How to Create a Social Media Strategy That Works For Your Business

A clear, strategic social media strategy grew my business to a six-figure business — not ads. Not only do I work out plans for my YouTube content, but I also create several content ideas for Instagram.

I make sure all of my social media channels are connected, so I spend less time thinking of ground-breaking ideas (whatever that means) and more time creating content that strategically drives leads to my business. 

Wondering how I tackle all that at once? Here’s a peek into how I plan my content for social media!

Long-Form Content

Long-form content is the bigger pieces of your content strategy. They’re picked up by search engines (aka Google) and have a longer life span.

This is one of the reasons I love YouTube so much. Even though a video is a year or two old, it still drives traffic to my channel and leads to my business. Because these pieces of content are more extensive, I recommend sticking to one — like YouTube or even a podcast. You’ll be able to put all of your focus into that.

Microcontent

Microcontent just means repurposing that long-form content into smaller bits of information. You can use this strategy by breaking up your YouTube videos, pulling smaller chunks of information, and repurposing them into a Reel or carousel post.

The point of long-form content is to build the know, like, and trust factor with your audience. Microcontent nurtures that audience.

On Instagram, it’s funneled into what I like to call the IG Trifecta: Stories, Reels, and feed posts.

You don’t have to think of entirely new concepts for these posts, either. In my business, I create a YouTube video, then we make blogs, emails, and social media posts from it. Depending on what the video content is about, I’ll also work it into my stories.

Planning Your Content

When I plan my content, I plan 90 days at a time. Planning monthly just proved to be too hectic and last-minute for me. When I can plan 90 days ahead, I actually get work done while skipping the stress of crunch time accompanied by doing it all at once.

For YouTube, I currently post two times a week, but I recommend once a week if you’re just starting out. Consistency is better than quantity, and you want to make sure the content goals you set are attainable for you and your business. That takes care of that long-form content!

For microcontent, Instagram and Pinterest are the only other places I’m showing up at the moment. For me, it’s not realistic to be everywhere. But I do have to admit that my content planning sessions for Instagram are a little more in-depth than my Pinterest ones, so that’s what we’re going to cover here.

Your Instagram should be equal parts informative and engaging, with:

• Stories: I plan for 4-6 times per week. You can also batch record these and SCHEDULE them out so you can create them and never have to think about them again. Your stories can be used to promote services or course launches, share wins, and talk about the just for fun stuff. 

• Reels: My goal is 3 times per week. Instagram likes sharable content, so I try to make them as engaging and full of as much juicy info as possible.

• Feed: 3 times per week, and yes, you do have to appease the algorithm here. I’ve seen the most success in posting an informative carousel once a week, a selfie with a personal story to boost community engagement and comments, and themed content like quotes or motivational posts.

Remember, this doesn’t have to be your schedule. Social media should be manageable, not overwhelming. It’s your business. You make the rules. Just make sure you go into each platform with a system and a game plan to track your metrics.