If I Had to Build a Social Strategy From Scratch Tomorrow

Sep 8

If you had asked me earlier in my career how I would build a social media strategy from scratch, I probably would’ve started with a content calendar. I would have figured out all the platforms, chosen some content pillars, mapped out a schedule, and started brainstorming ideas.

Today, none of those things are inherently wrong. But today, I’d start somewhere different.

After nine years of working in social media, I’ve learned that the strategy isn’t really about figuring out what the brand should post. It’s about figuring out how the brand should show up.

If I had to start from zero tomorrow, here’s what I’d do…

I’d stalk the comments first.

Before I built a content calendar, I’d spend a ridiculous amount of time reading comments. Not just on the brand’s accounts… I’d look at competitors, creators in the space, viral posts, Reddit threads. I’d take note of the questions people are asking, what people are complaining about, and the jokes people make. I’d want to look at the language they use to talk about the problem the brand is trying to solve.

Your audience is already telling you what they want to talk about, you just have to listen to them. Sometimes the best content idea is not hiding in a brainstorming meeting, it’s sitting 47 comments deep under a random post.

And that’s why social listening/social intelligence is so important.

I’d figure out how the brand sounds when nobody is trying to sound “professional.”

This is a huge one. If you asked most brands what their personality or voice is, you’d get something like: “friendly, trustworthy, professional, approachable, innovative…”

Cool.

But what does that even sound like?

I want to know how the brand talks when nobody is trying to make it sound like a brand. What words would it use? What would it joke about? What would it never say? Would it use an exclamation point? Would it send a meme? Would it say “Hey” or “Hello”? Would it make the joke? Would it be slightly chaotic? Would it be dry? Would it be warm? Would it be weird?

“Professional” is not a personality. Some of the best social strategies happen when a brand stops trying to sound like a company and starts sounding like itself.

I’d leave room for the internet to happen.

I still love a content calendar, don’t get me wrong. I am a Virgo. I love to know what’s coming, I want to know what we’re working toward. I want to know that I’m not going to wake up on Thursday and realize we haven’t posted anything in six days.

But these days, I would never build a strategy so rigid that there isn’t room for something unexpected. The internet is going to happen whether your content calendar accounts for it or not.

I want a strategy that gives enough structure to know where we’re going and enough flexibility to change course.

Maybe ~70% of the content is planned. The rest? Let’s just see what happens.

I’d decide what success looks like before I hit send.

This sounds so obvious. Yet, I think it’s still one of the easiest things to forget.

Before publishing, I want to know: what are we trying to accomplish?

Are we trying to reach new people?
Start a conversation?
Educate?
Build trust?
Drive traffic?
Generate leads?
Sell something?
Make people laugh?
Strengthen our relationship with existing customers?

Sometimes the answer is just “we want people to have a positive association with the brand.” That’s a valid goal.

But if you don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish before you post, it’s very easy to look at the post after and decide whether it was “good” or not based entirely on likes or views.

And likes are not a strategy! A post can be successful without going viral. A post can fail despite having huge reach. The metric should make sense for the job the content was supposed to do.

I’d kill ideas faster.

This one is my favorite. I used to think consistency meant sticking with something long enough for it to work. And sometimes it does. But sometimes it doesn’t.

There’s a difference between giving an idea a fair shot and keeping a bad idea alive because it’s already on the calendar and you’ve already put in the work.

If a recurring series isn’t working, I don’t want to keep producing it indefinitely just because we decided three months ago that it was going to be a “thing.” If the audience isn’t responding, look at why.

Maybe you change it. Maybe you evolve it. Maybe you try it on a different platform. Or maybe you just… stop doing it.

Every piece of content takes resources. And time. And energy. And creative attention.

If you’re spending all of those resources keeping underperforming ideas alive, you’re leaving less room for the ideas that actually have potential.

I’d rather do less of something that’s not working so I can do more of something that is.

And I’d remember that strategy isn’t the calendar.

This is the biggest thing I do differently, I think.

Earlier in my career, I thought a social strategy was a very detailed answer to, “What are we going to post?”

Now, the much bigger question we have to answer in our strategies is “How are we going to show up?”

Who do we want to be known for?

Who are we talking to?

What do they care about?

How do we sound?

What conversations do we want to participate in?

What do we want people to feel when they interact with us?

What are we trying to accomplish?

How do we know if it’s working?

And what are we willing to change when it isn’t?

The content calendar is not the bible. It’s just one expression of those decisions — it’s the output. The strategy is the framework underneath it.

That’s why two brands can post the same number of times each week, use the same platforms, follow the same trends, and still have completely different results.

They’re not just executing different content. They’re operating from different strategies.

If I had to build a social strategy from scratch tomorrow, I’d still make a calendar. I would still create content pillars. I would still think about platforms and formats and trends and all the other things that go into being a social media manager.

I just wouldn’t start there.

I’d start with the people. I would listen before I planned. I’d figure out the personality before I polished the voice. I’d leave room for the unexpected. I’d define success before I measured it. And I’d be much quicker to let go of things that aren’t working.

A social media strategy isn’t a list of things for your brand to post. It is not a checklist.

It’s a framework for how your brand plans to show up.

The longer I work in social media, the more I realize that’s where the real strategy lies.

This post was originally published on my Substack, If I’m Being Honest.

Kaylee Muchow