Developing Social Media Strategy

Developing a Social Media strategy is not about choosing platforms. It’s about answering a prior set of questions that make the platform choices obvious.

The questions:

Who are you trying to reach? Not ‘everyone’. Specifically. What do they care about? Where do they already spend time online? What level of participation will they realistically engage in?

What are you trying to achieve? Not ‘more followers’. What business or organisational outcome does Social Media serve? More leads? Better retention? Stronger community? Clearer positioning?

What is your PRE stance? Passive, Reactive, or Engaged. Most organisations are passive when they should be engaged. Knowing your stance shapes everything.

What does success look like? Define it before you start. Not vaguely – specifically. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.

What are your constraints? Time, resource, capability. Strategy must be realistic. A strategy you can’t execute is not a strategy – it’s a wish.

Once you’ve answered these, the platform choices become almost self-selecting. Strategy first. Tactics second. Always.