HANDBOOK.

How to Create a
Social Content
Strategy for Your
Business.
 Table of Contents

Benefits of Creating a Strategy 4

Purpose of Your Content 6
Written Tone of Voice 7
Visual Tone of Voice 8
Curated vs In-house Content 9
Promoting Content 12
Organizing Your Team 13
Tracking Performance 17
Summary 19

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According to recent research from the
Content Marketing Institute,

56% of content marketers struggle with producing engaging

content, and 50% struggle to measure its effectiveness.
One of the ways you can mitigate this challenge is by creating
a strategy for your team, with a series of carefully planned out
content efforts to ensure that you reach your objectives for
social.
When content is created on an ad-hoc basis, you risk
communicating content thats off-brand, or off target for your
long-term objectives.
Planned content promotes regular posting, and allows for
a consistent workflow to maintain the quality of the content
that you create. Most people working in social media have
busy schedules, and benefit from routines and established
workflows; great content flourishes from this consistency.

I hope this handbook supports you in planning your own social

content strategy.

Jillian Falconi, VP of Marketing, Falcon.io

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Benefits of Creating a Strategy
Planning a social content strategy guarantees a consistent brand voice across social channels.
Determining your strategy will allow you to benchmark,
make progress and uncover any pitfalls.

Other benefits include:

Optimize time spent Post content regularly

Increase the amount

Ensure on-brand
of interactions and
communication & content consumptions

Keep daily execution in

Track performance and
line with your objectives
improve content
for social media

Build a narrative around

your brand

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GET STARTED:

Define Your Brand Story

Start by defining the overarching story surrounding your brand.

O
ften, inspiration can be taken from the mission After defining a mission, you can determine what type
defined in your business plan and/or social of content supports your narrative. Next, determine 4-5
media strategy. Whats at the heart of your themes to serve as the pillars of your content. These
brand, and how are you trying to make a difference? For themes will guide your content creation and form your
example, motivation, animals, food, inspiration, etc. content calendar.
For Nike, their mission is To bring inspiration and Looking at Nikes content, a few of their themes could
innovation to every athlete. This statement acts as a be defined as You vs. You, Across the Globe, and
guiding rule for all their activity, including the content Play Anywhere.
they distribute on social media.

Nike crafts a powerful on brand story that combines striking images and
motivational copy. Note how all themes support the overall mission.

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 Good content always has an
objective, it is created
with intent.
Ann Handley

Purpose of Your Content

Content, advertising, community management and internal
alignment are all necessary to achieve social goals.

C
raft content with your goals in mind. If you want to increase awareness and
engagement, create shareable content that amplifies your message.
When creating content, focus on what action you want a user to take. Do you want
a user to download your white paper? Use the call to action Download our White Paper
Here! Dont expect a user to interact with your content how you intended, spell it out.
It can be that easy!

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 Examples of content purposes:

Reach - typically, these are Conversion - whether it be

messages designed for paid converting to fan/follower, event
distribution sign ups, offer and promo code
Engagement - actions like claims, or newsletter sign ups
comments, likes, shares, retweets, Traffic to website, App Store and/
repins, favorites etc. Google Play
Consumption - photo views, Awareness - For example, a
video plays, Twitters detail product release or corporate
expands, Facebooks other post campaign
clicks
Insight - for instance, product
feedback or asking your users
which kind of content they would
like to see from you

Written Tone of Voice

Attention on social media isnt a given.

E
stablish a unique and identifiable presence that fine dining, but the quality everyday meal that you enjoy
grabs the attention of your target audience. with family and friends....
Tone of voice is a crucial. You need to define the Write a list of rules to guide your content creation.
guidelines for how you communicate on social media. To These are typically a mix of general best practices and
get you started, here are a few tips. company-specific issues. For instance, we communicate
Think about the values and brand image you want to in short and simple sentences, we dont use slang or
project. Which type of language supports that image? jargon, we dont use these particular words when talking
Write down a short description of how your brand about our products.
communicates. This could be an example: our brand Provide examples of dos and donts for all content
provides down-to-earth expertise and accessible themes and all rules of thumb.
inspiration on cooking and food. Our brand is not about

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Visual Tone of Voice
In our work, we often find that tone of voice is taken to mean verbal tone of voice.
But, visual tone is more important than voice because most social networks and
our brains focus on visual content.

