The Top 11 Social Media Sites & Platforms via @sejournal, @theshelleywalsh

Social media is integral to our daily lives.

With 4.8 billion social media users worldwide – accounting for 59.9% of the global population – social platforms have become necessary hubs for gathering information, connecting with our friends and loved ones, and growing our businesses.

And social media users have grown to trust and rely on their preferred social networks for everything from real-time news and updates to lifestyle hacks, product research, and more.

For marketers, the world of social media represents an expansive area of opportunity – and every user is a potential customer.

With the right tools, resources, and a strong social media strategy, marketers can leverage social media platforms to boost awareness for their business, engage their target audience, and even nurture a loyal community.

But with so many different social media platforms existing today, it’s nearly impossible to be present on every single one – let alone excel in every space.

Success in social media marketing starts with choosing the right platforms for your brand. You need to identify where your target audience is spending the most time and where it makes sense for your brands to interact with them.

In this article, we’ll look at the leading social media platforms, giving a quick overview of what they are before exploring what types of businesses might find them most useful.

Top 11 Social Media Platforms Compared

*Number of monthly active users worldwide

The Top 11 Social Media Apps By Monthly Active Users

*Number of monthly active users worldwide

The Top 11 Social Media Sites And Platforms

1. Facebook

Screenshot by author, May 2022

Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA

Launched: 2004

Monthly Active Users: 3 billion

Founders: Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes

Revenue: $88-91 billion (2023) estimated

While Facebook might not be the exciting new platform it once was – and might have fallen out of favor with younger users – make no mistake: it’s still around, and more popular than ever.

Today, Facebook operates under the umbrella of Meta, Inc., which also owns platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads.

In recent years, Facebook has undergone a demographic shift – yet its influence in the social media sphere remains unparalleled.

Industries such as financial services, ecommerce, retail, media, telecom, technology, and consumer goods continue to harness Facebook’s expansive reach to connect with consumers and grow their brand awareness – with newer sectors like gaming, entertainment, and automotive businesses also finding their footing on the platform.

If you’re looking to drive conversions, your best bet is to invest in Facebook ads – especially given the News Feed is increasingly suppressing business posts.

That said, there are still plenty of ways to generate organic engagement without investing in ads.

Consider joining (or building) niche communities with Facebook Groups, leveraging Messenger chatbots for personalized communication, or using live video to encourage real-time audience interaction.

2. YouTube

Screenshot by author, May 2022

• Launched: 2005.
• Headquarters: San Bruno, California.
• Monthly Active Users: 2.5 billion.
• Revenue: $30.4 billion (2023) estimated
• Founders: Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, Chad Hurley.

YouTube continues to hold the crown as the dominant original video social media platform. It is currently the second most used platform, with 2.5 billion monthly active users.

The potential for reach on YouTube is unrivaled, with 89% of U.S. adults using the platform. Such engagement metrics are hard for marketers and brands to ignore.

From longform video storytelling to the recent introduction of YouTube Shorts, the platform’s TikTok rival, YouTube provides plenty of opportunities for brands to engage in visual storytelling and reach new audiences.

And according to the company, it’s a very powerful marketing tool. YouTube viewers say they’re 2X more likely to buy something they saw on YouTube, and 4X more likely to use the platform to find information about a brand, product, or service versus other social networks.

Whether you’re into beauty tutorials, gaming streams, education content, or DIY hacks, YouTube has it all. And for brands aiming to pivot into video-centric content marketing, YouTube is the platform to prioritize.

3. WhatsApp

Screenshot by author, May 2022

• Launched: 2009.
• Headquarters: Menlo Park, California.
• Monthly Active Users: 2 billion.
• Revenue: $500 million – $1 billion (2023) estimated
• Founders: Brian Acton, Jan Koum.

WhatsApp remains the most popular social messaging app, way out in front of Facebook Messenger.

At first glance, brands might overlook WhatsApp’s potential, given its closed messaging nature. But consider that SMS has an average of 98% open rate compared to 20% for email.

It’s a captive audience. And, unlike SMS, WhatsApp messages are free to send.

For brands that want to improve their customer service efforts or connect directly with customers to answer their questions, WhatsApp has a ton of potential. It offers a uniquely direct and effective channel for interacting with your audience.

If you can crack WhatsApp, you’ll have a direct marketing channel to your audience.

4. Instagram

Screenshot by author, May 2022

• Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA.
• Launched: 2010.
• Monthly Active Users: 2 billion.
• Founders: Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger.
• Revenue: $50.6 billion (2023) estimated

Instagram is a social network where product-based businesses, influencers, and coaches can thrive.

Launched in 2010, Instagram quickly became the leading image-based, visually-rich social platform. Since then, it has only grown in popularity and reach, becoming a place for users to conduct and research every aspect of their lives.

The platform has also introduced new features that marketers can leverage to grow awareness, including ephemeral Stories, vertical-video Reels, and more.

