HOW TO DEFINE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY & THE RIGHT PLATFORMS FOR YOUR BLOG OR BRAND

Defining your social strategy & platform approach is key if you want to maintain your brand integrity.

There seems to be this overwhelming pressure, when a new platform launches, for every blogger to jump on board … just in case it’s the next big thing or the next opportunity to ‘make it’. I get it. I do. Today blogging is so wildly popular, and such a fast pace industry that keeping up and keeping on top feels like an absolute necessity if you’re ever going to make anything of your blogging business. But here’s the thing … the beauty of the blog and bloggers alike are that they’re unique, original and authentic, they have their own individual voice, tone and style that people love and come back to again and again. So if we’re being true to ourselves, shouldn’t the platforms we use be cherry picked and highly relevant, just like the content we produce for them?

When I work wiht brands from a consultancy point of view, developing their global or UK communications strategy, I tailor the approach based on their business goals, their audience and the bespoke strategy I’ve put in place for them. and i can assure you that my strategy is never to be everything, to everyone, everywhere.

But in my humble opinion this is what bloggers are risking doing … diluting their brand, their product and their integrity even, by trying to be everything, to everyone, and everywhere.

There is no right or wrong to blogging, so this isn’t about me telling you what to do, or that what you’re doing is wrong. It’s simply to say, don’t feel pressured to jump onto instagram stories just because it’s new, don’t feel pressure to expand your beautiful photography blog onto youtube, because that’s where the money is, don’t feel pressure to change your style and personality, just because right now on Instagram monochrome flatlays are hot property.

Your strategy for social, should be just as precious, bespoke and authentic as your blog and content itself. 

DEFINE THE ROLE SOCIAL PLAY IN YOUR BLOG STRATEGY

Okay so the big questions, well how do I choose what to go on, how do I know what platforms are right for me, how do i balance staying ahead with staying true to myself, how do I know what has the biggest potential in the future? There’s lots to think about, and lots of factors that go into defining your brand strategy, and so to help you define yours (because I certainly won’t be telling you what to do), I thought i’d share three key questions that you should answer that will help define whats right for your blog, business and brand as well as a brief overview of the key social platforms out there:

THREE QUESTIONS TO HELP DEFINE YOUR SOCIAL STRATEGY

What is my content style?

First of all, rather than change who you are to fit the platforms available, start off by thinking about your own content style, defining your image, your tone, your personality, and which channels therefore fit your brand best. For example, are you chatty and spontaneous, and prefer regular content over more irregular quality content – perhaps snapchat or instagram stories would be a good brand extension for you? However if you are more editorial focused, with a brand build from inspirational and motivational content, with a strong eye for visuals – then touchpoints like instagram and pinterest probably fit your brand style well? There is no right or wrong, there’s also no limit to the number of channels you do use, but what is important is that you use channels that fit your brand.

Where is my audience?

And not just your brand, your audience too. By truly understanding your audience you are able to think a lot more strategically about the places and ways that you engage with them, if your audience tend to be slightly older and you see the bulk of your referrals coming through Facebook, then this might be an opportune platform for you to exploit and focus your content on. If you want to understand more about your audience and what they want from your brand and blog you can always ask. When I spoke to you guys it was clear that you were keen to see more outfits (hello outfit posts and pinterest boards) but also keen for me to venture onto snapchat … and so with that feedback I updated my social strategy and expanded into snapchat too (mediamarmalade).

What is my overall goal?

And finally, what’s your ultimate goal? Is it to grow your blog traffic, extend your audience and size, drive engagement numbers, share beautiful images, drive sales or gain business opportunities? Each site should have it’s own role within your overall blog strategy and your overall goals should help shape the platforms you want to use. Instagram for example has the added bonus of helping drive revenue from affiliates like Like To Know It, Pinterest is a great traffic source, twitter can be great for building your network.

By thinking about these three things you’ll gauge a good idea about what platforms will help you reach your desired audience, extend your own brand in the right way, and importantly help you achieve your goals and build your blog brand or business. You might only want to work with one or two, equally it might be important for you to be present across every channel … whatever it is, define your social strategy based on you, your blog and your goals. What social channels do you use and how do they fit with your overall blog and brand?