Think of the brand image that With a written tone of voice, of your imagery. Social media is a
you want to cultivate on social. its also important to provide fragmented narrative, so you need
Which values or attributes do examples of dos and donts for a clear profile to stand out.
you want to project? Quality, all content themes (more about
User-generated content often
Scandinavian design, retro feel? content themes later).
wont meet the standards
Then create visual imagery
Speak the language of the youve defined. If you curate
associated with these qualities.
platform. On social, it is important content and post it on your
For example, if youre a packaged
to be authentic and human, page, determine what you are
food product and want to project
so be cautious with the use of OK with, and what doesnt meet
freshness and quality, create
commercially loaded material standards and shouldnt be widely
images featuring your product
like stock imagery (polished distributed (note: this doesnt
next to fresh ingredients.
photo studio feel) or Point Of mean you should remove pictures
Use the design manual of your Sale material -- it usually doesnt that users upload to your page or
company to pin down details translate well. Focus on real profile. It refers only to whether
surrounding the use of fonts/ people and situations, and you should repost it or not). Make
weights, logo and color palette authentic photos. sure to provide appropriate credit
(use RGB codes, so everybody to the creator.
Keep your visual tone of voice
gets it right). Specify how to use
consistent. Dont let your
these aspects on social.
workload compromise the quality

Falcons Content Pool helps you streamline your tone of voice. The Content Pool enables
you to upload stock content for future usage and to keep track of content posted in various
Top Tip
geographic markets or on various pages. Basically, its assets management for your social
presence. It acts as an archive for previous content, and stock hub for future content. As a
bonus, you can also see which posts performed best on a given period and even repurpose that
content with a simple click.

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Curated vs In-house Content
Content planning: Time to Listen to Your Audience

W
e know that finding new and relevant to an event or chatting about specific recent news? This
content is one of the key challenges for can manifest in a great opportunity for you to create
content marketers in 2016, but you dont topical content that is highly relevant to your fans, and
have time to sit in long content brainstorming sessions that has the advantage of already established popularity.
every week; you need a way to refresh your content on a
daily basis in five minutes. Listening allows you to:
A good listening tool can help here. By effectively
Tap into conversations and hear the discussion
tapping into core keywords and hashtags through a
around key issues for your brand
listening tool you can curate the best content in real-time
based on what your audience has already shown interest Conduct market research
in, and you can create or refresh content around themes
that have recently grown in popularity. But dont stop Discover influencers and unknown sites for relevant
here. Go a step forward and try to match this data with conversations
other popular topics within your audience. Lets say you
Identify popular trends for content themes in real-time
are monitoring the people that are talking about your
brand, but what if the same audience is looking forward Discover user-generated content

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Content Calendar

Planning ahead is crucial for two masters, taking into account provide a constant stream of
being successful on social media. the subjects that interest your valuable content to your brand
Those responsible for social customers and the content your fans.
media are often short on time team is willing and able to deliver. If you work in a tool like
and wear many hats. To ensure The calendar is a shared Falcon, you can create your
a steady and consistent flow resource that gives everyone content calendar there and use
of quality content across social involved in content production that tool as a place to collaborate
networks, you need to create a and marketing an at-a-glance on planning. This makes it easy to
content calendar. timetable of how (and when!) work with your team on content
At the most basic level, your content is to be produced and and to hone content over time
social media content calendar is distributed. (edit and adjust). You can create
a plan that maps out deadlines By making every date and drafts, send them for approval or
and important dates relevant to deliverable available for scrutiny, proofreading by a team member
your business and its customers. it becomes much easier to keep and once theyre finished,
Your calendar needs to serve production on schedule and to schedule them for posting.