Since introducing shoppable posts in 2018, the potential ROI for product-based businesses has been higher than ever.

Not only can B2B businesses connect with a massive audience, they can seamlessly transition followers from product research to purchase by linking product information and making sales – all within the Instagram interface.

And if your target demographic is under 35, Instagram is a gold mine: over 68% of Instagram users are under 35.

5. TikTok

Screenshot by author, May 2022

• Launched: 2016.
• Headquarters: Culver City, California.
• Monthly Active Users: 1.2 billion.
• Founders: ByteDance Ltd, Zhang Yiming, Toutiao.
• Revenue: $6.19 billion (2023) estimated

TikTok bills itself as “the leading destination for short-form mobile video” with a company mission to inspire creativity and bring joy. And evidently, it’s succeeding.

TikTok’s meteoric rise over the past few years has been unprecedented. In 2017, after only one year, the app became the fastest-growing app worldwide.

Its focus on short-form videos driven by audio and visual trends has taken the world by storm, with other platforms rushing to emulate it.

Despite attempts to ban TikTok in the U.S. and being banned in India, as of 2021, the app had been downloaded more than 3.5 billion times globally.

And while TikTok reaches users of all demographics, if your brand wants to connect with Generation Z, it should be your first priority.

In the U.S., it’s particularly popular among the 12 to 17 age bracket, who constitute about 17.7% of the user base.

Those users are highly engaged, too, with the average user spending nearly 54 minutes on the app every day – the longest amount of time of any app, ahead of YouTube at 48.7 minutes.

6. Snapchat

Screenshot by author, May 2022

• Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA.
• Launched: 2011.
• Monthly Active Users: 750 million.
• Founders: Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, Daniel Smith, David Kravitz, Leo Noah Katz.
• Revenue: $4.6 billion (2022).

If a younger audience is your target, Snapchat might be a platform worth considering. This social platform is a great place for connecting with millennials and Gen Z users.

Almost half of all users on Snapchat are 18 to 24-year-olds, showcasing its immense appeal to the younger generation.

The average Snapchat user spends 19 minutes per day on the app – not enough time to rival that of TikTok and YouTube, but still an opportunity window for brands to reach and connect with them.

Snapchat has a uniquely organic feel, with content that offers an unfiltered glimpse into everyday moments – so the platform is a haven for user-generated content, behind-the-scenes videos, exclusive offers, and influencer takeovers.

The platform has always maintained its commitment to real-time, ephemeral content, and it offers a sense of privacy to users that many other social platforms do not. For this reason, it’s a worthwhile tool for brands that want to authentically speak to a younger demographic who might be less interested in the broader approaches of other social networks.

And while it may not get as much attention as the likes of Instagram and TikTok, Snapchat is quietly humming along. Since launching its premium subscription service Snapchat+, the brand announced it has generated 5 million paying subscribers who are willing to dish out money for access to exclusive features.

7. Pinterest

Screenshot by author, May 2022

• Launched: 2010.
• Headquarters: San Francisco, CA.
• Monthly Active Users: 465 million.
• Founders: Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, Evan Sharp.
• Revenue: $2.8 billion (2022).

Like Instagram, Pinterest is a social media platform that’s focused on rich visuals. From delicious recipes to home decor inspiration, wedding ideas, workout moves, and DIY-related content, Pinterest is where visual dreams come to life.

If your brand has an interest in visual storytelling, Pinterest is the platform for you.

Notably, 60% of Pinterest users are women. If your audience is predominantly women, that’s a compelling reason to invest time in social media marketing on Pinterest.

That’s not to say that men aren’t on Pinterest – male Pinners are up 40% year-over-year (as are Gen Z Pinners!).

What’s more, Pinterest has proven itself to be a powerful marketing tool. 85% of weekly Pinners have made a purchase from a Pin, while 80% have discovered a new brand or product on Pinterest.

8. Reddit

Screenshot by author, May 2022

• Launched: 2005.
• Headquarters: San Francisco, CA.
• Monthly Active Users: 430 million.
• Founders: Steve Huffman, Alexis Ohanian, Aaron Swartz.
• Revenue: $670 million (2022).

Reddit heralds itself as “the front page of the internet,” and according to Alexa rankings, Reddit is one of the top 20 most-visited sites.

It has become known as the dominant digital watercooler, and replaced forums and chatrooms of yore to be the go-to place for connecting with likeminded communities and getting your questions answered.

Reddit has a unique blend of content and community, with more than 2.8 million communities, or subreddits, dedicated to every topic imaginable. Whether you’re in tech, fashion, gaming, or health, there’s at least one subreddit actively discussing your industry.

With so many niches, there’s a place for every brand and business to engage their audience – it’s a matter of finding the niches where your potential customers are active and diving in.

However, be warned: Reddit thrives on authenticity and genuine interaction. Users don’t typically respond well to blatant self-promotion, and marketing gimmicks will be met with sharp skepticism.

Brands should beware before wandering into any subreddit and trying to tout their products to community members.

It’s crucial to get the tone right from the beginning, as commentators won’t hesitate to call out and critique what they perceive as inauthentic.

Engage thoughtfully, contribute genuinely, and Reddit could be an incredible marketing tool for your brand.

9. LinkedIn

Screenshot by author, May 2022

• Headquarters: Sunnyvale, CA.
• Launched: 2003.
• Monthly Active Users: 310 million.
• Founders: Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Allen Blue, Jean-Luc Vaillant, Eric Ly.
• Revenue: $15 billion+ (2023).

LinkedIn has been somewhat of a dark horse among social media platforms. While many may not initially have expected a career-focused social platform to take off, it has become one of the more popular and engaging platforms, with a vast and influential community of professionals.

The platform boasts over 180 million users holding senior roles, 63 million decision-makers, and 10 million C-level executives – making it a hotspot for those aiming to connect with folks who have the power to hire your company, stock your product, or partner with your brand.

And the platform isn’t just for networking – it’s an aspirational hub. Every week, 61 million people use LinkedIn to search for job opportunities – so it’s a smart place to market your brand.

LinkedIn is a very focused social media platform. Because of that, it has unlimited potential for connecting with an elite group of professionals who can make a difference for your business.

10. Threads

• Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA.
• Launched: 2023.
• Monthly Active Users: 120 million (2023).
• Founders: Mark Zuckerberg.
• Revenue: Unknown.

The newcomer to the block, Threads was created by the team behind Instagram and launched in July 2023. The text-based app was designed as a competitor to X (formerly Twitter).

It looks and functions quite similarly to X (formerly Twitter), though Threads requires you to have an Instagram account in order to sign up.

Threads initially made a splash in the social media space by quickly surpassing 150 million downloads and becoming the most successful social media platform launch in history.

Since then, it has struggled to retain users – but there is still plenty of promise for the future of the platform.

So, who should be advertising on Threads? It’s still early days, so the answer isn’t totally clear yet.

The good news is that Threads appears to be engaging users by leaning into its strategy to create a positive community space, and veering away from the highly politicized landscape that you might find on X.

If your brand is looking for an alternative to X (formerly Twitter) or is keen to try your hand at a new platform, Threads is certainly worth testing.

Its integration with Instagram means that you have the potential to build a following quite rapidly if you have a strong and engaged Instagram community.

11. X/Twitter

Screenshot by author, May 2022

• Headquarters: San Francisco, CA.
• Launched: 2006.
• Monthly Active Users: 56.1 million (2023).
• Founders: Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone, Noah Glass.
• Revenue: $3 billion (2023) estimated

Since being purchased by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in October 2022 for $44 billion, X (formerly Twitter) has been facing some major changes and hurdles.

It has lost approximately 13% of its daily active users – and the response to the platform’s rebrand from ‘Twitter’ to ‘X’ didn’t help things either.

With average users and brands both increasingly turning away from the app, some are heralding its potential demise – while others say nothing much has changed.

In spite of a clear understanding of what the future holds for the platform, if your business is related to entertainment, sports, politics, tech, or marketing, there are still opportunities to drive great engagement on this app – if you can find your audience there.

On X, brands have an opportunity to craft and hone their voice. There’s room to be clever and personable while still being informative and helpful.

Jump into threads, provide value, share your own content as well as others, and join the conversation. Just be sure to monitor the app and your audience to make sure your investment is paying off.

Which Platform(s) Should You Use?

The ubiquity of social media is undeniable.

From your teenage neighbor who wants to go viral on TikTok to your 86-year-old grandmother who’s using Facebook to track down long-lost friends, everybody has a use for social media.

Yet, when it comes to business, a one-size-fits-all approach to social media won’t work.

So, if you were hoping you’d reach the end of this piece, and find a simple, definitive answer on the perfect platform for your brand, you’re out of luck.

Every social media mix will be unique.

Each platform offers distinct features and functionalities, some which align more naturally with specific industries or marketing objectives.

Whether you’re looking to boost customer engagement, increase reach, or create unforgettable brand experiences, it all starts with getting clear on your goals.

Start by understanding your objectives, figuring out where your audience is most active, and then tailoring your strategy to resonate on those channels.

It’s all about making the right choices and finding authentic alignment in order to make use of this powerful marketing opportunity.

Updated with data from DataReportal’s Digital 2023 October Global Statshot Report.  

More resources: 

Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal

How To Create A Social Media Strategy In 9 Steps via @sejournal, @BrianFr07823616

It may sound like hyperbole, but few things have changed the world as much as social media.

Sure, the wheel, gunpowder, and the airplane played important roles in shaping the course of history, but did any of them allow you to chat with your friend on the other side of the world in real-time Facebook Messenger?

