember: effectively using social media for business means having a plan. Posting at random won’t do you any favors. Without a strategy, your social presence can quickly become a time-sink.

No pressure, right? Mapping your social media marketing strategy doesn’t have to be daunting. To keep your focus and avoid getting overwhelmed, here’s what we suggest you focus on:

• Ensure social goals solve challenges
• Extend social marketing efforts throughout your organization
• Focus on networks that add value
• Create engaging content
• Identify business opportunities through social
• Engage instead of ignore
• Track, improve and market your effort

If you focus on these points, you’ll already be way ahead of the curve.

There’s no shortage of social media tips out there to help you fine-tune your strategy.

Some best practices related to social media for business are relative. Below are five universal tips that are fair game for companies of all shapes and sizes.

1. Build a human, people-first social presence

This might seem like a no-brainer.

That said, busy businesses tend to get stuck in a “copy-and-paste” approach to social. Comments and social captions should feel like they were written by a real person, not a robot.

Injecting personality into your posts is a low-hanging way to relate to your audience. Beyond that, personalizing your replies to people shows that you’re there to help them. This is an example of how to use social media for business to build connections.

2. Look at your social presence as a resource ( not just a promotional channel)

Don’t make the mistake of treating your social presence as a dumping ground for offers. Building an audience means being genuinely helpful, not salesy.

Many of the best practices across social media treat their accounts as resources. That means:

• Creating actionable, educational content (think: how-tos, tutorial videos)
• Answering questions and sharing advice with your audience
• Sharing company updates and keeping customers in the loop (see below)

Imagine that your social accounts are your first touchpoint with a potential customer. Sharing resources makes a better first impression than screaming “BUY NOW!”

3. Show up consistently

This applies to both publishing content and engaging with customers.

Conventional wisdom says that social media algorithms reward consistency. Sprout’s own research on the best times to post on social media confirms this.  If nothing else, letting your social feeds gather cobwebs isn’t a good look.

Neither is leaving your followers hanging. Making a conscious effort to reply to questions and comments is crucial. This is why you need to keep a close eye on your @tags and social notifications.

4. Be prepared to experiment with different types of content

Brands are spoiled for choice when it comes to the types of content they can post.

Below are two examples of brands with diverse social feeds in terms of content.

From short-form videos to Stories and slideshows, you have plenty of options. Different industries and types of brands thrive on different types of content.

That said, don’t make assumptions when it comes to what performs best.

Just because a competitor posts a bunch of memes doesn’t mean you should follow suit. Let your own analytics and engagement guide your content strategy.

5. Don’t treat your social presence like an island

Social media shouldn’t be a siloed channel separate from the rest of your marketing efforts.

From announcements to offers and company initiatives, social can be in the middle of it all. For example, a feature rollout isn’t something a SaaS brand should restrict to its email list. These sorts of updates should be front and center on social, too.

A more holistic approach to social media marketing for business is ideal. In turn, you maximize your marketing assets elsewhere and see a greater ROI for your efforts.

Use social media marketing tools for businesses

Good news: you’re not expected to do everything totally DIY when building your presence.

There’s no shortage of social media marketing tools out there to help with the heavy lifting. Depending on your needs, you might consider investing in a combo of the following:

• Scheduling tools that allow you to queue up content across multiple platforms
• Analytics tools that measure content performance and engagement (see Sprout Social below)
• Listening and monitoring tools that make it easier to track audience conversations

Remember: the purpose of these tools should be to make you more productive. A big challenge in building any sort of marketing stack is redundancies. It’s easy to invest in tools that overlap. This results in brands burning through their budgets and needlessly bouncing between platforms.

The more opportunities to consolidate your tools, the better. Working with fewer tools means squeezing the most out of what you have. Also, you save a ton of time onboarding.

The less bouncing between tools, the better. This speaks to the value of an all-in-one social media management platform like Sprout.

With Sprout, brands access a comprehensive suite of social tools and analytics. For example, the platform makes it a cinch to map out your content calendar across platforms. This is a shining example of how to save time and avoid bouncing between tools.

Sprout’s analytics and dashboards encourage a goal-driven approach to social media for business. Advanced analytics means fewer question marks and a better understanding of your presence. This includes your top-performing content and social channels.

In short, you have a constant pulse on what’s working, what’s not and what you should do next.

As noted earlier, social media shouldn’t be treated as an island.

This applies to your own team as well. The sooner you’re able to get approval and buy-in from your C-Suite, the better. Brand-building through employee advocacy is another way to use social media for business.

Employee advocacy is the promotion of a brand by its employees on social media.  Instead of solely promoting products, advocates promote a company at large. This means:

• Sharing behind-the-scenes experiences about work life
• Celebrating team members and workplace accomplishments
• Amplify company messages and promotions

Chances are you’ve seen your fair share of employee advocacy in action on LinkedIn.

Again, the crowded nature of social media means anything you can do to stand out is a plus. Advocacy is an opportunity to boost your company’s profile and exposure via social.

One last pointer for anyone on the enterprise level.

The power of social media as a communication channel shouldn’t be taken lightly. Brands have the opportunity to reach massive audiences at a moment’s notice. This applies to customers, industry leaders and competitors alike.

The stakes are high for large companies with significant audiences and stakeholders. That’s why having a corporate communication plan is crucial. In short, you need to establish rules for:

• Internal communication , including employee engagement and internal marketing
• External communication , including PR and how you speak to the public
• Executive communication (ex: how the C-level discusses your company on social media)
• Crisis communication to deal with controversies and damage control situations

Having all of the above squared away empowers brands to have consistent messaging. Likewise, you can avoid miscommunication and countless public headaches in the process.

Going beyond the basics of social media for business

An active social presence is an expectation, not an exception for companies today.

The tips and best practices above serve as a solid foundation. With the right goals and mentality, social media can have a positive impact on your business.

Building a results-driven social media presence is so much easier with a platform like Sprout.  From content to trend analysis and beyond, Sprout empowers brands to build their presence with confidence. If you haven’t already, test-drive a free trial of Sprout Social to see the full suite in action for yourself!

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The ABCs of Social Media Marketing: Strategies, Tips, and Essentials

Are you ready to be unforgettable on social media?

In this guide, we strip away the fluff to deliver the hard-hitting truths and actionable strategies you need to elevate your brand on socials.

From crafting a winning plan to navigating the best platforms for your content, we've uncovered the essence of social media marketing into bite-sized, impactful insights.

So let’s discover the secrets behind engaging posts, viral campaigns, and lasting connections with your audience.

The ins and outs of social media marketing

• What is social media marketing?
• Why is social media marketing important?
• Social media marketing strategy
• How to create a social media marketing plan
• The best social media marketing platforms
• Social media marketing courses

1. What is social media marketing?

Social media marketing is the strategic process of promoting a brand, product, or service through social media platforms.

Strategically using social media for marketing can help you enhance brand visibility, foster loyalty , and drive sales.

Marketing through social media involves a sophisticated mix of targeted advertising, engaging directly with your audience, and analyzing data to optimize campaigns.

By harnessing the unique characteristics of each platform, whether it's the visual appeal of Instagram, the brevity of X (Twitter), or the community focus of TikTok, marketers craft messages that resonate on a personal level with their audience.

Key tactics to crafting an effective social media marketing plan include content creation that aligns with brand identity, influencer partnerships to extend reach , and real-time interaction to maintain a dynamic presence.

Nonetheless, an effective social media marketing plan taps into current trends and consumer behavior to ensure that the brand remains relevant and compelling in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

2. Why is social media marketing important?

Social media marketing stands as a cornerstone in contemporary digital marketing strategies, blending innovation and traditional marketing principles to foster brand growth and customer engagement.

Here are some key benefits of social media marketing :

• A wider reach : Using social media for marketing allows brands to connect with potential customers across the globe or target specific demographics with precision.
• Brand awareness and recognition : Through consistent social media marketing strategies, brands can increase visibility and recognition. Engaging content can be shared widely, helping to introduce the brand to new audiences and keep it top of mind among existing followers.
• Boosted engagement : Marketing through social media enables direct and real-time interaction with target audiences. Brands can engage in conversations, respond to queries, and collect feedback promptly. This level of engagement helps build stronger relationships with customers and enhances loyalty.
• Cost-effectiveness : Compared to traditional marketing channels like TV, radio, or print media, social media marketing can be more cost-effective, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. Even with limited budgets, businesses can reach a wide audience, engage with customers, and build brand awareness .
• Insights and analytics : Social media marketing tools provide valuable data about audience demographics, engagement rates, and content performance. These insights help businesses tailor their strategies, content, and advertising to better meet their audience's needs and preferences.
• Increased website traffic : By sharing content that links back to their websites, brands can use social media marketing to increase web traffic. This can lead to higher conversion rates, more sales, and improved search engine ranking.
• Influencer collaboration: Influencer collaboration, a key aspect of social media influencer marketing, introduces brands to new audiences and boosts credibility, highlighting the benefits of marketing on social media.
• Crisis management : Crisis management via social media allows brands to quickly address, clarify, and engage on issues, mitigating reputation damage, and underscoring its role in effective social media marketing strategies.

