Streamline Your Social Media Content Strategy

We know – creating content can be overwhelming, especially with the sheer volume of content on social platforms. No need to overthink it. Read on for simple best practices for developing and streamlining your social media content strategy. 

Share unique and engaging content 

The key to success on social media isn’t to push out mass amounts of content — it’s about sharing purposeful content tailored for your audience that keeps your story at the center.  

When you keep content consistent, relevant and authentic, your audience will be more likely to stay connected and engaged. Don’t forget to consider the “shareability” of your content. Whether it’s an educational statistic or an inspirational quote, ensure your content offers something your audience will find valuable and worth sharing.  

Build your content pillars 

Think of your content pillars as just that—foundational elements that help support your social media strategy. These are a set of themes or topics to base your content around, specific to your brand and consistent with your purpose, values and voice. 

Content pillars could be broad: 

• Product demos 
• Customer testimonials 
• User generated content 
• Behind the scenes 
• Educational content 
• Team features 

Or specific, for example: 

• A therapist might focus on mental health tips, inspirational quotes, self-care ideas and anonymous client testimonials 
• A university might focus on student stories, sports team highlights, student club features and life on campus 
• A travel agency might focus on destination features, best travel tips, travel deals of the week and user-generated content from trip-goers  

Defining your content pillars makes it that much easier to strategically plan your content in advance, especially in moments when you’re fresh out of ideas. 

Create and curate your content 

Content creation is the process of creating original content—be it graphics, caption copy, videos, photos—specifically for your brand’s social media channels.  

• Pros of Content Creation: on-brand, allows for creativity, promotes thought leadership 
• Content Creation Tip: use pre-designed, customizable templates – just swap out the text and/or images  

If you’ve ever managed a brand’s social media, we don’t have to tell you that it can take tremendous time and effort to constantly create original content. Good news: you don’t always have to. Content curation is the process of gathering existing content shared by other relevant sources or accounts to share with your audience. This could include things such as blogs, articles, other social media posts or videos.  

• Pros of Content Curation: saves time, diversifies your content, builds connection 
• Content Curation Tip: ensure any sources are reputable and align with your brand 

Note that this does not mean taking others’ content and using it as your own. Always remember to give credit where credit is due – tag them, reshare their content to your Stories, etc. That’s what makes social media social. 

At the end of the day, your social media content will perform at its highest potential if it’s got a strategy and story behind it. Keep developing yours by checking out our 6 Tips for Social Media Success.