Or easily share photos of your sister’s birthday party with your cousins via Instagram? And none of them gave you the opportunity to interact with celebrities as Twitter does.

It’s no surprise social networking has become such a ubiquitous part of modern life.

And it’s also no surprise that it’s become such an essential part of marketing in the modern world. From the biggest global brands to the mom-and-pop down the street, no marketing strategy is complete without a social media component.

But developing an effective social media marketing strategy can be tricky – particularly as platforms evolve and popularity waxes and wanes.

This piece will guide you through the basics of social media strategy and give you a step-by-step plan you can implement to drive traffic and maximize exposure.

What Is Social Media Marketing?

Before we dive into the how-tos, let’s first cover exactly what is meant by the term social media marketing – and what it’s used for.

You probably don’t need a dictionary to figure out that it’s a type of internet marketing that uses social media platforms as a tool.

But what makes this better than, say, print advertising or a television commercial? In a word:

Engagement

Unlike traditional forms of marketing, social media allows you to speak with your audience, not at them. You can generate conversations around your brand and what’s important to your customers in a give-and-take format.

It allows you to tell your story while maintaining the narrative in a responsive and authentic manner – something you just won’t find in other types of marketing.

But that’s not all. Social media has many other benefits for marketing, including:

Increased Brand Awareness

There are more than 4 billion social media users worldwide. This means you could theoretically reach more than half of the global population.

Obviously, it’s unlikely that your Dayton, Ohio-based accounting company’s Facebook page will attract new customers from Hyderabad, India, but it is likely to help build your local awareness.

And as marketing, you know that increased awareness leads to more leads, which in turn leads to more sales.

Good ROI (Return On Investment)

One of the biggest advantages of social media marketing is that it allows you to build an audience without a big budget.

Creating a business profile is free on most platforms, and while you can use things like paid advertising, it’s not essential.

Instead, you can build an audience and expand your reach simply by consistently posting content your targets will find valuable.

Improved SEO

Social platforms can also help your search engine optimization efforts.

While there’s no direct correlation between your search engine ranking and social media, in that your ranking is not directly affected by what you post on YouTube or Instagram, there is a connection.

For one, social media allows you to boost your content. This leads to more traffic and more engagement, which are positive user signals.

It also gives you more opportunities for generating backlinks, not to mention that your profile could rank in its own right for search terms.

Better Customer Service

From troubleshooting an issue to providing tips and tricks, social media gives customers an easy way to reach out to you. 

It can be an effective way to turn a negative experience into a positive one while allowing you to keep your finger on the pulse of patterns in buying, use and potential issues. 

How To Create A Social Media Strategy

The benefits of implementing social media into your marketing efforts are apparent, but you can’t just haphazardly post images, polls, and status updates and expect to get results.

You need a clearly defined strategy. Here’s how to create one:

1. Identify Your Audience

The very first thing you need to do is determine who you are targeting on social media. This will help you create content that will interest and engage them.

Consider not just their wants, needs, and challenges but who they are. Many marketers find it useful to create customer personas, which are representations of the major subsets of your audience.

Group your customers into four or fewer clusters and identify general similarities in each. Be sure to include things like:

• Demographics – age, gender, job title, salary, location, etc. 
• Interests – What type of content would interest them?
• Their goals in relation to your content – Are they looking for a new job? To improve their fitness? To learn a skill?
• The platform of choice – Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, etc. 
• Preferred format – Are they more likely to watch videos or read text posts?

One caveat: don’t get too granular trying to target outliers or exceptions. Instead, look for generalities that are consistent within each grouping.

2. Set Specific, Measurable Goals

To track your effectiveness and get the best return on investment, you first need to decide what you want to accomplish through your presence on social media. This can be a single goal, or you can have multiple objectives.

Whatever you choose, it must meet three criteria: 1. Be achievable, 2. Be measurable, and 3. Be relevant to your brand.

Some of the most common social media marketing goals are:

• Increasing traffic to your website.
• Generating new leads.
• Making conversions (signups, sales, etc.).
• Boosting engagement.
• Controlling conversations about your brand.

Your goals should be as specific as possible and align with social media metrics so you can track your campaign’s effectiveness.

3. Check Out The Competition

There’s a good chance some of your competitors also use social media as a marketing strategy.

Do a deep dive into their profiles and content. This will help you get a feel for the kind of content your audience likes – as well as the ones that don’t interest them.

Look at which platforms get the best results and which are underserved. Is this because your targets prefer one app to another, or are your rivals missing an opportunity?

But don’t just look once and move on. This should be an ongoing process and part of your social listening process.

4. Decide Which Platforms You’ll Use

By this point, you should know which social apps your target audience is using. Those are obviously the ones you should focus on.

You don’t have to be on every platform. Did you get that? You do not need to have a social presence on every platform. Some of them will not be used by your target, so if you’re targeting retirees on TikTok, you’re likely wasting your time.

With that said, most brands find it beneficial to have a presence on the “big four” – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Understand the strengths and weaknesses of each platform and how they work into your strategy.

5. Optimize Your Profile

Now that you know where you’ll post content, it’s time to set up or optimize your profile. Because this is the face your show the cyber world, it’s important that you include all the information your audience needs right up front.

Make sure you include your business name, contact details, and anything else visitors could want to know.

Using a keyword research tool, determine which words and phrases your customers use in search and include them in your profile.

Next, make sure you’re using consistent branding, with hi-res images that won’t look skewed as thumbnails. Your goal is to make your brand instantly recognizable across all touchpoints.

This is also a good point at which to look through any content you have previously posted and get rid of those that aren’t on-brand.

6. Plan Your Content

Your content will depend on many factors, including what you’re promoting and your audience’s preferences.

You also want to ensure everything works towards one of the goals you outlined in step 2.

Depending on the platform(s) you’re using, your content could include memes, educational videos, links to blog posts, or anything else your audience will find useful.

You should include informative and entertaining content, as well as things that are directly promoting your brand. This will usually generate better engagement and sharing than strictly sales pieces.

7. Create A Social Media Content Calendar

The next thing you should do is make a content calendar that clearly outlines when you’ll be posting and where you’ll be posting it.

Your goal is to catch the attention of the biggest audience and generate maximum engagement. This will vary, depending on several factors, including your business, your audience, and the time of year.

However, you should ensure that you’re regularly posting content. Try to find the sweet spot between posting too much (and annoying your audience) and posting too little (and being unimportant).

Don’t worry if you can’t figure this out exactly right now. It may take some experimentation on your part.

And speaking of things that will require some testing, your content calendar should include not just the date on which you will post things but what time of day you will post them.

Every brand has an optimal post time at which it will be seen by the greatest number of targets. There may be one time per week or several per day – it all depends on your audience.

8. Track Your Performance

Once you start pushing posts live, you’ll start to gather information about what’s working and start to identify trends.

The best and easiest way to monitor this is by looking at your metrics. Most social media platforms offer some form of analytics for commercial users, in which you can view statistics on reach, impressions, and response rates.

The ones that matter to you will depend on your goals.

For example, if you’re tracking the number of web visitors who sign up for your newsletter, you’ll want to measure the click-through rate, conversion rate, and bounce rate. If you’re using paid ads, you’ll want to keep an eye on your cost-per-click. If your goal is to increase engagement, you’ll want to track likes, comments, and reshares.

Look for commonalities among your most successful and least successful posts. This will give you insight into the type of social media content you should post.

9. Tweak And Rework Your Strategy

Social media marketing isn’t the type of thing that pays instant dividends. It requires some time to understand what works and what your targets are like.

And once you feel confident your content is on-target, on-brand, and generating results, your social media strategy will still require regular adjustments based on changing preferences, trends, and audience needs.

You will need to regularly revisit your plan and rethink it. As your business evolves, your social media presence should evolve with it. You may want to branch out onto new platforms, add paid advertisements to the mix or change how frequently you post.

The goal is to keep looking for new ways to maximize the impact of your presence on social platforms. And while that’s a job that is never done, over time, you’ll gain a feel for what you’re doing that will help you generate more consistent results.

Keep Your Eyes On The Prize

It’s easy to get distracted in the world of social media, and that makes creating and implementing a strategy for it difficult.

You can get so close to your content that you lose the forest for the trees, which makes it important to step back regularly and look at the bigger picture.

Everything you post should have a purpose and actively work towards achieving one of your goals.

But with by putting in the work, keeping an open mind, and not being afraid to take risks, the social media strategy you develop is sure to reap the rewards for your business.

Happy posting.

More resources:

Featured Image: jd8/Shutterstock

How To Create A Social Media Content Plan via @sejournal, @jasonhennessey

For some of us, social media is a fun way to connect with friends, re-share memes, and pass some time after a long day.

What may seem straightforward – like posting articles, sharing photos, or publishing content – becomes more complicated when it comes to your business, however.

Social media marketing, unlike passive social media use, requires planning and strategy.

So, if you’re used to posting content on a whim, or if you are struggling to come up with social media content topics at all, a social media content calendar is the way to go.

Having a social media content plan will help you develop strategic content, post consistently, and generate tangible results for your efforts.

Here’s how to do it.

But First, Why Create A Social Media Content Plan?

Maybe you’re accustomed to creating all of your posts directly in your social apps.

While this requires less planning, it can be far less effective compared to developing a strategy. A content calendar is a must when it comes to developing effective topics and engaging content.

