How to Write a Winning Social Media Strategy in 10 Easy Steps

Social media is no longer an optional digital marketing tool—it's a critical driver of business success in today's digital landscape.

Whether you're a small business or a global enterprise, crafting a well-thought-out social media strategy is essential to standing out in a crowded market. But with evolving trends, shifting algorithms, and new features constantly emerging, how do you build a strategy that works now and continues to deliver results in the future?

This comprehensive guide not only walks you through the basics of creating an effective social media strategy but also includes actionable advice tailored to 2025 trends and an example of a social media marketing strategy.

Whether you're a beginner managing social media for the first time or a seasoned professional looking to refine your approach, this step-by-step guide is designed to help you stay ahead.

From identifying your goals and target audience to embracing the latest AI-driven content personalisation, you'll find everything you need to succeed in a competitive social media management landscape.

What is a social media strategy?
What is in a social media strategy?
How to create a strategy for social media
What is the 50/30/20 rule for social media?
Best practices for a winning social media strategy
How to create a 2025 social media marketing strategy
Example of a 2025 social media strategy for a multi-location beauty business
Use Sendible to optimise your social media strategy

What is a social media strategy?

A social media strategy is a comprehensive plan that outlines how your business will use social media platforms to achieve its marketing and business goals.

It encompasses the content you share and the methods, tools, and metrics you’ll use to engage your audience, promote your brand, and measure success.

Unlike a social media content strategy that focuses solely on content creation and curation, a social media strategy provides the overarching framework for all your activities on social media platforms.

A social media strategy ensures that your efforts are targeted and effective rather than scattershot by defining clear objectives, understanding your audience, and implementing actionable steps.

Ultimately, a social media marketing strategy is a roadmap for building relationships, driving traffic, and achieving business outcomes.

Why is a social media strategy important?

A well-crafted social media strategy enables businesses to:

Streamline efforts: Eliminate the guesswork by focusing on targeted activities.
Improve ROI: Align social media efforts with broader business goals to see measurable results.
Build brand trust: Consistent messaging and engagement foster stronger relationships with your audience.
Adapt to trends: Regular strategy reviews help you stay relevant and competitive.

What is in a social media strategy?

A well-rounded social media strategy includes several key sections. Below is a template you can copy and paste to build your own:

1. Executive Summary

Brief overview of the strategy’s purpose.
Key objectives and expected outcomes.

2. Goals and Objectives

Outline specific, measurable, and time-bound goals (e.g., increase brand awareness by 20% in six months).
Tie goals to business outcomes (e.g., lead generation, sales growth).

3. Target Audience

Define audience personas, including demographics, preferences, and challenges.
Highlight their social media habits (platforms, content preferences, active times).

4. Competitive Analysis

Research competitors’ social media activities.
Identify opportunities and gaps.

5. Platform Selection

Specify which platforms you’ll focus on (e.g., Instagram for visuals, LinkedIn for B2B networking).
Justify platform choices based on audience and goals.

6. Content Strategy

Detail the types of content you’ll create (educational, entertaining, promotional).
Apply the 50/30/20 rule to balance content types.

7. Content Calendar

Include a schedule with posting frequency, key dates, and campaign timelines.

8. Engagement Plan

Define how you will interact with your audience (e.g., responding to comments, managing DMs).
Assign responsibilities (e.g., social media manager, community manager, sales team).

9. Tools and Resources

List tools for content creation (e.g., Canva), scheduling (e.g., Sendible), and analytics.
Include team roles and responsibilities.

10. Analytics and Measurement

Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) such as engagement rate, CTR, and ROI.
Set benchmarks and reporting frequency.

11. Budget

Allocate funds for ads, tools, and team resources.

12. Review and Adjustments

Set a timeline for reviewing performance and making adjustments.

Optional Sections

Crisis Management Plan: Outline steps to handle negative feedback or PR issues.
Influencer Collaboration: Detail criteria for selecting influencers and tracking their impact.

How to create a strategy for social media

Creating an effective social media strategy requires a detailed, step-by-step approach. Here’s a beginner-friendly guide:

1. Define your goals

Social Media KPIs Unplugged. Your journey to measurable success starts here.

Start by understanding why you’re using social media in the first place. Goals should tie directly to your business objectives. Some common examples include:

Brand Awareness: Increase visibility and reach. For instance, growing your follower count by 20% in six months.
Engagement: Foster relationships with your audience. Set targets like achieving a 5% engagement rate.
Lead Generation: Capture potential customers. Aim for a specific number of leads generated from social media monthly.
Sales: Drive traffic to your website or e-commerce platform to increase conversions.

How to achieve it: Write your goals and break them into actionable steps. For instance, to increase website visits, you might run campaigns with clear CTAs like “Learn More” or “Shop Now.” Ensure your goals follow the SMART framework—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

2. Understand your target audience

Your target audience is the cornerstone of your strategy. Begin by researching:

Demographics: Who are they? Look at their age, gender, location, and language.
Psychographics: What are their interests, values, and pain points?
Behaviour: Which platforms do they use? When are they most active? What type of content do they prefer?

