Why do so many brands treat social media like an afterthought? The randomness and complete lack of a strategy is quite frankly, shocking. In other words, it’s better to do nothing than to do it poorly

This is what I imagine might be happening in business across the world. It’s like one day in a panic Bob from sales called Linda in marketing and said start posting stuff on social media. Linda has a FaceBook account and a profile on LinkedIn so she’s basically an expert, right? Then Linda starts haphazardly throwing up posts and links. Ninety days later, social media marketing hasn’t brought them any quality leads, and no one engages with their content. Why didn’t it work? There’s one clear answer: they didn’t have a strategy or goals. Don’t be like Bob and Linda, do this instead:

Set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time bound) goals. If you don’t have an objective then it’s all for naught.

Create a content marketing plan. Here’s what I start with:

• One focused topic monthly that is an eBook or Whitepaper
  • Recommend this is an “awareness” stage asset, meaning it should be education and information focused and place consideration on the user as being at the beginning of the buyer’s journey
• Blogs on each of the points within your main asset
• Repurpose the content into other formats: infographics, video
• Create a landing page that offers your asset
• Determine which platforms you want to post on – focus on three max. You can determine which ones are right for you based on your industry and where your ideal buyers and competitors are.
• Find similar content by thought leaders in your industry. Quote the article in one of your blogs. Share third party content related to your topic.
• In addition to the featured topic, place some additional blogs on your calendar that compliment the topic.

Next is execution:

• Develop the content.
• Build your landing page.
• Determine keywords/hashtags you should highlight in your posts.
• Then schedule your posts using a platform like Hootsuite

You aren’t finished. No need to go on autopilot. If users start engaging with you, show up! Thank people when they share your content. Answer questions. Encourage conversation. Ask questions when you post your content to prompt engagement.

Then it’s time to measure. What was your engagement? What posts were most popular? What posts led to conversions. And you have to look at all the data in context. If you earned 80 new followers in a week, why? If something is working, leverage it. If something failed, tweak it.

Your social media success is dependent more on relevant content than probably any other element. Posting a link to one of your web pages isn’t a strategy. I’m a bit embarrassed for brands that do this. You must add value to someone’s feed; otherwise, you’ll be quickly discarded.

Also, you’ve must cover and manage the details of posting. Does your image post correctly? Is your meta description displaying? Are your graphics professional and eye-catching? Are the pages you are linking to mobile-friendly? Users don’t click on links that don’t display correctly. It also makes your brand look incompetent. That’s the last emotion you want to conjure.

So just to recap, don’t be like Bob and Linda, throwing random content up and hoping something will stick. Start with a strategy, produce engaging content, post it on the platforms where your buyers are and measure!