What are the 7 C’s of social media strategy?
Social media is a powerful and essential tool in today’s age that helps to connect businesses with their customers digitally.
Whether it’s advertising, selling or creating a brand name, social media is the go-to arena. But just having a presence on social media platforms are not enough, you need to have a solid strategy that can help you navigate the complexities.
And here’s where the 7 C’s of social media strategy come into the picture. Let us dive into detail to see how the 7 C’s can reshape and reform the social media presence of any business.
Community – The first step to having a social media presence is determining your target audience. You should observe and learn how these people or groups interact, on which platforms and what are their specific interests.
Your community will carry forward the reins of your social media career and when you know about their varied forms of engagement, it serves as an edge for you.
Even before you delve deep into it, you need to study the types of conversations that hold value for your community and which platforms serves them the best.
Content – Content is the base and foundation of any social media platform or strategy. The demand for high-quality content has gone up in the last few years.
Consumers want authentic and relatable content from their favourite brands. Content that resonates with your audience will be loved and appreciated in the form of sales and engagement.
Here are a few tips:
- Conduct extensive research to find out about their interests and preferences.
- Be consistent with your posts or articles so that you can keep your audiences engaged.
- To keep engagement high, use a variety of media, such as posts, stories, mini-vlogs, polls, etc.
- Add value to your media to be informative, inspirational, and entertaining.
Context – All social media enthusiasts will agree that the context of media matters a lot. Something that works on Instagram may not do so well on Twitter or YouTube. You need to adapt and create content that fits each social media platform.
Every platform has its own strategy and algorithm for pushing content forward. They also have different dynamics according to regions or cultures. Your content should be in the proper context and align with the social media strategy of the particular platform.
Connection – After content creation, the next important step is connecting with your audience. In fact, your connection with your audience actually decides your fate in the world of social media.
Your brand benefits when you have a strong connection with your people by knowing what content they like and what makes them feel more close to you. Make sure that you study previous data in your specific field to determine customer preferences.
Creation – When you post anything online, you technically create a form of media. It can be a tweet, a video on YouTube, a blog post, or an article that informs or engages your audience.
An editorial calendar can be an excellent tool for creating content regularly. Great content keeps engagement high and promotes you as a brand.
Communication – An effective social media strategy will always include communication since every piece of content you create revolves around maintaining great communication with your viewers.
Always be transparent with your audience, especially during sensitive times or when dealing with controversial topics.
- Monitor conversations about your brand or content. This will help you identify upcoming opportunities and address any issues.
- Use the art of storytelling to convey the message that your brand stands for.
Conversion – In the end, everything comes down to Conversion, whether it is sales, sign-ups, high views, or any action that you aim for.
It is the Return on Investment (ROI) of an effective social media strategy. One point to remember is that your social media strategy should be designed to promote your business strategy.
For businesses, the aim should be to consider the external views of your clients and prospects as well as the internal views of your employees. It is vital that you communicate and convince your audience to convert the media into action both internally and externally.
Include Clear calls to Action (CTA) in your posts to encourage audiences to take the next step.
Use analytics to determine conversions and design your future strategy based on that. Keep experimenting with different CTAs, strategies, and landing pages to determine what resonates with your audience and leads to high conversion rates.
What is the 50-30-20 rule for social media?
When we talk about social media, we need to understand that it is a fast-growing arena with lots of potential, but the downsides are also severe. Platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok are important tools for businesses and creators.
To have an effective social media strategy, you need to follow the 50-30-20 rule for content creation. It means that 50% of your posts should be engaging, 30% should be informative, and 20% should be about promoting.
Let us see why the 50-30-20 rule is a good guide for social media enthusiasts.
50%: Engaging
The primary purpose of creating social media content is to communicate with your audience. When you showcase your brand’s personality through your content, they engage and communicate. Ideally, half of your content should focus on creating media that encourages them to engage and keep the algorithm pushing.
In addition to regular posts, you can use giveaways and contests to keep them interested in your brand. A CTA with options like ‘Enter to win’ promotes engagement.
30%: Informing
Another 30 per cent of your content should focus on blending educational and informative material into your regular posting regime. A simple strategy is to post at least three types of educational posts for every ten posts.
To find out what your audiences like or any concerns you have, watch out for the comments or questions that they ask. You can include blog posts and how-to videos to solve their queries.
20%: Promoting
The rest of your content can be about promotions and endorsements. You can keep the ball rolling with exciting offers and new upcoming products your business plans to launch.
It may look like a minimal percentage for promotions, but too much for endorsements will make your audiences question your credibility and authenticity.
Whether it is the 7 Cs or the 50-30-20 rule for ruling over social media, your passion and perseverance will be essential to your success. Your content needs to be top-notch and relatable to your audience so that they engage and stay hooked.
Experiment with different strategies, try combinations that have worked for others and learn from them in case of a setback. Be ready to adapt and change your technique as you tread the waters of this vast ocean called Social Media.
You may think the purpose of a business page on social media is to sell services or products. That’s why you went into business in the first place, right? However, instead of using your social page purely for sales, consider it a place to sell your brandand limit your promotional posts to one out of every five.
That might seem like a low percentage of posts to earmark for promotions, but remember that social media is a two-way street to connect with people.
Think of this analogy: When you go to a party, do you spend the whole time touting your services to the guests? Or do you regale them with entertaining stories and share wisdom?
Respect your audience’s wishes for more engaging and informative content, and promote what you offer last.
