When starting from scratch, the tasks needed to create enough social media content to sustain you can seem insurmountable, especially when marketing budgets are being slashed and we are all expected to do more with less.
So what do you do when you have all the tasks to do and they’re all vital? You start with what will make the most impact and go for there. But what does that mean?
Get your website in order
Look, I want to tell you that your first duty has something to do with social media, but if you don’t have any content, that probably means your website needs some attention. Start with that first before anything else. Get content up there and make it a priority to keep adding fresh content regularly. That doesn’t mean daily. It doesn’t even have to mean weekly. If all you can do is monthly, that’s great.
But if you simply can’t do this regularly for your website, then maybe it isn’t the right time to be creating content for social media.
Look at influencers in your space
If you just need to create at a breakneck speed, then you are going to need partners, and it’s even better if these partners give you some credibility in your space. If you have a small budget for this kind of work, ignore the bigger influencers and go straight to the smaller ones. And to be honest, I would head straight to the smaller influencers anyway. People tend to trust them more and that means any work you do with them will tend to be more effective due to that trust.
But I wouldn’t just look at influencers for the partnerships you can create. I would also look at the types of content they are creating to see what holes there are and decide what your business can create to fill those holes. You will stand out more if you are creating something different than what is already there and that will once again make your content more effective.
Look at your competitors
And while you’re doing that with influencers, do the same with your competitors.
Something I’ve heard time and time again, especially in the nonprofit space is that they don’t have competitors. If you’re creating content in the social media world, I hate to tell you this (okay, I don’t), but you have competitors. You may be partners in the real world, but there is just so much bandwidth fans have. If you are going after the same audience, they are your competitor.
So don’t limit yourself to just the organizations you are competing against in the real world. Take a look at the content that is targeting your audience. See what is hitting with them and see where the holes are. That will help guide you to where you need to go next.
Do some keyword research
People seem to think this is only for websites and blogs, but it very much is not.
Keyword research can give you the questions your audience is asking a search engine and can help you get a little look into their brains. It’s honestly an amazing tool for getting ideas for responsive content, and it always shows me something I hadn’t considered.
You don’t have to go full out on keyword research. I use AnswerThePublic to give me the questions people ask about specific keywords I have targeted and it’s usually enough to give me months of content ideas. (And I would be remiss if I didn’t once again say that I miss the old guy who used to be on their website and would judge me as I typed in my searches. I need more judgment like that in my life.)
Create a plan
It’s been amazing me lately how many organizations skip this step and go straight to trying to create. Get a plan and write it down. Relying on your memory is going to make you drift off from your goals because you forgot about all the ideas you came up with as you were doing your research. In a world where things are constantly moving, your brain is going to fail you and having something static written down will remind you of your why. Plus it’s one less thing to tax your brain with as you are fully in the execution stage.
Plans are you friend. They can be changed and they also can be leaned on when you are feeling less than motivated. Please please please create a plan. Going by the seat of your pants constantly will burn you eventually, and no one wants that.
There are many more things you can do, but this will get you started towards where you need to go. Just remember that it doesn’t have to be perfect and make room for lots of experiments. When you inevitably fail (because we all do), adjust and get going again. Eventually you will find the right mix for your audience and area of expertise, and it won’t feel nearly as hard as it does when you’re first starting. Just keep going.