A content calendar can consist of the following:

Creative: Image, text, link, video Content theme

Date and time of posting Tags or labels to filter and track performance

Purpose of content Planned campaigns and promotional activities

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When working with content, try mapping out the year in
content: think campaign-level first, then post-level. What
are the major campaigns that you are planning to put Mapping out the year in
out throughout the year? Next step is to consider what content can be a good way to
content best reflects your message - do you already illustrate the need for extra Top Tip
have that content or will there be a need to produce resources to management or
it? Estimate how many pieces of content would be other parts of the organization.
necessary to bring most awareness and interest to your If youre supposed to post four
campaign, then create a plan for your posts. Remember times per week per channel,
to think outside of the box and repurpose your content in you need to have a proper plan
various shapes and formats, to fit the audience on each for where that content will come from.
channel. Most companies underestimate the time and
resources necessary to keep up a steady flow of content
throughout the year, so think about what youre able to
do and your dry spells throughout the year - what do you networks. Also, what your audience finds irresistible
do then? today might become irrelevant in a matter of months, so
By using Falcons Campaign Planner you can ensure your content strategy should be quick to adapt.
a consistent brand experience across channels. In the Here is where a unified social media platform
campaign brief associated, you can include descriptions can prove to be invaluable. With a highly-accurate
of the specific campaigns, add dedicated teams, create listening tool, one can constantly monitor for the latest
image stock with specific design and graphics, and use developments in the industry and the relevant business
labels for better tracking of campaign performance and areas. You should also constantly keep an eye on how
benchmarking with similar past efforts. your audience evolves over time, how it interacts with
Planning your content in advance will also free up your brand, and if there is a change in sentiment or
your time to react to unexpected, real-time events. Social engagement. Bring this data into your strategy planning,
media is an ever-evolving environment so your content then adapt your posts and content calendar to it.
calendar should always allow for flexibility and quick
changes, to keep up with new developments in social

Curated content

You cant plan ahead to the same extent when working with curated content, it requires more ad hoc work. But if youve
covered your creative and commercial content in advance, you have more time to spend sourcing content. Remember
your content themes and overall narrative when sourcing content. All content must fit into a content theme and support
the overarching narrative, or its a no-go. Tone of voice is also important, but less so than your own content because its
obvious that the original creator is someone else.

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Promoting Content
In recent years, promoted posts and social ads have overtaken print and offline
tactics as the methods most used by B2C marketers.

S
ocial marketing has transitioned from organic reach to focus on engaging audiences with the right message.
Social media managers and buyers now work together to create optimized and engaging content.
Ogilvy research shows that organic reach dropped from 16% to 6% between 2012 and 2014. Organic social
marketing still has its place, but its only with paid advertising that brands can ensure the right content goes out to the
right audience at the most effective time.
Dont tie yourself to advertising on one channel. While Facebook remains the top marketing channel currently,
Instagram continues to gain momentum. Experiment promoting content on various social channels and gauge your
audiences response. Select content to promote that will be helpful to your audience.

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 Organizing Your Team
Creating good content requires streamlining your
company to prepare for the pace and nature of social
media communication.

Social media is one of the fastest forms of communication and transcends departments. For this reason, social media
cannot be the sole responsibility of one department; all parts of the organization must carry a part of the load.

Create a basic internal structure for social media success:

Define roles within your Within each department, Set up back up contacts for
organization. Know who is appoint contact people to illness, time off, and time
responsible for producing expedite social media requests zone differences, and clearly
content, publishing posts, and problems. communicate the designated
approving content, and who parties.
serves as first responders in
a crisis.

The reasons for setting up this basic structure are straightforward:

1. Facilitating a fast 2. Source content 3. Communicate that

response social media success
Social media runs on
is a company-wide
Social shouldnt be siloed storytelling,
achievement
in Marketing. Consider and the most telling content
collaborating with key people are usually those small, If the companys social
in different departments captured moments that show presence is not universally and
around the company, that can your companys human side continually communicated as
help provide more specialized and personal success stories. valuable, your organization,
knowledge. The results of They may not reach the especially those furthest from
this flow can lead to faster Marketing, PR, or Social Media your marketing teams, may be
response times, increase in the departments, or headquarters. slow to support or contribute
quality of answers, and, most These are customer-facing to your efforts. Send the
importantly higher customer roles such as store personnel, message that an open and
satisfaction. technicians, and other people healthy company presence
in the trenches -- your is useful and appreciated, by
ambassadors. having a process for capturing
staff information.

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Nurture and establish internal ambassadors in
each department

Success in social media requires planning, a clear structure, and cross-

departmental collaboration. Open your social media processes and expertise to
the entire company, in order to source ideas, obtain valuable feedback and turn
your employees into social advocates. Reinforce it all with clear guidelines and
a social media policy, that will both empower and offer a solid direction for your
employees.
An extremely important step here is to still take the time to personally
nurture connections with each department in the organization. These
relationships can prove to be extremely valuable to your efforts on social media.
Through their varied networks, your internal brand ambassadors can extend
the reach and trust of your brand, and go where your companys organic or paid
efforts dont.