How to achieve it: Use tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, and Instagram’s Professional Dashboard to gather data. You can also create audience personas.

Here’s a simple format:

Name: Sarah, The Marketing Manager
Age: 35
Goals: Wants to stay ahead in marketing trends.
Platforms Used: LinkedIn, Instagram
Preferred Content: Industry reports, short videos, and visual posts.

Understanding your target audience ensures you’re creating content that resonates with them and meets their needs.

3. Perform a competitive analysis

Studying your competitors will give you insights into what works and what doesn’t. Look at:

Content types: What formats (videos, carousels, stories) are they using?
Engagement: Which posts have the most likes, shares, or comments?
Audience interaction: How are they engaging with their followers? Are there missed opportunities?

How to achieve it: Use tools like BuzzSumo or SEMrush to analyse competitor performance. Create a simple spreadsheet with columns like “Content Type,” “Likes,” “Shares,” and “Opportunities.”

4. Choose the right social media platforms

Don’t spread yourself too thin by trying to be everywhere. Focus on platforms where your audience is most active:

LinkedIn: Great for B2B businesses and thought leadership.
Instagram: Perfect for visual brands and engaging younger audiences.
TikTok: Ideal for short, creative video content.

How to achieve it: Match your content type to the platform. For instance, post polished videos and infographics on LinkedIn, but opt for behind-the-scenes clips on Instagram or TikTok. Analyse platform demographics to align your choice with your audience.

5. Develop a content plan

Your social media content plan outlines the types of posts you’ll create to keep your audience engaged and aligned with your goals. For example:

Educational content: Tutorials, industry insights, and how-tos.
Entertaining content: Memes, quizzes, and challenges.
Promotional content: Product launches, case studies, and testimonials.

How to achieve it: Use the 50/30/20 rule to balance value-driven, curated, and promotional content. For instance, a week’s posts could include two blog tips, one curated article, and one product promo. The best way to do this is to bucket your social media content in content pillars.

6. Build a content calendar

A social media content calendar helps you organise and schedule posts in advance. It ensures consistency and reduces last-minute stress.

How to achieve it:

Use tools like Sendible, Trello, or Google Sheets.
Create columns for “Date,” “Platform,” “Post Type,” “Caption,” and “Asset.”
Incorporate key dates like holidays, product launches, or campaigns.

For example, a restaurant might schedule Instagram Stories showing “behind-the-scenes” prep work leading up to a new menu launch.

7. Optimise posts for conversions and search

Industry-specific spark for social media #success. Ignite your social media presence and reach your target audience with the right hashtags.

Tailor each post to the platform. For instance:

Use hashtags on Instagram and TikTok to improve discoverability.
Add a strong CTA like “Comment below” or “Swipe up.”
Use high-quality visuals—Canva is great for creating graphics without needing design skills.

How to achieve it: Research trending hashtags with tools like Hashtagify. Experiment with different formats (polls, carousel posts, short videos) to see what resonates best with your audience. Then, use a tool like Sendible to save groups of hashtags to our Content Library, create UTM templates to optimise links for tracking, add pre-saved information with Custom Tags to ensure all posts communicate the right things.

8. Create a community management plan

Community manager's social media checklist. Built to help you master your daily, monthly, quarterly, and yearly tasks.

Social media is a two-way street. Engagement is about interacting with your followers to build trust and loyalty. This includes responding to comments, answering questions, and sharing user-generated content (UGC).

How to achieve it:

Respond to comments and DMs within 24 hours.
Use Sendible’s message assignment feature to delegate queries to the appropriate team member.
Create a list of FAQs and canned responses for efficiency, but always personalise them.

9. Include a social media video marketing plan

Video is one of the most engaging formats on social media. Start small and build up:

Repurpose content: Turn a blog post into a short video.
Use free tools like InShot or CapCut for editing.
Focus on authenticity: Smartphone videos work great for behind-the-scenes or quick updates.

How to achieve it: Post a mix of short-form videos (Reels, TikToks) and longer videos (YouTube tutorials). Track which format drives the most engagement. If you're struggling with resources, you can rely on premade templates and memes, as they're all the rage at the moment because of their relatability.

10. Measure and improve

Analytics-engagement-reports-short

Analysing your performance helps you understand what’s working and where to pivot. Key metrics include:

Engagement Rate: Likes, comments, and shares as a percentage of followers.
Click-Through Rate: How many people clicked your link.
Conversion Rate: How many followers took a desired action, like signing up for a newsletter.

How to achieve it:

Use tools like Sendible’s reporting features to track metrics.
Regularly review your data (weekly or monthly).
Experiment with new strategies and A/B testing to improve results.

What is the 50/30/20 rule for social media?

The 50/30/20 rule is a simple formula to balance content types:

50% Value-Driven Content: Focus on educating or entertaining your audience.
30% Curated Content: Share third-party articles, videos, or infographics.
20% Promotional Content: Highlight products, offers, or testimonials.

Best practices for a winning social media strategy

1. Be consistent

content-library-management-system-short

Consistency is key to maintaining audience trust and recognition. Whether it’s your tone, visual branding, or posting schedule, you need to deliver a cohesive experience across all platforms.