3. Key pillars of a social media marketing strategy

A social media strategy is a comprehensive plan that outlines how a business or organization will use social media platforms to achieve its marketing and branding goals.

This strategy typically includes objectives, target audience identification, content planning and creation, engagement tactics, advertising strategies, and methods for measuring success.

Social media marketing has evolved from merely publishing content to drive website traffic and sales into a versatile tool for brand engagement.

Brands now monitor social conversations and respond to mentions, analyze social media performance using analytics , and reach targeted audiences with precise advertising.

What is social media marketing all about?

1. Strategy

Developing a strategic action plan is the first step in social media marketing, providing direction to the content that will be published.

This approach is essential because it serves as a foundational pillar that guides all initiatives on these platforms.

It helps you define clear objectives, ensuring your efforts contribute directly to your business goals , such as increasing brand awareness, driving sales, or improving customer engagement.

By choosing the right platforms and types of content based on a deep understanding of your target audience, you can more effectively allocate resources, engage your audience, and measure success.

Without a strategic foundation, social media efforts can become unfocused, wasting time and resources without delivering meaningful results.

2. Planning and publishing

Sharing on social media can be as straightforward as posting a blog, photo, or video, much like you would on your personal accounts.

However, it's important to strategize and schedule your content rather than posting on the fly.

To maximize social media impact, publish engaging content that resonates with your audience, and timed perfectly for optimal reach and frequency.

Regarding planning and publishing, these elements are fundamental to social media marketing.

They ensure content is thoughtfully prepared and distributed effectively, laying the foundation for building audience engagement and achieving marketing objectives.

3. Listening and engagement

As your business and its social media presence expand, so will conversations about your brand.

Users will engage with your posts, tag you, or message directly, and some may mention your brand without tagging you.

Monitoring these conversations is crucial.

Positive feedback presents an opportunity to surprise and delight while addressing negative comments can prevent issues from escalating.

Listening and engagement are vital to social media marketing because they allow you to understand customer perceptions and directly interact with your audience.

This feedback loop strengthens relationships, builds loyalty, and can improve your offerings based on real user insights.

4. Analytics and reporting

While managing your social media activities, from publishing content to engaging with users, it's essential to track the performance of your marketing efforts.

Key metrics to monitor in your social media marketing plan include the growth of your social reach compared to previous months, the volume of positive mentions, and the frequency of your brand's hashtag use in posts.

Analytics and reporting serve as critical components of social media marketing because they provide insights into the effectiveness of your strategies.

By understanding these metrics , you can refine your approach, identify what resonates with your audience, and enhance overall engagement and brand visibility.

Integrating a third-party tool such as Socialinsider into your social media marketing strategy can elevate your approach by providing comprehensive analytics and reporting.

As the screenshot suggests, Socialinsider can track and compare the performance of different social media profiles.

In this case, the charts displayed indicate the follower count and engagement rate, offering a clear visual representation of how these profiles fare in terms of audience size and interaction.

Such insights are crucial for marketers to analyze their social media strategy, understand audience behavior, and adjust their content to foster growth and engagement.

By benchmarking against industry standards or competitors, Socialinsider helps in making informed decisions to enhance social media presence.

With the ability to track campaign performance, marketers can make timely adjustments to optimize their efforts and maximize their impact.

Overall, Socialinsider empowers brands to develop more effective social media marketing plans by facilitating data-driven decision-making, continuous optimization, and improved audience engagement.

5. Advertising

As your budget for social media and marketing increases, consider investing in social media advertising to extend your reach beyond your current followers.

Modern advertising platforms offer precise targeting options based on demographics, interests, and behaviors, allowing you to tailor your message to the ideal audience.

Social media advertising is a key strategy for expanding your brand's visibility and engaging with a broader audience.

For those managing multiple campaigns , using a social media advertising tool can streamline operations, allowing for bulk modifications, automation, and optimization of ads for better performance and efficiency.

4. How to create a social media marketing plan

Crafting an effective social media marketing plan requires a deep understanding of one's audience, clear objectives, and the seamless integration of various social media marketing tools .

However, creating a social media marketing plan is also a dynamic process .

It requires ongoing attention and adjustment to respond to new trends, platform changes, and the evolving interests of your audience.

By following these steps, you'll be well on your way to building a strong social media presence that supports your business goals:

4.1. Set clear objectives

Establishing clear objectives is the first step in developing an effective social media marketing plan.

These objectives could range from increasing brand awareness and driving website traffic to generating leads or boosting sales.

Having well-defined goals serves as a roadmap for your social media marketing strategies, providing direction and focus to your efforts.

Additionally, it allows you to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns and make adjustments as needed to achieve desired outcomes.

In essence, setting clear objectives ensures that your social media marketing efforts are purposeful, measurable, and aligned with your overall business goals.

4.2. Identify your target audience

Identifying your target audience is pivotal in social media marketing.

A well-defined target audience enables you to craft content that speaks directly to their interests, preferences, and pain points.

By doing so, you can establish a deeper connection with your audience, fostering loyalty and trust over time.

Moreover, understanding your audience's demographics, behaviors, and psychographics empowers you to choose the most appropriate social media platforms and tools for reaching them effectively.

Furthermore, identifying your target audience allows you to refine your social media marketing goals and metrics.

Whether your objective is to drive brand awareness, generate leads, or increase sales, knowing who you are targeting enables you to set realistic benchmarks and track your progress accurately.

4.3. Select the right platforms

Selecting the right social media platforms is a critical step in optimizing your social media marketing strategy.

It’s essential to conduct thorough research to determine where your target audience is most actively engaged.

Engaging in social media marketing requires a nuanced understanding of each platform's unique features and user base.

Different platforms cater to varied demographics and interests, making it crucial to tailor your approach accordingly.

For businesses targeting professional users or other companies, LinkedIn offers a prime environment for B2B marketing , thanks to its professional network and industry-focused discussions.

Conversely, Instagram, with its visually rich format, is exceptionally suited for brands that aim to attract younger consumers through compelling images and videos, making it ideal for consumer-centric products and lifestyle branding.

4.4. Conduct a competitive analysis

Conducting a thorough analysis of your competitors' activities on social media can gather invaluable insights .

By meticulously examining their successes and shortcomings, you can pinpoint the tactics that resonate with your shared audience.

This comprehensive competitive analysis is crucial for developing nuanced social media marketing strategies.

Such insights not only enable you to tailor your approach to better meet the needs of your target audience but also provide a strong foundation for distinguishing your brand in a crowded marketplace.

4.5. Create engaging content

Crafting compelling content is the cornerstone of any successful social media marketing strategy.

A diverse blend of content types—such as images, videos, blogs, and infographics—can captivate your audience and sustain their interest.

It's important to strike a balance between promotional material and content that provides genuine value, ensuring your social media presence resonates with and enriches your audience's experience.

This approach not only fosters engagement but also strengthens your brand's connection with its followers.

4.6. Plan your content calendar

Developing a meticulous content calendar is a pivotal step in refining your social media marketing plan.

Incorporating such a calendar is instrumental in maintaining a consistent posting schedule, a key factor that underpins audience engagement and fosters substantial growth.

To effectively leverage a content calendar for your social media marketing efforts, start by identifying key dates that are relevant to your audience, such as holidays, industry events, or product launch dates.

This will ensure your content is timely and resonates more deeply with your followers.

Additionally, diversify your content types to include a mix of videos, images, infographics, and blog posts to cater to different preferences and increase engagement.

Each piece of content should serve a purpose, whether it's to educate, entertain, inspire, or promote your brand.

Analyze the performance of your posts regularly to identify patterns and adjust your strategy accordingly.

For instance, if you notice higher engagement rates on certain days of the week or times of day, schedule your most important content accordingly.

Finally, use social media management tools to automate posting and free up time to engage with your audience.

By effectively planning your social media marketing campaigns in this manner, you ensure that every piece of content is aligned with your overall social media marketing goals, resonates with your target audience, and leverages the unique strengths of each social media marketing platform.

4.7. Team up with influencers

Leveraging social media influencer marketing can significantly amplify your brand's visibility and credibility.

To maximize the benefits of this strategy, it’s essential to choose influencers whose values and online persona align with your brand identity, ensuring a natural and cohesive partnership.

Furthermore, by engaging in creative and mutually beneficial collaborations, such as sponsored content, product reviews, or exclusive giveaways, you can effectively leverage social media and marketing tactics to captivate an audience and drive engagement.

Using social media for marketing in this way taps into the influencer's credibility, creating a persuasive and impactful marketing channel that can lead to increased brand awareness, customer loyalty, and ultimately, sales.

4.8. Monitor and analyze your results

Monitoring and analyzing your social media marketing results is essential for optimizing your strategies and achieving your objectives.

Leveraging social media analytics tools enables you to track the performance of your posts and campaigns effectively.

By analyzing metrics such as engagement rates, reach, and the performance of individual posts, you gain valuable insights into what resonates with your audience and what doesn't.

This data-driven approach allows you to make informed decisions and adjustments to your strategy, focusing resources on tactics that yield the best results.

Ultimately, monitoring and analyzing your social media metrics empower you to refine your approach continuously, driving improved outcomes and maximizing the impact of your efforts.

5. The best social media marketing platforms

The best social media marketing platforms can vary depending on your business goals, target audience, and the type of content you plan to share.

However, several platforms have established themselves as powerful tools for businesses looking to enhance their social media marketing efforts.

Here's an overview of some of the most effective platforms:

1. Facebook

• User base : Predominantly male (56.8%), with a significant user base aged 25-34. Global presence , especially strong in Asia​​​.
• Best for : Brand awareness, advertising, and community building.
• Distinctive features : Diverse content types (text, images, videos), targeted advertising, Facebook Groups, and Facebook Marketplace.

2. Instagram

• User base : Favored by Gen Z and millennials. Users spend an average of 33.1 minutes per day on the platform.
• Best for : Visual content, brand storytelling, and influencer marketing.
• Distinctive features : High engagement rates, Stories, IGTV, Reels, and Shopping.

3. X (Twitter)

• User base : Mostly male (63%) and is most popular among those aged 25-34. Users spend an average of 34.1 minutes daily.
• Best for : Real-time communication, customer service, and trending topics.
• Distinctive features : Quick updates, hashtag usage for reach, Twitter Spaces for live audio conversations.

4. LinkedIn

• User base : Users are mostly 25-34 years old and male (56.3%). Seeing an increase in daily and Gen Z users.
• Best for : B2B marketing, networking, and professional content.
• Distinctive features : Company pages, LinkedIn articles, InMail for direct outreach, LinkedIn Learning.
• User base : Young, with 18-24-year-olds being the largest age group. Gender distribution is nearly even, and it boasts the highest average daily usage time at 53.8 minutes.
• Best for : Viral content, brand challenges, influencer collaborations.
• Distinctive features : Short-form video content, high user engagement, For You Page for discoverability.
• User base : Popular across various age groups, now seeing more male users (54.4%). Average daily usage is 48.7 minutes.
• Best for : Long-form video content, tutorials, and product reviews.
• Distinctive features : Second largest search engine, monetization opportunities, YouTube Shorts for short-form content.

Choosing the right social media marketing platforms

When deciding on the best social media marketing platforms for your brand, it's vital to consider your goals, the type of content you're able to create and share consistently, and where your target audience spends most of their time.

Excelling on a select few social media marketing platforms is more beneficial than overextending yourself across too many.

Each platform possesses unique features and adheres to best practices, making it essential to stay informed about the latest trends and algorithm changes to sustain an effective social media marketing strategy.

This approach will enhance your efforts through focused engagement and strategic marketing on social media.

6. Social media marketing courses

For those keen on learning how to do social media marketing effectively, social media marketing classes and online resources abound, offering insights into successful social media marketing examples, strategies, and best practices.

These educational resources are invaluable for developing social media marketing plans that resonate with your intended audience and achieve desired outcomes.

This is why we've compiled a diverse selection catering to different needs, from in-depth learning and content creation to mastering ads across platforms and more specialized focuses.

Here's a curated list:

• Social Media Marketing Specialization ( Coursera ): Best for those seeking comprehensive, in-depth learning, covering everything from analytics and engagement strategies to content creation and advertising, ending with a capstone project.
• Social Media Marketing – Content Marketing Masterclass ( Udemy ): Ideal for learning how to create engaging content that converts, covering a range of topics including email marketing, SEO, and blogging.
• Social Media Marketing Mastery ( Udemy ): Recommended for those interested in learning to write ads for multiple platforms, this course covers social media advertising extensively across various platforms.
• Instagram Marketing 2022: A Step-By-Step to 10,000 Followers ( Udemy ): This course is perfect for those looking to grow their Instagram following, with comprehensive instructions on creating an appealing and effective Instagram presence.
• Advanced Social Media Certification Training ( MarketMotive ): This course is designed for digital marketing professionals seeking advanced knowledge in social media strategies. It delves into the philosophy behind social media marketing and teaches about creating sustainable strategies.
• Fiverr Learn – Social Media Content Strategy: This course, led by expert Rita Cidre, is great for those looking to develop and execute a content strategy for social media. It includes practical advice and exercises to help you create your own strategy as you learn.
• LinkedIn Learning – Social Media Marketing Foundations : Aimed at beginners, this course by Brian Honigman offers nearly two hours of content on creating a social media strategy that aligns with your business goals and introduces you to the basics of the major social media platforms​.
• Learning.ly – Social Media Success for Business : Under the banner of The Economist, this course provides a solid foundation for using social media in business, covering strategies, tools, and techniques tailored for brands, businesses, and nonprofits.

Social media marketing: last thoughts

Effective social media marketing involves a blend of strategic planning, creative content creation, direct engagement with followers, and ongoing analysis and refinement.

By embracing the many opportunities that social media marketing presents, brands can forge stronger connections with their audiences, drive business growth, and navigate the digital age with confidence.

FAQs about social media marketing

How do i get started with social media marketing.

Beginning with social media marketing requires setting clear goals, identifying your target audience, and developing a coherent strategy that guides your actions. Understanding what you aim to achieve and who you are trying to reach is crucial to crafting a strategy that aligns with your business objectives.

What are some common social media marketing mistakes?

Common mistakes include not having a clear strategy, being inconsistent with posting, ignoring engagement from followers, posting one-size-fits-all content across all platforms, and not utilizing analytics to guide strategy adjustments. Avoiding these pitfalls can significantly improve the effectiveness of your social media marketing efforts.

Anda Radulescu

Find me here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anda-elena/

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Content Planning for Social Media: 8-Step Guide for Marketers

Content planning is more than scheduling. Run your accounts like a well-oiled machine with a strategic social media content plan.

How to create a winning content plan

Content planning is the most important factor in the success of your social media strategy. (There, I said it.) It’s much more than choosing a photo, writing a caption, and scheduling it to post.

You can have the world’s best social media marketing strategy, but it won’t be successful without proper content planning.

Here’s why that is, and the 8 steps anyone can do to plan effective, goal-crushing social media content.

OwlyWriter AI instantly generates captions and content ideas for every social media network. It’s seriously easy.

What does “content planning” mean for social media managers?

Scheduling your social posts ahead of time is great, but it’s only a small part of what makes up a content plan. Truly effective content planning focuses on the big picture: Your marketing goals.

Well-planned content is:

• Created in batches to optimize efficiency.
• Part of a cross-platform campaign and repurposed across all your channels for maximum impact.
• Connected to one or more marketing goals.
• Balanced between your own original content and curated content .

Why is content planning so important?

Which strategy is more likely to succeed?

• Chaotic social media content written and posted whenever inspiration strikes.
• Identifying your social media marketing goals and creating content in advance that aligns with and furthers those goals.

Your social media marketing strategy is what you want to achieve and how you will get there. Content planning is the process of designing content for those goals to actually get you there.

It keeps you organized

Batching your content is way more efficient than trying to come up with a post on the fly every day, or for a specific campaign. Batching means you’re taking the time to specifically write a bunch of social media content at once.

Besides being a more efficient way to write content, you’ll get more out of it. As you write each piece of content, extract pieces of it to repurpose. One post can quickly become five or more without much extra time. For example:

• Write an Instagram Reels script.
• Create a text caption from that script to use on text-based platforms like Twitter.
• Create an image or infographic from the Reel content to use as an alternative way to communicate the information.
• And, of course, the most basic: Make a note to save your completed Reel video in different sizes to use on other platforms, such as YouTube, Facebook Pages, TikTok, and more. Check the current recommended post sizes for each platform before saving.
• Plus many more options, including writing an article about the topic to a series of short Tweets of the key takeaways and everything in between.

Content planning saves time and gets you the most mileage out of your work.

It helps you avoid last-minute pressure (and writers’ block)

Oh, crap, it’s 10am on National Do A Grouch a Favor Day and you haven’t got anything scheduled to go out. (It’s February 16th in case you were wondering when you need to do me a favor.)

What will your customers think of you? Whether you post for every made-up holiday or only the real ones, content planning means you and your team will never stress out trying to create something last-minute because you forgot why this weekend is a long weekend.

More than the expected holiday observances, content planning ensures you do your best work. Planning ahead allows space for creative thinking, collaboration, and avoids burnout. All are important for creating a positive workplace culture where employees become brand advocates .

It connects your social media activity to marketing goals

Content planning keeps your eyes on the prize. You’ve got a formal marketing strategy, and hopefully a content strategy, too. (No? We’ve got a free social media strategy template for ya.) Your content planning process is what connects those big picture documents to the day-to-day marketing work your team does.

Each social media post = not that important on its own.

All your posts together = what determines if your social media strategy will sink or swim. Fail or fly. Crash out or cash in. You get it.

How to create a winning content plan in 8 steps

Content planning is the most important part of a social marketer’s job, but don’t sweat it: It’s easy once you’ve got the right process.

Your content plan brings together 3 key elements:

• Your social media strategy
• Your social media content calendar
• How often you’ll post

Let’s create your personalized content plan right now.

Step 1: Plan themes for your content

Before you can create content, you need to choose the categories you’ll post about. How many topics you have and what they are depends on your unique business, but as an example, Hootsuite posts about:

• Social media marketing tips
• Social network updates and best practices
• Marketing research and statistics, like the free Social Trends 2022 report
• Social media marketing experiments
• Product updates and features
• Company news
• Product education (tutorials, tips)

This is your content creation roadmap. If a post isn’t about one of the things on your list, you don’t post it. (Or, you rethink your marketing strategy and add a new category for it if it’s merited.)

Step 2: Brainstorm campaign and post ideas

With your topic list in front of you, create! Just… think! Write! Do it!

Write down all the ideas you can think of that meet the following criteria:

• It’s about one of the topics on your list.
• It’s connected to your marketing goals.

It’s not that simple to “think of ideas,” even for those of us who smash keyboards all day for a living. How you brainstorm is up to you, but here are a few ways I get inspired:

• Scope out your competition: What are they posting? Can you put your own spin on those ideas?
• Review the past: What campaigns have been most successful for you before? What elements of those campaigns were most effective? How can you replicate that for your new goal or campaign?

To know what’s worked before, you need top-notch analytics reports , right? Yes, you can piece together the information manually from each social platform, Google Analytics, and other sources… but why would you?

Hootsuite Analytics measures the real data you need to determine success, not just basic engagement metrics. It gives you a full 360 degree view of your performance across all networks with the ability to customize and run reports however you like, in real-time.

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Step 3: Decide when you will post

We’ve got our why and what , now we need the when .

• Why: Why are you posting this? (What business goal is this content serving?)
• What: What will you post? (The actual content you brainstormed.)
• When: When is the best time to post it?

Sometimes, the when is obvious: Holiday content, a product launch, etc. But there’s a lot more to the when than the day you’re scheduling it for. You also need to consider your overall posting frequency .

You’ll need to experiment with how often you’re posting every week, how many posts per day, and the times of day. And, platforms change their algorithms all the time so what’s working now might not in six months.

Thankfully, you can back up your experiments with personalized intelligence, thanks to Hootsuite’s Best Time to Publish feature. It analyzes your unique audience engagement patterns to determine the best times to post across all your accounts.

Going a step further, it also recommends different times for different goals. For example, when to post awareness or brand-building content, and when to push hard for sales.

Need to get your social marketing started quickly and hit the ground running? Add your posts, either individually or via bulk upload, hit AutoSchedule , and Hootsuite does the rest. Boom—your social media for the month done in under five minutes.

Of course, AutoSchedule is great for those pressed for time, but you should still experiment with different numbers of posts per week and times of day to find what works best for your target audience.

You can customize AutoSchedule to only post during set times or days of the week. Once you decide how often and when to post, either with Hootsuite Analytics or other tools, modify your AutoSchedule settings and now you have effortless social media post scheduling. Nice.

Only want to post once a day at a specific time? No problem.

Step 4: Decide on your content mix

There’s no need to reinvent the wheel daily. A successful social media and content marketing plan contains a mix of original and curated content . But what should you curate? Where from? How often?

Great curated content is:

• Relevant to your audience.
• Related to one of your content themes (from Step 1).
• Connected to a business goal.

How each piece and type of content fits in with your other social media content is more important than how much of it you share, but a standard content mix is 40% original and 60% curated . Of course, adjust that up or down depending on your preferences and production capacity for your own content.

Some weeks you may share more curated content than others, but on average, stick to your plan. A surefire method for ensuring you don’t overdo it? Share one post, create one post—repeat!

With Hootsuite, you can easily add content from around the web to build a library of quality content to share later. When you find something to share, create a new post with the link and save it to your Drafts section.

And, you can use Streams to easily capture content from social media accounts you follow to re-share later.

When it’s time to schedule out your content—more on that later—you can just drag and drop from Drafts straight into your editorial calendar in Hootsuite Planner.

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Step 5: Assign responsibilities

It can be easy to lose track of planning content ahead of time and end up in that familiar “Oh, crap, we need posts for tomorrow!” space, right? It’s the planner’s job to ensure the work that needs to get done flows down through to everyone else.

Clear expectations around who’s doing what are essential for content planning (and, so I hear, life). If you’re a lone content manager and don’t have a dedicated social marketing team with writers, designers, customer support peeps, and so on, now’s the time to build one.

If you’re on a tight budget, find freelancers to outsource tasks to as you need them so you can control expenses. For in-house and larger teams, you need to plan your planning. It’s redundant, and truly true.

So spell it out: Literally put it on your calendar. Assign a planner/strategist to manage the overall content planning process and assign each week or month’s work. Then, assign a designer, writer, project manager, etc to each client and/or campaign you’re managing.

Everything you need to make engaging content. AI support for captions, an AI hashtag generator, and access to Canva in Hootsuite.

Step 6: Write post captions

Whenever possible, it’s best to write your social media post content before the campaign goes off to the design team (the next step).

This has a few key benefits:

• It gives context to the designer so they can work efficiently.
• They will have a better understanding of the entire campaign’s structure and goals.
• While writing the posts, you may think of more ideas to add to the campaign to fill gaps.
• It saves time by allowing copyediting and approvals to happen simultaneously with design, so you can publish it sooner.

Did you know that Hootsuite comes with OwlyWriter AI, a built-in creative AI tool that saves social media pros hours of work?

You can use OwlyWriter to:

• Write a new social media caption in a specific tone, based on a prompt
• Write a post based on a link (e.g. a blog post or a product page)
• Generate post ideas based on a keyword or topic (and then write posts expanding on the idea you like best)
• Identify and repurpose your top-performing posts
• Create relevant captions for upcoming holidays

To get started with OwlyWriter, sign in to your Hootsuite account and head to the Inspiration section of the dashboard. Then, pick the type of AI magic you want to see in action.

For example, if you’re not sure what to post, click on Get inspired . Then, type in the general, high-level topic you want to address and click Get ideas .

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OwlyWriter will generate a list of post ideas related to the topic: 

Click on the one you like best to move to the next step — captions and hashtags.

Pick the caption you like and click Create post . The caption will open in Hootsuite Composer, where you can make edits, add media files and links, check the copy against your compliance guidelines — and schedule your post to go live later.

And that’s it! OwlyWriter never runs out of ideas, so you can repeat this process until your social media calendar is full — and sit back to watch your engagement grow.

Step 7: Create (or source) design assets

This is often where content plans get bottlenecked. You can think up all these amazing campaigns, but without the creative assets that get it noticed, like graphics and videos, you can be stuck in your drafts forever.

But this is exactly why assigning responsibilities is important. Having a dedicated person for each part of the content planning process keeps things moving along and everyone’s on the same page.

With Hootsuite Planner , you can collaborate with other team members on specific campaigns, view the overall calendar, and map out your content to identify opportunities and gaps to fill. Plus, approvals are a snap with a built-in review process so the only content that gets posted is the content that should be.

Here’s how everyone can work together inside Hootsuite to bring a campaign from idea to finished:

Step 8: Schedule content in advance

Last but very un-least, scheduling. I don’t need to tell you scheduling your content ahead of time is important for basic efficiency. But it’s also the one thing that can make or break your entire social media marketing strategy . No pressure.

But really, what’s the point of content planning and following all the steps here if you’re not going to schedule out that content ahead of time in an organized, efficient, strategic way? Exactly.

There’s always room for improvement, though. If you’re not already using Hootsuite, try it out and see how much time you’ll save scheduling posts. Plus: team collaboration, detailed analytics, ads management, social listening, and more—all in one convenient place.