With a social media content calendar, you can:

• Plan your topics in advance. You can take the time to research topics and content ideas that will truly resonate with your audience.
• Schedule your posts. Establish a content publishing cadence so your audience can rely on your posts, and the algorithms will surface your content more often.
• Measure results. In-app analytics allow you to see the performance of your posts. When you plan your social content calendar, you can use these insights to come up with new ideas or repurpose what’s already working.
• Balance evergreen versus trending content. You have the flexibility to publish timely content while also prioritizing evergreen content that will stay relevant for the long run.
• Anticipate future events. If your business has upcoming events or updates, you can plan your content well in advance and generate more visibility for your brand.
• Save digital assets. Not only can you create your social content in batches, but you will have a library of creative assets to tap into when you need them.
• Monitor hashtags. You can create a running list of popular hashtags and use them in your future posts. No need to research new hashtags every single time.

What To Include In Your Social Content Calendar

In its simplest form, a social content calendar provides an overview of your upcoming social media content, organized by platform and by date. It allows you to organize your content assets, manage campaigns, and create an established schedule.

With this in mind, there are a few things you should include in your social media calendar:

• The platform – What social media channels you will be publishing on.
• The date and time – When your content will be published.
• The creative assets – Including images, links, captions, videos, or hashtags for each post.

A social media calendar can take many forms. It could be a Google Sheet, an online planner, or content marketing software.

Whatever you choose, your calendar should help you organize your posts and plan when your next content will go live.

Create Your Social Media Content Plan In 6 Steps

Creating a social media calendar can be relatively simple. It all depends on the complexity of what you want to publish, how often, and how many accounts you have.

Below, we explain a few easy steps to creating a social content plan from scratch.

1. Take Stock Of Your Social Media Accounts

The first step is to take stock of all of your existing social media accounts and corresponding login credentials.

This is necessary because you will need to confirm that you have management access to all of your accounts before you begin scheduling your content.

We recommend creating a spreadsheet that keeps a record of:

• Active profiles.
• Imposter or inactive profiles.
• Account username and/or email address and passwords.
• Business versus personal profiles.
• Target audience for each profile.
• Who manages the profile (e.g. you, a team member, a marketing agency, etc.).
• Outdated information that requires updating.

You might discover some accounts that are obsolete or profiles for which you no longer have login credentials.

Now is an opportunity to delete the old account, recover your passwords, update outdated information, and even create new profiles, if needed.

After this effort, you should identify which accounts require management and should be added to your social media posting calendar.

2. Use A Content Plan Template Or Tool

Organizing your social content calendar is made easier when you have a system or tool at your disposal.

This could be as simple as a spreadsheet or as robust as a software application, like Hootsuite.

Spreadsheets For Content Planning

I like using Google Sheets for social content planning because it’s simple and requires less effort compared to using a software tool. You can easily plug in your content topics, publishing dates, content assets, and more.

You can find tons of Google Sheets social media calendar templates for free online or create one of your own.

Social Media Scheduling Tools

There are also a wide variety of social media planning and scheduling tools available.

Some are free and others require a paid subscription. Most offer a free trial so you can try out their features before you buy.

Some of the most popular social media planning tools include:

I recommend trying a few different trials to see what works best for you and your team.

Your business may require specific features, more robust platform management, etc. The important thing is that you choose a system that allows you to easily create, schedule, and publish your content.

3. Create A Content Matrix

Whether you decide to use a spreadsheet or software, the next step is to create your social media content matrix.

This is your plan for what content you plan to post, and where and when you plan to post it.

Deciding what content to post is the most important part of your social media plan. The success of your social strategy depends on you coming up with engaging content ideas.

There are a few models to help get you started.

The 80-20 Principle

The 80-20 Principle is, essentially, that 80% of your content should be to inform, educate, or entertain your audience, and 20% of your content should be to promote your business (i.e. Sell).

This means that the majority of your content should serve to provide value to your audience above all else. This may include content types like:

• How-to articles.
• Helpful infographics.
• Tutorials.
• Educational videos.
• Funny memes.
• Photos.
• Expert interviews.

The remaining mix can include content types like promotions, sales graphics, discount codes, or ads.

The Rule Of Thirds

Alternatively, you may want to follow The Rule of Thirds when it comes to your social content.

With this matrix:

• One-third of your content should serve to promote your business and drive conversions.
• One-third of your content should be from other industry thought leaders and publishers.
• One-third of your content should be entertaining content that encourages interaction with your followers.

This will help you create a healthy mix of content types and ensure that not all of your content is promotional. You want to build trust with your audience, boost engagement, and drive interactions, not just sales.

Content marketing doesn’t have to be boring. Try to come up with some creative topics that speak to your audience’s interests and entice them to interact with your brand.

4. Organize And Schedule Your Content

Once you have a good mix of content topics and ideas, it’s time to pencil these into your content calendar.

