[Your Company Name] Social Media Strategy [DATE] [Your name] [Your title], [Your team] [email address] [place your logo here]

Instructions for using this template Once you’ve followed the advice in our social media strategy guide, you’re ready to start filling out this template. To make edits, you’ll need to make your own copy. To do that, click the File tab in the upper left hand corner of your browser. Then select Make a copy… Once you’ve done that, you’ll have your own version of the template to fill out. Note: Grey slides, like this one, are instructions to help you customize the template. Before you share your strategy with stakeholders, remember to remove them from the presentation.

Executive Summary

Writing an effective executive summary The executive summary is a synopsis of your social media marketing plan. It should not exceed one page. The summary should contain the following information: Identify the problem or need for the proposed project Explain the anticipated result(s) of the proposed project Lay out the budget, time and resources required to complete the proposed project Include any additional information worth noting

Executive summary [Point no. 1] [Point no. 2] [Point no. 3] [etc.]

Social Media Goals

Setting smart goals Set goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely Related resource: How to Set Social Media Goals—And Reach Them Make sure they are aligned to business objectives to accurately measure return on investment Related resource: A Comprehensive Guide to Social Media ROI Track the right metrics for your brand Related resource: 19 Social Media Metrics That Really Matter (And How to Track Them) Related resource: Do Vanity Metrics Matter on Social Media? Yes (And No) The objective, goals, and metrics in the chart on slide no. 10 are examples. Update with what works for your business.

Key performance indicators By [date/month/quarter/EOY], we will: 1 [Insert S.M.A.R.T goal here — eg. “We will grow our Instagram audience by 50 new followers per week.”] 2 [S.M.A.R.T goal] 3 4

How goals align to business objectives Social media goal Metric(s) Grow the brand Awareness (these metrics illuminate your current and potential audience) Followers, shares, etc. Turn customers into advocates Engagement (these metrics show how audiences are interacting with your content) Comments, likes, @mentions, etc. Drive leads and sales Conversions (these metrics demonstrate the effectiveness of your social engagement) Website clicks, email signups, etc. Improve customer retention Consumer (these metrics reflect how active customers think and feel about your brand) Testimonials, social media sentiment, etc.

Target Audience

Defining your audience Knowing who your audience is and what they want to see is key to creating content that they will like, comment on, and share. It’s also critical for planning how to turn followers into customers. Use the next slide to clearly and succinctly define who your target audience/customer persona(s) is. Related resource: How to Create Audience Personas

[Persona name] Example job title(s) [What sort of job titles would this persona have? List them here?] Needs(s) [What would they be looking to do with, or get out of your product/service/business?] Pain Point(s) [What is their number one challenge (that you can solve for them?] Prefered social network(s) [What social media platform does this person use most often, i.e. where is the best place to connect with them?] Unique Characteristic [XXX] Budget (for your product/service) $[XXX] [Other characteristic, e.g. age, sex, location, etc.] [Other characteristic]

Competitive Analysis

Conducting a competitive analysis Analyze the competition’s social media presence. This will help inform your own social strategy. If you know what your competitors are doing well—and not so well—you’ll find areas of opportunity where you might have a competitive edge. Or, if you’re looking for your company to invest more in social, showing your leaders where your peers and competitors are seeing success can help with that too. Use the next slide to create a high-level overview of your competitors’ plan. Then conduct a SWOT analysis (strengths, weakness, opportunities, threats) for your own brand on slide no. 17. Related resource: How to Conduct a Competitive Analysis on Social Media: A Quick Guide

Content that resonates Networks active Number of followers Strengths Weaknesses Content that resonates [Competitor # 1] [Use a tool like Buzzsumo to check] [Competitor # 3]

[What do you need to work on?] STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES [Write them here] [What do you need to work on?] [What are you NOT doing?] [What are your brand’s strengths?] [And here] [here too] [etc.] [Use bolding to highlight the most important points] [etc.] [eg. “Competitive Landscape”] [eg. “Social Media Advertising”] [“Less Competition”] [etc.] [“Education”] [etc.] [etc.] [etc.] [etc.] OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

Social Media Audit

Auditing your social media presence If you’re already using social media, take a step back and look at: What’s working and what’s not Who is engaging with you Which networks your target audience is most active on How your strategy compares to the competition Related resource: How to Conduct a Social Media Audit (Includes a Free Template) Once you’ve conducted your audit and recorded all your findings, you can fill out the next slides.

We will maintain these accounts: [Social network] What it’s best for: Target audience: Types of content we will share: Key performance indicators (KPIs):

We will shut down the following accounts: [Social network] Why it’s not working: Deprecation timeline:

Content Strategy

Crafting your content strategy Determine your content mix and posting cadence on the next two slides. Use the social media content rule of thirds: ⅓ of content promotes business and converts audience ⅓ of content shares ideas and stories from thought leaders ⅓ is original brand content Download our editorial calendar template and social media content calendar template (link below) to assist your planning. Related resources: Social Media Templates to Save You Hours of Work

Posting The type of original content that we will create and post is: [Related resource: Content Marketing 101: Your Guide to Creating Successful Campaigns] The type of related content we will share is: [Related resource: The Definitive Guide to Content Curation: Strategies, Tips, and Tools] We will post to the following channels this frequently: [X channel / X times a day] [Related resource: The Best Time to Post on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn]

Process The audience that we need to tailor content to is: [Reference audience research] The editorial calendar that maps out our content release schedule is here: [Add Link] The social media content calendar that maps out our promotion plan is here:

Next Steps

Measuring your progress Use analytics tools to measure how you’re performing against the goals, business objectives, and metrics you laid out in slide no. 10. Related resource: A Beginner’s Guide to Social Media Analytics Related resource: Social Media Analytics Report Template Once you collected the data, create slides highlighting your key learnings so far and next steps.

What’s working well? [Social network] What it’s best for: Target audience: Types of content we will share: Key performance indicators (KPIs):

What’s not working? [Social network] What it’s best for: Target audience: Types of content we will share: Key performance indicators (KPIs):

Net Followers Gain/Loss [Your Company’s] Progress Channel Date Range Net Followers Gain/Loss # of Posts Engagement Rate Click-throughs Mentions Instagram Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest

Action items [Summarize your plan here] [“We will shut down X account”] [“We will focus on Y and Z platforms to drive brand awareness”] [etc.]

Save time managing social media You’ve laid out your social media strategy, now it’s time to execute. Use Hootsuite to manage all your social media accounts from a single dashboard. Save time—and money. Here’s what you can do on the platform: Manage all your social media accounts Schedule and publish posts and ads Monitor relevant conversations, mentions of your brand, the competition, trends, etc. Gain valuable audience insights Engage the audience Track and measure performance to prove ROI And much, much more Your action: Choose the plan that’s right for your business.