You can create single posts in Composer or dial up your efficiency to 11 with the much-loved bulk upload tool, where you and 350 of your best posts can be scheduled in under 2 minutes flat.

Bonus: Download our free, customizable social media calendar template to easily plan and schedule all your content in advance.

Hootsuite is your content planning partner in success with robust scheduling, collaboration, analytics, and smart insights like the Best Time to Publish feature to make your job easier. Sign up for free today.

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As an ex-agency strategist turned freelance WFH fashion icon, Michelle is passionate about putting the sass in SaaS content. She's known for quickly understanding and distilling complicated technical topics into conversational copy that gets results. She has written for Fortune 500 companies and startups, and her clients have earned features in Forbes, Strategy Magazine and Entrepreneur.

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Social Media Marketing Business Plan Template & Guidebook

Social media has become an integral part of how businesses market themselves in the 21st century. From creating a strong online presence to generating leads and sales, social media can create amazing opportunities for businesses of all sizes—but only when it’s done right. That’s why it’s essential for businesses to have a comprehensive social media marketing plan in place. The #1 Social Media Marketing Business Plan Template & Guidebook provides a comprehensive, easy-to-follow template and guidebook combination to create a powerful social media marketing plan that helps businesses succeed.

Get worry-free services and support to launch your business starting at $0 plus state fees.

• How to Start a Profitable Social Media Marketing Business [11 Steps]
• 10+ Best & Profitable Social Media Marketing Business Ideas [2023]

How to Write a Social Media Marketing Business Plan in 7 Steps:

1. describe the purpose of your social media marketing business..

The first step to writing your business plan is to describe the purpose of your social media marketing business. This includes describing why you are starting this type of business, and what problems it will solve for customers. This is a quick way to get your mind thinking about the customers’ problems. It also helps you identify what makes your business different from others in its industry.

It also helps to include a vision statement so that readers can understand what type of company you want to build.

Here is an example of a purpose mission statement for a social media marketing business:

Our purpose at Social Media Marketing is to serve our clients and partners in the development, implementation and optimization of social media campaigns that are effective, cost-efficient and respectful of the customers we are targeting. We strive to open up new channels of communication, build brand awareness, engage customers, and grow our client's businesses.

2. Products & Services Offered by Your Social Media Marketing Business.

The next step is to outline your products and services for your social media marketing business. 

When you think about the products and services that you offer, it's helpful to ask yourself the following questions:

• What is my business?
• What are the products and/or services that I offer?
• Why am I offering these particular products and/or services?
• How do I differentiate myself from competitors with similar offerings?
• How will I market my products and services?

You may want to do a comparison of your business plan against those of other competitors in the area, or even with online reviews. This way, you can find out what people like about them and what they don’t like, so that you can either improve upon their offerings or avoid doing so altogether.

3. Build a Creative Marketing Stratgey.

If you don't have a marketing plan for your social media marketing business, it's time to write one. Your marketing plan should be part of your business plan and be a roadmap to your goals. 

A good marketing plan for your social media marketing business includes the following elements:

Target market

• Who is your target market?
• What do these customers have in common?
• How many of them are there?
• How can you best reach them with your message or product?

Customer base 

• Who are your current customers? 
• Where did they come from (i.e., referrals)?
• How can their experience with your social media marketing business help make them repeat customers, consumers, visitors, subscribers, or advocates for other people in their network or industry who might also benefit from using this service, product, or brand?

Product or service description

• How does it work, what features does it have, and what are its benefits?
• Can anyone use this product or service regardless of age or gender?
• Can anyone visually see themselves using this product or service?
• How will they feel when they do so? If so, how long will the feeling last after purchasing (or trying) the product/service for the first time?

Competitive analysis

• Which companies are competing with yours today (and why)? 
• Which ones may enter into competition with yours tomorrow if they find out about it now through word-of-mouth advertising; social media networks; friends' recommendations; etc.)
• What specific advantages does each competitor offer over yours currently?

Marketing channels

• Which marketing channel do you intend to leverage to attract new customers?
• What is your estimated marketing budget needed?
• What is the projected cost to acquire a new customer?
• How many of your customers do you instead will return?

Form an LLC in your state!

4. Write Your Operational Plan.

Next, you'll need to build your operational plan. This section describes the type of business you'll be running, and includes the steps involved in your operations. 

In it, you should list:

• The equipment and facilities needed
• Who will be involved in the business (employees, contractors)
• Financial requirements for each step
• Milestones & KPIs
• Location of your business
• Zoning & permits required for the business

What equipment, supplies, or permits are needed to run a social media marketing business?

• Internet connection
• Social media accounts or access to create accounts
• Knowledge of social media trends, platforms, and content creation
• Advertising budget, if applicable
• Graphic design tools (e.g. Adobe Photoshop)
• Content management system (e.g. WordPress)
• Analytics tools (e.g. Google Analytics)
• Permit for soliciting services in certain states or countries

5. Management & Organization of Your Social Media Marketing Business.

The second part of your social media marketing business plan is to develop a management and organization section.

This section will cover all of the following:

• How many employees you need in order to run your social media marketing business. This should include the roles they will play (for example, one person may be responsible for managing administrative duties while another might be in charge of customer service).
• The structure of your management team. The higher-ups like yourself should be able to delegate tasks through lower-level managers who are directly responsible for their given department (inventory and sales, etc.).
• How you’re going to make sure that everyone on board is doing their job well. You’ll want check-ins with employees regularly so they have time to ask questions or voice concerns if needed; this also gives you time to offer support where necessary while staying informed on how things are going within individual departments too!

6. Social Media Marketing Business Startup Expenses & Captial Needed.

This section should be broken down by month and year. If you are still in the planning stage of your business, it may be helpful to estimate how much money will be needed each month until you reach profitability.

Typically, expenses for your business can be broken into a few basic categories:

Startup Costs

Startup costs are typically the first expenses you will incur when beginning an enterprise. These include legal fees, accounting expenses, and other costs associated with getting your business off the ground. The amount of money needed to start a social media marketing business varies based on many different variables, but below are a few different types of startup costs for a social media marketing business.

Running & Operating Costs

Running costs refer to ongoing expenses related directly with operating your business over time like electricity bills or salaries paid out each month. These types of expenses will vary greatly depending on multiple variables such as location, team size, utility costs, etc.

Marketing & Sales Expenses

You should include any costs associated with marketing and sales, such as advertising and promotions, website design or maintenance. Also, consider any additional expenses that may be incurred if you decide to launch a new product or service line. For example, if your social media marketing business has an existing website that needs an upgrade in order to sell more products or services, then this should be listed here.

7. Financial Plan & Projections

A financial plan is an important part of any business plan, as it outlines how the business will generate revenue and profit, and how it will use that profit to grow and sustain itself. To devise a financial plan for your social media marketing business, you will need to consider a number of factors, including your start-up costs, operating costs, projected revenue, and expenses. 

Here are some steps you can follow to devise a financial plan for your social media marketing business plan:

• Determine your start-up costs: This will include the cost of purchasing or leasing the space where you will operate your business, as well as the cost of buying or leasing any equipment or supplies that you need to start the business.
• Estimate your operating costs: Operating costs will include utilities, such as electricity, gas, and water, as well as labor costs for employees, if any, and the cost of purchasing any materials or supplies that you will need to run your business.
• Project your revenue: To project your revenue, you will need to consider the number of customers you expect to have and the average amount they will spend on each visit. You can use this information to estimate how much money you will make from selling your products or services.
• Estimate your expenses: In addition to your operating costs, you will need to consider other expenses, such as insurance, marketing, and maintenance. You will also need to set aside money for taxes and other fees.
• Create a budget: Once you have estimated your start-up costs, operating costs, revenue, and expenses, you can use this information to create a budget for your business. This will help you to see how much money you will need to start the business, and how much profit you can expect to make.
• Develop a plan for using your profit: Finally, you will need to decide how you will use your profit to grow and sustain your business. This might include investing in new equipment, expanding the business, or saving for a rainy day.

Frequently Asked Questions About Social Media Marketing Business Plans:

Why do you need a business plan for a social media marketing business.

A business plan for a social media marketing business is essential in order to organize thoughts and ideas, set goals, create strategies, and define roles and tasks. It also serves as a starting point for forecasting the financial needs of the business, and allows you to map out the steps necessary to achieve success. By clearly outlining objectives, the business plan can provide a roadmap on how to best use resources to grow and sustain your business.

Who should you ask for help with your social media marketing business plan?

You should ask a professional business consultant or social media marketing expert for help with your social media marketing business plan. They will have the knowledge and expertise necessary to help you create a comprehensive and effective plan.