If you are using a spreadsheet, be sure to include the basic details:

• Platform (e.g. Facebook).
• Profile (e.g. Facebook.com/happyseoagency).
• Publish date.
• Governance (i.e. team member posting the content).
• Time (and time zone).
• Copy (e.g. Instagram caption and hashtags).
• Visuals (e.g., photo, video, meme, infographic, gif, etc.).
• Link to creative assets.

When and how often you should publish content will depend on your niche and when your audience is active online.

However, the best times to post on social media overall are Tuesdays through Thursdays at 9 a.m. or 10 a.m.

As you continue your social strategy, it will be important to monitor your analytics to see when users are viewing and interacting with your content. This can help you determine when to post content in the future.

If you are using a social media planning tool, you may even be able to schedule when your content should be posted automatically to each platform – and monitor performance along the way.

5. Track Your Social Media Analytics

The effectiveness of your social media strategy will be influenced by your performance data.

You will want to track what content is resonating most, which posts get the most engagement, and what content is driving conversions for your business.

This data will help inform your future content strategy and posting schedule. This should not be a “set it and forget it” strategy, but instead involve continuous optimization and planning.

Most social media platforms include their own version of analytics. There are also third-party software tools that track performance. You will have a wealth of data from which to pull social insights.

Here are some of the most important metrics to track:

• Likes.
• Clicks.
• Comments.
• Shares.
• Brand mentions.
• Profile visits.
• Followers.
• Reach.
• Impressions.
• Traffic.
• Leads.

Over time, you will get a better idea of what content works best with your audience, what times work best for posting, and which content types drive conversions and sales.

6. Listen To Your Audience

Your social media analytics will provide a lot of insight into what types of content your audience engages with most.

But sometimes it’s great to get content ideas and feedback directly from your followers, as most social tools won’t help you generate these unique content ideas.

Throughout your content calendar, you should schedule posts that ask your audience what they want to see. You can ask questions like:

• “What questions do you have about [topic]?”
• “What is the #1 problem you need help with right now?”
• “What topics do you want us to post more about?”
• “What questions do you have for our team/brand?”
• “What’s a trending topic that interests you right now?”

These questions are a great way to gauge your audience’s interest and collect new content ideas.

You can also get feedback on your existing content, which may help you revise your strategy or remove certain content types from your matrix.

Remember, social media content marketing is all about keeping your audience engaged. So, you should be tuned into what they want, what they struggle with, and what information they want to see on your channels.

Achieve More With Your Social Media Content

Social media gives you the freedom to publish all kinds of interesting, informational, thought-provoking, funny, and engaging content.

It gives your brand multiple points of interaction with your audience in real-time.

The success of your social strategy is supported by having a well-executed plan.

Planning and scheduling your content in advance will make your content more effective and help you diversify your content.

Data drives the work; Use social media insights to your advantage to see what content works best with your audience.

Then, revise your strategy to get even better results, including more traffic and sales from your content.

More resources: 

Featured Image: 9dream studio/Shutterstock

Social Media Content Strategy: From Start To Finish via @sejournal, @JuliaEMcCoy

A social media content strategy is like a map and a guidebook rolled into one.

It’s an essential document that tells you how to get from point A to point B to ensure a return on investment (ROI) from social media.

It tells you where to post, what to post, and how often to post to meet your goals. It gives you direction, as well as a way to reach your destination.

Without a strategy, using social media to grow your business might be too random or scattered to work.

With a plan in hand, however, you’ll have a better shot at reaching the right people, with the right content, on the right platforms.

It matters because more people than ever before are congregating on social media — nearly 60% of the total global population.

In the U.S., 72% of people use social media, with the most popular platforms being Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

This means your audience is probably on at least one of these platforms – but you won’t connect with them, drive more traffic to your website, or increase sales without a solid social media content strategy.

What Is A Social Media Content Strategy?

A social media content strategy is a plan that contains all the ins and outs of how you’ll use content to grow your brand and reach your goals on social media platforms.

Ideally, your strategy will be documented so you can refer to it as you carry out the tasks associated with creating social media posts, publishing them, and tracking your results. If you have a team, your strategy document will also help keep everyone on the same page.

Remember: You can and should see direct brand growth from social media content marketing if you do it right – with a plan.

If, on the other hand, you post whatever, whenever, with no strategy, goals, or measurement, you’ll probably see little to no results.

How To Build Your Social Media Content Strategy In Seven Steps

1. Set Goals That Align With Your Brand

Every strategy should start with setting one or two goals for what you want that strategy to achieve.

Goal-setting hones your focus and guides your actions so you’re not wasting time on things that don’t matter.

For example, if one of your social media content marketing goals is to drive more traffic to your website, metrics such as likes and shares won’t matter that much to you. Instead, you’ll look at your click-through rates (CTRs) and website traffic from social media.

Here are some other common social media content marketing goals:

• Grow awareness of your brand: Track your followers, post shares/mentions, and post reach.
• Earn more leads: Measure email sign-ups, lead magnet downloads, and clicks that came from social media.
• Increase engagement with your brand: Pay attention to likes, comments, and shares per post. Track mentions and replies to your Stories.

