Lessons We Learned From Implementing a New Social Media Strategy

If you follow Plank on social media, you may have noticed a few changes recently. In 2023, it was one of our goals to revitalize our social media presence and implement a new strategy that better represents Plank. We wanted to showcase our work, our culture, and our brand in cohesive and relevant ways that resonate with our audience.

In experimenting with a new social media strategy, there is a lot of trial and error. As a result, here are some of the most important lessons we learned from our experience of implementing a new social media strategy.

Branding should be high-quality and consistent

Take a quick look at your business feeds on social media. Is your organization’s logo up-to-date? Have you designed a header that adheres to the specific guidelines of each platform or have you stretched and cropped a default banner to fit each space? Is there a consistent and intentional flow to your content? These are all important questions to ask yourself when considering if your profile is truly representing the best version of your organization.

Earlier this year, Plank proudly launched our website redesign and brand refresh. While our primary focus was on updating our website, we made sure to carry these changes to our branding over to our social media channels. This included updating our display photos and headers across all platforms, as well as implementing our brand guidelines to any new content. This maintains a professional and consistent feed that is both visually appealing and easily recognizable to our current and future clients and partners.

Focus on the right platform for your audience

With tons of social media platforms out there, it’s hard not to feel pressured to post content and perform well on every platform. There is a lot of conflicting information out there about the advantages and disadvantages of each platform. This leads many organizations to feel the need to consistently show up on every social media site in order to stay relevant in their industry. Although this may be true for much larger companies, it can actually be more beneficial for small-to-medium organizations to focus on only a couple platforms. It all comes down to determining where your primary audience exists in the online space.

That’s not to say that you can’t post on multiple platforms! However, focusing your strategy on creating curated content for a specific audience on one or two platforms can be more effective than posting generalized content everywhere. For example, Plank’s audience is primarily active on Instagram and LinkedIn. This is where we receive the most engagement and can provide the most compelling and useful content. So don’t panic when the next « big thing » comes out and you feel like you need to rework your entire strategy around it.

Employee engagement is an asset

It’s been said that word of mouth is one of the best forms of marketing. Did you know that the same can be true within the digital space? Social media content shared by employees, also known as « employee advocacy, » is known to be a major asset to your brand’s marketing strategy. In fact, according to Sprout Social, 87% of a sample group of Millennials reported an increase in brand awareness and trust when employees posted about their organization.

There are a few ways in which you can implement this technique into your social media strategy, primarily through adopting either an informal or formal program. This can range from simple steps to a more complex and repeatable action plan that incentivizes your team to play a purposeful role in your marketing strategy. Something as minimal as encouraging team members to share a LinkedIn post to their own feeds can be a big boost in your engagement rates!

Create valuable and relevant content

It may go without saying, but creating content that is both valuable and relevant to your audience makes the biggest impact on the efficacy of your strategy. Listen, we love a good social media trend as much as the next person. They are quick, adaptable, and accessible. While the right trend might help you land your content on the right feed, they can also weigh down your content. It’s important to ask yourself if the content you are creating is aligned with your overall strategy, audience, and goals.

Assessing what you can provide to your audience through social media is vital. Maybe you have industry-specific knowledge that you can share with your network. Perhaps, like Plank, you want to share the work you are proud of with your followers. There are endless possibilities, and different platforms and content types make the process of content creation more seamless. But don’t forget to have fun with it, too! Social media provides a great opportunity to form a personal connection with your audience by showcasing your organization’s individual spirit and personality.

Overall, it is impossible to argue that social media is an integral part of any organization’s marketing strategy these days. While it may be daunting, creating an effective social media strategy is definitely feasible and can provide great value to your organization.

To keep up with Plank, make sure to follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn!