How to Create a Social Media Strategy for Your Small Business
Read Time 5 mins
Social media can be a great, low-cost marketing approach for smaller businesses, but only if you're giving it some proper thought. If you're just posting randomly or trying to copy what others are doing, you're not going to get very far. You need a clear, actionable social media strategy that aligns with your business goals.
Why You Need a Social Media Strategy
A social media strategy helps you:
- Stay consistent with your messaging and posting
- Reach the right audience with the right content
- Save time by planning ahead
- Measure what’s working (and what’s not)
- Turn followers into customers
Without a strategy, you’re just guessing. With one, you’re building a brand.
Step-by-Step Guide to Building Your Strategy
Step 1: Define Your Goals
Start with what you want to achieve. Your goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Examples:
- Grow Instagram followers by 20% in 3 months
- Drive 500 visits to your website from Facebook this month
- Increase engagement rate on LinkedIn posts by 10%
👉 Related: How to set SMART marketing goals
Step 2: Know Your Audience
Who is it you're trying to reach? If you've got a better understanding of your audience, you'll find it easier to create content that resonates with them.
Ask yourself:
- What are their interests and pain points?
- Which platforms do they use most?
- What kind of content do they engage with?
Utilise insights from your current followers, customer feedback, and tools such as Meta Audience Insights or Google Analytics.
Step 3: Choose the Right Platforms
You don’t need to be on every platform, just the ones where your audience are.
Platform tips:
- Instagram: Great for visual brands, lifestyle, food, and fashion
- Facebook: Good for local businesses, events, and community building
- LinkedIn: Ideal for B2B, professional services, and thought leadership
- TikTok: Best for short-form video and younger audiences
- Pinterest: Perfect for DIY, home, fashion, and planning content
Step 4: Plan Your Content
Creating a content plan can make it easier to figure out which posts will align best with your goals. It also gives you a wider view of your content, making it easier to add some variety to what you're posting.
Content types to mix in:
- Educational (how-tos, tips)
- Promotional (sales, product launches)
- Entertaining (memes, behind-the-scenes)
- Inspirational (quotes, success stories)
- User-generated content (testimonials, tagged posts)
Use a content calendar to plan ahead and maintain consistency.
👉 Related: What is content calendar and how to create one that works?
Step 5: Set a Posting Schedule
Consistency will always beat frequency. Choose a schedule you can stick to.
Example schedule:
- Instagram: 2–3 times/week
- Facebook: 2–3 times/week
- LinkedIn: 1–2 times/week
- Stories/Reels: Daily or as needed
Use scheduling tools like:
Step 6: Track and Adjust
Use analytics to measure performance and refine your strategy.
Metrics to track:
- Engagement rate (likes, comments, shares)
- Follower growth
- Website clicks
- Reach and impressions
Review your results monthly and adjust your content, timing, or platform focus as needed.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
❌ Posting content without a plan
❌ Ignoring your audience’s preferences
❌ Being on too many platforms
❌ Only posting promotional content
❌ Not tracking performance
If you just avoid these downfalls, you'll already be doing more than most other small businesses on socials.
Final Thoughts
A strong social media strategy that actually delivers results doesn't need to be over complicated, it just needs to be intentional. Set clear goals, learn what your audience likes, and plan content properly and you'll soon start to hit the mark.