Can you write a social media marketing business plan yourself?

Yes, it is possible to write a social media marketing business plan yourself. A business plan is an essential part of any successful business, and a social media marketing business plan should include details on your target market, the services you will offer, the goals you want to achieve, how you will measure success and how you will finance your venture.

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I'm Nick, co-founder of newfoundr.com, dedicated to helping aspiring entrepreneurs succeed. As a small business owner with over five years of experience, I have garnered valuable knowledge and insights across a diverse range of industries. My passion for entrepreneurship drives me to share my expertise with aspiring entrepreneurs, empowering them to turn their business dreams into reality.

Through meticulous research and firsthand experience, I uncover the essential steps, software, tools, and costs associated with launching and maintaining a successful business. By demystifying the complexities of entrepreneurship, I provide the guidance and support needed for others to embark on their journey with confidence.

From assessing market viability and formulating business plans to selecting the right technology and navigating the financial landscape, I am dedicated to helping fellow entrepreneurs overcome challenges and unlock their full potential. As a steadfast advocate for small business success, my mission is to pave the way for a new generation of innovative and driven entrepreneurs who are ready to make their mark on the world.

More From Forbes

How to get better at social media marketing so you can actually make more sales.

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Giulia Guerrieri teaches you how to get better at marketing on social media in less time

We’ve all heard that saying - that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration (most commonly attributed to Thomas Edison) and there’s probably no one on the planet who understands this better than the entrepreneur. It’s no secret that being a founder is not for the faint hearted (in fact, according to the 7th edition of the Startup Snapshot , 44% of founders experience high levels of stress and 36% have experienced burnout) particularly because they have so many different hats to wear.

Between the long hours, high risk, constantly divided attention and no solid answer to what should be prioritized first (because it’s usually everything), remaining consistent in the areas that require it the most can be one of the biggest challenges of all.

Especially in the realm of digital marketing, the importance of consistency can’t be overstated. According to McKinsey , maintaining a consistent customer experience across the entire journey not only enhances satisfaction but also fosters trust and strengthens loyalty. Additionally, research from Techpedia reveals that brands prioritizing consistency are valued 20% higher than those that don’t. But whilst the evidence supporting consistent marketing is clear, many founders find it challenging to keep pace with its escalating demands and constantly shifting goalposts - social media is more saturated than ever, meaning the quality of content needs to be much higher to capture attention.

Giulia Guerrieri, a business strategist and coach, knows this struggle all too well. Back in 2020, faced with a $25,000 debt, she decided to try upselling thrifted clothes on Poshmark. Her success greatly increased when she started using social media to drive traffic to her shop and she was able to clear what she owed within six months. Buoyed by this success, she decided to try her hand at a couple of other online businesses but found the marketing techniques she was being taught by others were leaving her in a precarious situation.

“I realized that most of my niche (online coaches, course creators) talk about “effortless marketing” and “trusting the process” but that never worked for me,” she recalls. “It left me in a constant state of fight, flight or freeze. My income was unpredictable and I never knew where my next dollar would come from.”

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Recognizing that one of the most common challenges she and other founders faced was establishing a reliable method for consistent business, she began experimenting with a different approach and is now committed to teaching others how to enhance their digital marketing efforts to drive sales growth. This starts with getting entrepreneurs to understand what’s really required of them.

“When it comes to marketing, I don’t believe it’s about how good you are but rather how many times you swing the bat. Consistency means showing up every single day,” she says. “I’ve never been the best editor when it comes to posts, my content does not have a high production value, but my message is consistent and congruent [and] because of this, I’m able to reap the benefits of compound interest.”

As a first generation American woman, Giulia encountered her fair share of obstacles, something which has shaped her approach to marketing and business growth.

“Growing up I was always worried about money - my parents came from Italy to America and set up a business and they had to work twice as hard as most to make it a success.”

This, coupled with the fact that she was exposed to social media early on in life, meant she got a glimpse of what was possible to achieve, but no clear strategy to get there.

“Seeing the wave of influencers back then made me crave a life of financial, location, and time freedom. I had to figure out a way to make money online, because I believed that was what they were all doing. But after speaking to another creator friend who told me most people have to work jobs on the side to sustain the lifestyle, I knew I had to figure out another way,” she recalls. “Experiences like this have only motivated me to create a way, even when it does not exist.”

In a landscape where automated funnels and passive marketing strategies reign supreme, Giulia still prefers to use sales calls - a journey she describes as “long and hard,” but that she recognized for its sustainable growth potential.

“The evergreen webinar funnel system to me is broken. It relies on scarcity, timed decision making, and is intensely driven by fear. Sales calls have been the pathway to help us qualify leads, convert at a higher price and focus on getting only people in our program that we know can get results,” she explains. “You actually can’t go on my website and buy my course, and that’s for a good reason. We don’t accept everyone.”

This deliberate exclusivity ensures that every participant is a perfect fit for the program, aligning with Giulia's long term vision and going against what has become the norm on social media: to try to convert people on-app, something she believes is the primary reason entrepreneurs find it so hard to consistently market to and convert customers.

“Instagram is a top-of-funnel platform meaning that your sole purpose on [apps like this] is to get someone from having no Interest to having interest. The biggest misconception is that marketers think people go from viewing content straight to making sales, but building relationships is the missing link.”

Another misconception she wants to debunk is that in order for content to be attention grabbing, you need to spend hours making it. “If content creation only takes two hours per week, you have the majority of your time to be spent on relationships, either with potential new clients or current clients to get them results and retain them. People spend way too much time on marketing and not enough time on the other core functions of a business that actually make it successful. Marketing is just one small part, but it’s the part that is the loudest on social media.”

This is Giulia’s advice for getting better at marketing both consistently and successfully on social media without having to spend lots of time doing it.

Stop looking for immediate results

The first challenge Giulia teaches her clients to overcome is the need for instant results for their efforts. “Results won’t come until you're consistent. When I had a dead Instagram account it took me only 30 days of posting 2x per day to revive my account. That’s now led me to earn consistently 6-figures per month. The initial startup investment (aka your time) is hefty, but that’s with any great thing in life, you have to put the work upfront to enjoy the benefits later on.”

Giulia understands that most entrepreneurs feel they are best placed to share their brand’s authentic message, so instead of looking to delegate, she suggests instead creating a content system that you can “rinse and repeat.”

“I developed a content system that allows me to make 7-days worth of high converting reels in just 2 hours per week. As a busy CEO, I naturally turn to outsourcing the creative, but I realize the creative is my zone of genius and I can’t delegate that task. So I had to find an easier way. If you want repeatable outputs, you need repeatable inputs.”

Adaptation is key

Giulia knows that staying ahead means embracing change and using data to steer the ship. “We track everything... Without data, we make emotional-based decisions.” By diving into metrics like show rate and conversion rate, she's not just making guesses; she's making informed choices that keep her business on track and growing.

Giulia's own Instagram journey is a testament to the power of this data driven approach. “If you don’t adapt to the platform, you will die out,” she warns. She suggests regularly checking your analytics and tweaking your content strategy, rather than riding the latest trend wave.

“Moving from a “believe in yourself” (aka emotional) approach to a data driven one has allowed me to separate my identity from my company. I used to think I was the problem - that I didn’t have the right mindset to be a million dollar business owner. Then I realized, when we don’t have data to drive our decisions, we can be wildly irrational as human beings. By closely looking at our numbers, daily, I’m able to see where the bottlenecks are and quickly resolve them with my team.”

Look beyond follower count

Giulia's perspective on social media metrics is refreshingly unconventional. “Followers are equivalent to monopoly money,” she asserts. Despite boasting a sizable following of 70,000, she recognizes that true success isn't measured in numbers but in meaningful impact. “Success is a feeling that comes from within,” she reflects. For her, it's about the tangible moments of transformation, like helping someone quit their job or achieve their financial freedom. It's these heartfelt connections and real-life transformations that fuel her sense of fulfillment.

This is why she suggests focusing on relationship building instead. “When you focus on the depth of the relationship with one person in your audience over the width of trying to reach so many people, you create meaningful connections that inevitably turn into sales.”

Your unique voice will get you further

“Storytelling is the secret,” Giulia emphasizes. By sharing the highs and lows of her life authentically, she forges a deep bond with her followers. “Taking out my iPhone camera when I’m living some of the best moments of my life, but also some of the worst, is really what has shaped me as a powerful creator,” Giulia explains. For her, authenticity is paramount, as it allows her to connect on a profound level with her audience.

However, Giulia warns against the pitfalls of fluffy content and encourages creators to be bold in their messaging. “The best creators have polarizing opinions and thrive off of controlled controversy,” she observes.

Stop trying to make everything passive

Giulia’s on a campaign to “make active income cool again.”

“When you do work you love, it doesn’t feel like work. If I had to do something for the rest of my life, it would be exactly what I’m doing right now. I got clear on my purpose before I built my business and I recommend everyone else do that too.

“Remind yourself that marketing is just one small part of the game. If you’re not seeing results, it’s usually because you’re lacking the skills necessary to get you there, which is a hard pill to swallow. One of my client’s says “Leave your ego at the door” and this is a great mantra to remember because you will be a student for life. The minute you stop learning, or become averse to trying a new way, you will begin to decline.”

To learn more about Giulia and her work, take a look at her Instagram account here .

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• Content Marketing

35 Content Marketing Statistics You Should Know

Stay informed with the latest content marketing statistics. Discover how optimized content can elevate your digital marketing efforts.

Content continues to sit atop the list of priorities in most marketing strategies, and there is plenty of evidence to support the reasoning.

Simply put, content marketing is crucial to any digital marketing strategy, whether running a small local business or a large multinational corporation.

After all, content in its many and evolving forms is indisputably the very lifeblood upon which the web and social media are based.

Modern SEO has effectively become optimized content marketing for all intents and purposes.

This is when Google demands and rewards businesses that create content demonstrating experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) for their customers – content that answers all of the questions consumers may have about their services, products, or business in general.

Content marketing involves creating and sharing helpful, relevant, entertaining, and consistent content in various text, image, video, and audio-based formats to the plethora of traditional and online channels available to modern marketers.

The primary focus should be on attracting and retaining a clearly defined audience, with the ultimate goal of driving profitable customer action.

Different types of content can and should be created for each stage of a customer’s journey .

Some content, like blogs or how-to videos, are informative or educational. Meanwhile, other content, like promotional campaign landing pages , gets to the point of enticing prospective customers to buy.

But with so much content being produced and shared every day, it’s important to stay updated on the latest trends and best practices in content marketing to keep pace and understand what strategies may be most effective.

Never has this been more true than in 2024, when we’re in the midst of a content revolution led by generative AI , which some feel represents both an opportunity and a threat to marketers.

To help you keep up, here are 35 content marketing statistics I think you should know:

Content Marketing Usage

How many businesses are leveraging content marketing, and how are they planning to find success?

• According to the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), 73% of B2B marketers, and 70% of B2C marketers use content marketing as part of their overall marketing strategy.
• 97% of marketers surveyed by Semrush achieved success with their content marketing in 2023.
• A B2B Content Marketing Study conducted by CMI found that 40% of B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy; 33% have a strategy, but it’s not documented, and 27% have no strategy.
• Half of the surveyed marketers by CMI said they outsource at least one content marketing activity.

Content Marketing Strategy

What strategies are content marketers using or finding to be most effective?

• 83% of marketers believe it’s more effective to create higher quality content less often. (Source: Hubspot)
• In a 2022 Statista Research Study of marketers worldwide, 62% of respondents emphasized the importance of being “always on” for their customers, while 23% viewed content-led communications as the most effective method for personalized targeting efforts.
• With the increased focus on AI-generated search engine results, 31% of B2B marketers say they are sharpening their focus on user intent/answering questions, 27% are creating more thought leadership content, and 22% are creating more conversational content. (Source: CMI)

Types Of Content

Content marketing was synonymous with posting blogs, but the web and content have evolved into audio, video, interactive, and meta formats.

Here are a few stats on how the various types of content are trending and performing.

• Short-form video content, like TikTok and Instagram Reel, is the No. 1 content marketing format, offering the highest return on investment (ROI).
• 43% of marketers reported that original graphics (like infographics and illustrations) were the most effective type of visual content. (Source: Venngage)
• 72% of B2C marketers expected their organization to invest in video marketing in 2022. (Source: Content Marketing Institute – CMI)
• The State of Content Marketing: 2023 Global Report by Semrush reveals that articles containing at least one video tend to attract 70% more organic traffic than those without.
• Interactive content generates 52.6% more engagement compared to static content. On average, buyers spend 8.5 minutes viewing static content items and 13 minutes on interactive content items. (Source: Mediafly)

Content Creation

Creating helpful, unique, engaging content can be one of a marketer’s greatest challenges. However, innovative marketers are looking at generative AI as a tool to help ideate, create, edit, and analyze content quicker and more cost-effectively.

Here are some stats around content creation and just how quickly AI is changing the game.

• Generative AI reached over 100 million users just two months after ChatGPT’s launch. (Source: Search Engine Journal)
• A recent Ahrefs poll found that almost 80% of respondents had already adopted AI tools in their content marketing strategies.
• Marketers who are using AI said it helps most with brainstorming new topics ( 51%) , researching headlines and keywords (45%), and writing drafts (45%). (Source: CMI)
• Further, marketers polled by Hubspot said they save 2.5 hours per day using AI for content.

Content Distribution

It is not simply enough to create and publish content.

For a content strategy to be successful, it must include distributing content via the channels frequented by a business’s target audience.

• Facebook is still the dominant social channel for content distribution, but video-centric channels like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram are growing the fastest .  (Source: Hubspot)
• B2B marketers reported to CMI that LinkedIn was the most common and top-performing organic social media distribution channel at 84% by a healthy margin. All other channels came in under 30%.
• 80% of B2B marketers who use paid distribution use paid social media advertising. (Source: CMI)

Content Consumption

Once content reaches an audience, it’s important to understand how an audience consumes the content or takes action as a result.

• A 2023 Content Preferences Study by Demand Gen reveals that 62% of B2B buyers prefer practical content like case studies to inform their purchasing decisions, citing “a need for valid sources.”
• The same study also found that buyers tend to rely heavily on content when researching potential business solutions, with 46% reporting that they increased the amount of content they consumed during this time.
• In a recent post, blogger Ryan Robinson reports the average reader spends 37 seconds reading a blog.
• DemandGen’s survey participants also said they rely most on demos ( 62% ) and user reviews (55%) to gain valuable insights into how a solution will meet their needs.

Content Marketing Performance

One of the primary reasons content marketing has taken off is its ability to be measured, optimized, and tied to a return on investment.

• B2C marketers reported to CMI that the top three goals content marketing helps them to achieve are creating brand awareness, building trust, and educating their target audience.
• 87% of B2B marketers surveyed use content marketing successfully to generate leads.
• 56% of marketers who leverage blogging say it’s an effective tactic, and 10% say it generates the greatest return on investment (ROI).
• 94% of marketers said personalization boosts sales.

Content Marketing Budgets

Budget changes and the willingness to invest in specific marketing strategies are good indicators of how popular and effective these strategies are at a macro level.

The following stats certainly seem to indicate marketers have bought into the value of content.

• 61% of B2C marketers said their 2022 content marketing budget would exceed their 2021 budget.
• 22% of B2B marketers said they spent 50% or more of their total marketing budget on content marketing. Furthermore, 43% saw their content marketing budgets grow from 2020 to 2021, and 66% expected them to grow again in 2022.

Content Challenges

All forms of marketing come with challenges related to time, resources, expertise, and competition.

Recognizing and addressing these challenges head-on with well-thought-out strategies is the best way to overcome them and realize success.

• Top 3 content challenges included “attracting quality leads with content” ( 45% ), “creating more content faster” (38%), and “generating content ideas” (35%). (Source: Semrush’s The State of Content Marketing: 2023 Global Report)
• 44% of marketers polled for CMI’s 2022 B2B report highlighted the challenge of creating the right content for multi-level roles as their top concern. This replaced internal communication as the top challenge from the previous year.
• Changes to SEO/search algorithms ( 64% ), changes to social media algorithms (53%), and data management/analytics (48%) are also among the top concerns for B2C marketers.
• 47% of people are seeking downtime from internet-enabled devices due to digital fatigue.
• While generative AI has noted benefits, it also presents challenges for some marketers who fear it may replace them. In Hubspot’s study, 23% said they felt we should avoid using generative AI.
• Another challenge with AI is how quickly it has come onto the scene without giving organizations time to provide training or to create policies and procedures for its appropriate and legal use. According to CMI, when asked if their organizations have guidelines for using generative AI tools, 31% of marketers said yes, 61% said no, and 8% were unsure.

Time To Get Started

As you can clearly see and perhaps have already realized, content marketing can be a highly effective and cost-efficient way to generate leads, build brand awareness, and drive sales. Content, in its many formats, powers virtually all online interactions.

Generative AI is effectively helping to solve some of the time and resource challenges by acting as a turbo-powered marketing assistant, while also raising a few procedural concerns.

However, the demand for content remains strong.

Those willing to put in the work of building a documented content strategy and executing it – by producing, optimizing, distributing, and monitoring high-value, relevant, customer-centric content, with the help of AI or not – can reap significant business rewards.