How to achieve it:

Use tools like Sendible to schedule posts and maintain a steady posting rhythm.
Integrate with Canva to create branded templates for images and videos.
Save content ideas and drafts in Sendible’s Content Library, or clip articles and visuals while browsing with the Chrome extension.
Develop a style guide covering your brand’s voice, colour palette, and messaging.

2. Prioritise quality over quantity

Posting too often with mediocre content can dilute your message and disengage your audience. Instead, focus on crafting valuable and engaging posts tailored to your industry and audience.

How to achieve it:

Identify your audience’s preferences and create content that resonates. For instance:
- A nonprofit might share powerful storytelling content to connect emotionally.
- An e-commerce brand could focus on high-quality product images and customer reviews.
Tailor content to your industry (e.g., technology companies might share educational articles or whitepapers).
Test content types to see what performs best and double down on successful formats.

3. Leverage video content

Short-form video creation checklist. Use our free checklist to ensure you have everything covered when recording engaging videos.

Videos are among the most effective ways to grab attention and boost engagement. However, creating video content can feel daunting, especially if you’re managing social media alone.

How to achieve it:

Start small with quick wins:
- Repurpose existing webinars or interviews by editing them into short clips.
- Create tutorials or product demonstrations using your smartphone.
- Cut longer videos into bite-sized clips for Instagram Reels or TikTok.
Experiment with free tools like InShot or CapCut for editing and Canva for animated posts.
Plan a mix of professional-looking and authentic, behind-the-scenes videos.

4. Optimise for social SEO

Social media platforms increasingly function as search engines, making hashtags and keywords critical to discoverability. Hashtags also group your content into relevant conversations and help target specific audiences.

How to achieve it:

Use tools like Hashtagify or RiteTag to find trending and niche hashtags in your industry.
Combine broad hashtags (#Marketing) with more specific ones (#SocialMediaTips).
Incorporate keywords into your captions, alt text for images, and video descriptions to increase visibility.
Regularly update your hashtag strategy based on trends and analytics.

5. Engage effectively

Assign conversation to the right team member. You can assign messages to team members directly from the Priority Inbox, ensuring prompt and best responses to audience interactions.

Engagement is more than responding to comments—it’s about building relationships. The way you engage with your audience can directly impact brand perception and loyalty.

How to achieve it:

Respond to comments and messages promptly, aiming for a response time under 24 hours.
Use Sendible’s message assignment feature to route inquiries to the right team members (e.g., sales, customer success, or technical support).
Personalize your responses while staying consistent with your brand voice.
Actively seek out conversations by commenting on posts in your niche or participating in relevant group discussions.

6. Experiment with interactive content

Interactive social media content is a proven way to boost engagement and keep your audience invested in your brand. Polls, quizzes, and Q&A sessions encourage participation and make your audience feel valued.

How to achieve it:

Create Instagram Stories with polls, quizzes, or sliding scales.
Host live Q&A sessions to address audience questions in real-time.
Use tools like Typeform or SurveyMonkey to create engaging quizzes.
Gamify participation by offering rewards, such as discounts or shoutouts, for active involvement.

How to create a 2025 social media marketing strategy

To future-proof your social media efforts and align with 2025 trends, consider incorporating these key elements into your strategy:

1. Embrace AI and automation

Optimise social media workflows with your personal AI Assist. AI Assist acts as your virtual sidekick. Use it to generate content ideas and captions for each social media channel in seconds and optimise your existing content.

AI-driven tools will continue to shape how we create and manage social media content. Use AI for:

Content Generation: Tools like ChatGPT can help craft engaging captions and posts.
Analytics: Platforms like Sendible analyze performance trends to inform data-driven decisions.
Chatbots: Enhance customer support with AI-powered bots that respond to FAQs instantly.

2. Focus on social commerce

Social media platforms are becoming major e-commerce channels. To stay competitive:

Enable Instagram and Facebook Shops.
Leverage TikTok’s Shop feature to highlight trending products.
Use product tagging in posts to create seamless shopping experiences.

3. Prioritise short-form video content

Short-form videos will continue to dominate in 2025, thanks to platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Strategies include:

Posting 15-60 second clips with clear messaging.
Using trending audio and effects to boost visibility.
Repurposing content across multiple platforms for efficiency.

4. Highlight sustainability and social responsibility

Consumers are increasingly drawn to brands that demonstrate social impact. Showcase your initiatives by:

Sharing behind-the-scenes efforts like eco-friendly packaging.
Highlighting partnerships with charitable organizations.
Encouraging user-generated content (UGC) that aligns with these values.

5. Invest in niche communities

Instead of aiming for a broad reach, focus on building tight-knit communities. Steps include:

Creating private Facebook Groups or LinkedIn Communities.
Engaging with micro-influencers who align with your brand.
Hosting live events tailored to specific audience segments.

6. Leverage AR and immersive experiences

Augmented reality (AR) will play a bigger role in enhancing customer experiences. Implement AR by:

Using filters and lenses on Instagram and Snapchat.
Offering virtual try-ons for products like clothing or makeup.
Creating immersive storytelling campaigns with 360-degree videos.