Remember, don’t track everything – track what will help you meet your goals.

2. Research Your Audience And What Platforms They Use

If your brand already does content marketing, you understand how important it is to define your audience before you start creating content.

Audience research will guide what you post more than any other factor; Every post you create should engage them on some level.

To do that, you need to know what will engage them.

You can base that on what you know about them, such as their age, gender, income, job title or industry, etc., or you can find out directly from their mouths with methods like:

• Interviews (exchange emails or direct messages, or talk to them 1:1).
• Social listening.
• Surveys.

Audience research will also help you determine which platforms your brand should be using.

And, no, you shouldn’t be on all the platforms. Instead, choose one or two on which to focus the brunt of your efforts, and choose them based on the most common platforms your audience uses.

3. Optimize Your Social Media Profiles(s)

An unoptimized social profile will hurt the work you put into social media content marketing. An unprofessional, sloppy, or off-brand profile will not help visitors understand who you are or what you sell.

Instead, make sure your profiles are engaging, informative, and appropriately branded so you can help leads discover more about you.

• Use a branded profile picture: Keep it consistent across your profiles for a seamless look.
• Clarify your bio: Keep it short but sweet, and make sure you explain succinctly what you do for customers.
• Include the right links: Always include a link to your website, whether that’s a landing page or your home page.

It doesn’t have to be complicated. For example, Rifle Paper Co. is a hugely successful paper goods company with the simplest Instagram profile possible. It still checks all the boxes:

Screenshot from Instagram, November 2022

4. Choose Your Topic Areas And Post Types

Now it’s time to choose your topic areas of focus for your social media content as well as what types of content you’ll post to each channel.

The intersection of your brand expertise + customer interests should inform your topic areas. What subjects can you post about with authority and know-how? What topics does your audience want to hear about? Narrow it down so your social profiles are cohesive and relevant.

After that, narrow down what post types you’ll create.

Each social media platform offers an array of options, but your audience may expect to see certain types of content on specific platforms, e.g., lots of visual content on Instagram, or text-based posts and links on Twitter.

For example, Stumptown Coffee Roasters focuses mainly on posting visual product features on Instagram, while its Facebook page is dedicated to sharing events and featuring its many cafes across the U.S.

Screenshot from Instagram, November 2022

5. Set Up A Content Calendar And Publishing Schedule

Consistent publishing is one of the key tenets of a good social media content strategy.

Publishing regular, high-quality content increases your visibility and gives your audience more chances to engage with your posts. That’s why, to make consistency easier, you should maintain a social media content calendar and create a posting schedule.

Plan everything from what you’ll post to the day and time it will be posted. You can also plan out campaigns or when you’ll reshare old posts with the right tool, like MeetEdgar (my personal favorite).

Screenshot from MeetEdgar, November 2022

Don’t forget to schedule posts for the times when your audience will be online and scrolling through their feeds.

You can rely on studies and benchmarks to help you figure this out, or you can learn the best times to post for your audience through testing (and a bit of trial and error).

6. Create A Plan To Engage With Others

Don’t forget to factor in engagement when you plan your social media content strategy.

And no, I don’t mean your audience’s engagement – I mean your brand’s.

Social media isn’t a one-way street, but rather a continuous dialogue between you and your audience. Keep the conversation going by engaging with them and with your wider community.

If you add an engagement plan to your strategy, it will be easier to stay accountable. E.g., “Like and comment on two to three community posts per day.” You can even plan for spontaneity, like “Engage whenever you see an opportunity to connect.”

7. Keep Track Of Your Social Media Content Strategy Performance

Once you start creating and posting content according to your strategy, you can start tracking metrics.

Some important metrics include:

• Reach.
• Impressions.
• Engagement (including likes, comments, saves, shares, etc.)
• Follower growth.
• Brand awareness.
• Click-through rate (CTR).
• Brand sentiment.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Remember, you’re not tracking all the metrics, but rather just the ones that connect to your goals (which you established in step #1).

Not all of your content ideas will perform, but that’s the point of tracking: to find out what works and what doesn’t, so you can pivot accordingly.

Keep an open mind, be flexible, and don’t be afraid to try new ideas.

Most importantly, check in with your social media metrics regularly so you can get a clear picture of your performance over time.

A Social Media Content Strategy Keeps You Focused And Accountable

Social media can be an overwhelming place for brands without a plan.

You’re not a solo user having fun – you’re a business that needs to be able to justify the time you spend on social media content marketing.

That’s exactly why you should create a strategy.

You need a plan if you want to meet your goals and make good use of your time and resources.

With a plan, you’re much more likely to move the needle.

So, get out there and start strategizing – and plan on seeing results.

More resources: 

Featured Images: ronstik/Shutterstock