More resources:

• 6 Ways To Humanize Your Content In The AI Era
• Interactive Content: 10 Types To Engage Your Audience
• B2B Lead Generation: Create Content That Converts

Featured Image: Deemak Daksina/Shutterstock 

Jeff has been helping organizations manage, measure and optimize their Web presences for over 20 years. He has deep knowledge ...

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Manage growing channels and agencies with AI-powered features perfect for solo creators and  entrepreneurs.

$ 18 /month

7 Social Profiles, 1 Seat

•  Social Media AI
•  200 posts per social profile in queue
•  1 Brand Book
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•  Unlimited posts in queue*
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•  7 Brand Books
•  Bulk Post Scheduling
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Publish & plan, social channels .

How many social channels you can have connect to your Calendar

All the social media you can connect to Simplified to schedule and post

      

Posts in Queue 

Number of posts that can be scheduled at a time. Quota includes all posts from all connected social channels. Free Forever plan ‍ 10 posts in queue ‍ Pro Plan 200 post in queue Business and Agency Plus plans ‍ Unlimited posts in queue, with a cap per plan according to our Fair Use Policy (add this link to Fair Use Policy: https://help.simplified.com/en/articles/8257584-how-many-posts-can-i-schedule-in-advance)

Schedule Carousel Posts 

Schedule and publish carousel posts for LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook. Includes scheduling PDF Carousels for LinkedIn accounts.

Instagram Product Tagging 

Tag products from your Instagram store

Instagram User Tagging 

Tag other users and collaborators in your posts

Schedule Comments 

Schedule comments to be published at the same time as your posts, or add a delay

Repost scheudled and published posts to your social channels in 1 click

Repeat Post 

Schedule recurrent posts (repeat scheduled or published posts)

Create post drafts before scheduling, and manage your content

Auto-schedule Approved Drafts 

Once approved, drafts that have a set date and time will be automatically scheduled on the Calendar to be published

Bulk Schedule 

Bulk schedule posts and  drafts. Available for the following plans:  Pro Plan 20 social channels and up 200 posts per CSV  Agency Plan 400 posts per CSV  Agency Plus Plan 800 posts per CSV

Post Creation Tools

Social media ai for posts .

Automate content creation with AI on the post composer. Access AI hashtags, in-line AI writing, and AI templates as you create your posts.

Best Times to Post 

AI identifies the best times to post for each account, based on your analytic's historical data

Create text and hashtag snippets you can re-use in a click

Media Stock Libraries 

Add free stock images, videos and GIFs directly from the post composer.   Free Plan  Free stock libraries   Pro Plan and up  Free + premium libraries

Free + premium

Resize Post Images 

Crop and resize images from the post composer

Built-in URL Shortener 

URLs added to posts are automatically shortened to smpl.is

Disable Built-in URL Shortener 

URLs added to posts are automatically shortened.   Free plan Can't disable URL Shortener  Pro, Business, Agency and Agency Plus Plans Can disable the feature under the social channel setting

UTM Parameters 

Add UTM parameters to your posts to track performance.

Disable UTM Parameters 

UTM Parameters are automatically added to posts . ‍ Free plan Can't disable UTM Parameters ‍ Pro, Business, Agency and Agency Plus Plans Can disable the feature under the social channel setting

Google Drive Integration 

Connect your Google Drive  accounts to create posts using your assets

Shopify Integration 

Connect your Shopify accounts to create posts using your assets

Chrome Extension 

Use Simplified AI to publish pages you see online to your social channels

Brand Management

Brand book .

Keep your brand assets, templates, writing voice, tone, output language and target audience in one place. Apply to your projects in one click

Account groups 

Create groups of account to easily post to social channel groups

Approval & Team Management

Teamspaces .

Dedicated spaces for teams, projects and brands. Work together in a dedicated, organized space   Pro plan Open and Closed Teamspaces's permission  Agency and Agency Plus plans Open, Closed and Private Teamspaces' permissions  Open & Closed Teamspaces Members can see and join (open) or ask to be added (closed) to these Teamspaces.  Private Teamspaces Can't be seen or discovered by anyone unless you add them to the Teamspace.

Switch accounts 

Move social channels between Teamspaces for better management. Keep clients, accounts and teams separates, and re-roganize your social channels as you see fit

Social Channel Permission 

Assign account permissions, roles and privacy for team members for each connected social channels

Approval Workflow 

Get your team's approval workflow in place with our Social Content Planner

Client Review 

Get external approval by creating draft bundles you can share with external clients/teams to get approval and comments on

Draft Collaboration Tools 

Draft collaboration tools: comments, notifications, and edit history

Export Posts 

Export posts in PDF or PNG to share   Free Plan can export watermarked posts

Unified Inbox 

Social listening with streams, and messages with conversations. Check mentions, engagement, etc, and answer and provide customer support

Available Channels 

Social listening and conversations available for Facebook Pages, LinkedIn Company, Instagram Business and Google Business Profile

Social Listening 

Check mentions, messages and comments form your social channels and keep track of your audience

Conversations 

Respond to messages, conversations, mention and engage with your audience

Google Reviews 

Respond to Google Reviews directly from your Inbox

Integrated AI with Inbox 

Use the AI Assistant directly on the Inbox to help you summarize, craft messages and more*.   *Limited to 2000 words/month, or to your AI Writing quota if you're subscribed to an AI Writing plan.

Assign conversations 

Assign conversations to team members, and keep track of conversation history

Tag team members and leave internal notes your followers can't see

Message management 

Access users' profile from the conversation, marked as resolved and check last updated dates

Analytics 

Track and measure growth, see which posts are driving more engagement, and more  Free Plan 30 days data retention  Pro, Agency and Agency Plus Plan 1 year data retention

Instagram Business Analytics 

Check aggregated data, account performance, activity, demographics and post performances

Facebook Page Analytics 

Check Aggregated data, account performance, activity, demographics and post performances

Google Business Profile Analytics 

Linkedin company analytics .

Export analytics reports you can share with stakeholders in PDF or PNG

Remove Watermark from Reports 

Generate and share analytics reports without Simplified's branding

Whitelabel Reports 

Add your own branding to your analytics reports

Onboarding Session 

Onboarding session for your team to help you hit the ground running

Live Chat 

Customer support available 24/7

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Download Simplfiied Android app and manage your social media from your phone

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a free version of simplified.

Yes! We have a Free Forever plan, which will stay free... forever. If you're a creator looking to use our essential features, this is the plan for you. Get unlimited design projects, 1000+ fonts, millions of photos and icons, thousands of templates, instant publishing, and 5GB of storage.

Can I change my plan?

You can upgrade your plan at any time and we'll pro-rate your monthly cost. If you downgrade, you'll be charged at your new rate when your current billing cycle ends. We can't offer refunds or pro-rate downgrades.

What if I change my mind

No worries! You can cancel or downgrade your plan at any time. Your plan will be active until its original expiry date and won't be automatically renewed. We can't offer refunds for cancellations. If you remove members from your team, you'll be charged the price for that team member until your billing cycle ends.

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We accept all major credit or debit cards including Visa, Master Card, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, JCB, Carte Bleue, Union Pay. We also accept payment via PayPal. For Enterprise clients, we can accept invoices for orders that meet a minimum fee. If you're having problems paying using one of the accepted cards, please reach out to our team via chat or via the email address below.   Please reach out to [email protected] for more information.

What our 2 million+ users are saying about Simplified

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4.8/5 Stars

Date - 06/02/24

Amazing software... lifesaver for a freelance web designer

It has proved to be a fabulous tool for me in my freelance web design agency. Well worth the investment.

Date - 16/12/23

I Enjoy Using Simplified and Highly Recommend it to Others

What I like best about Simplified AI is its ability to understand the context and intent behind my writing. This feature allows it to generate content that is relevant and meaningful, which has significantly improved the quality of my work.

Date - 30/11/24

Unraveling the Excellence of Email Performance

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital communication, finding the right balance between efficiency, engagement, and aesthetics is paramount. From my year-long experience, several factors have consistently set the standard for email performance.

Date - 25/01/23

Have only been using Simplified a short time and it's a game changer

I love that I have a software where I can manage multiple social media acccounts as well as Google business.

Date - 01/01/24

everything you need is right here in one product!

I consistently find myself returning to it as my go-to tool for content creation. It has become an integral part of my workflow. Whenever I had queries and reached out to support, they were prompt in their responses and provided effective solutions.

Date - 27/09/23

Simplified - A Game Changer for My Team

I've been using Simplified for a few days now, and it has completely transformed the way my team operates. Simplified has exceeded my expectations in every way.

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