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Tips for nurturing and establishing relationships in each department:

Look for people who are eager to Share success and good experiences
share and preferably have an interest with your ambassadors. Hi Sandra,
in social. Ambassadors dont have to be check out the post we did. They loved
managers, in fact, youre better off with your story about the petting zoo.
someone closer to the everyday action. Great stuff :). Also celebrate their
contribution internally, it will drive
Make a habit of talking to your ownership and excitement around
ambassadors and stakeholders social. You know, give to get.
frequently to find out whats going on in
their world. Call them or speak to them Make sure that ambassadors
in person, dont email. Most people understand and agree to take on
dont have time to jot down stories or this role. Tell them what you need and
long-winded info in an email. And youll how things work, so they know what to
often find that the parts of the story expect and can act on your behalf.
that work well on social are not the
version they would write. For stakeholders, make sure that
you have a clear agreement on
Keep your ambassadors them being your go-to person. You
constantly in the loop with the need the green light to contact them
latest developments, and try to involve at odd hours of the day or demand
them or ask for their opinions when quick answers. Also, make sure that
the situation allows. In this way youll this person has the ability to approve
ensure a fresh source of creativity communication going out on social, if
and feedback, while establishing a necessary.
closer connection with them. This
collaboration can also be a great
motivator for other employees, that
might be keen to bring their own inputs
and ideas, and help elevate your brand.

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 Take control of
your customer
touchpoints.

Start Boosting Your

Social Media Engagement
Today With Falcon.io
Manage all social channels Monitor social media
with a collaborative platform. channels and the web to
collect insights.

Schedule and publish content Measure impact and create

with an easy-to-use reports with advanced
Editorial Calendar. analytics.

Partnerships that matter

To learn what Falcon.io can do for your

REQUEST DEMO
business, request a demo online
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Tracking Performance
There are two sides to tracking and analytics on social media. One is to track
progress and prove value (ROI), the other is to understand and learn more about
your content and your community, all with the purpose of revising your approach to
improve performance.

Content Performance: Analyse, Learn, Revise...and repeat

S
ocial media changes constantly, so what worked 6 months ago when you created your social content strategy may
not work today. Also, target groups are people of flesh and blood and they will defy your preconceptions of what
they might and might not like.
So, make sure youre regularly looking at data to determine if you need to tweak your approach. To do so, use actionable
insights and data displaying the details of content performance. Here, youre looking at the micro level view, whereas
measuring performance and value deals with the macro, big picture of your social media activity.

Here are a few things to keep your eye on:

Negative feedback Engagement

Facebook in particular provides excellent data on how This one is hardly a surprise, metrics such as favorites,
your content is being received. People tend to focus on likes, comments/replies, retweets, shares are still a
positive metrics like Likes, Comments and Shares, but key way to gauge performance of your content - if
this one tells it to you straight. If a substantial part of your engagement is a key component of your social media
audience chose to hide your posts, unlike your page or strategy, that is.
report your content as spam, you need to take a closer
look at that piece of content. Highly popular content will Type/composition of update
always generate some negative feedback. When are you seeing the best response to your content?
Images, hashtags, videos, plain text or link posts? What
Consumptions about the length of your text? There are rules of thumb
Instead of placing all emphasis on interactions like for this, but your community might be different, so track
comment/like/shares, you should look at consumptions. and revise and keep doing so.
The best content doesnt necessarily generate a lot of
interactions. Often, youd rather have them click a link to
your website than like the post. Consumptions include
photo view, clicks and video plays. Facebook has recently
introduced detailed stats for videos (uploaded directly to
Facebook), so now you can measure how long users have
been watching your video, which parts of your video are
particularly popular. Even more insight for you to drive
action on refining your content.

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Tracking top-level objectives: Measure performance and value

T
aking a top level look at the performance of your social media presence is key when proving the value (ROI) of
social media and to track progress with your long-term social media objectives. Many companies find this to be a
very elusive thing, but it doesnt have to be. Look beyond social metrics when trying to prove the value of social.
Broader digital metrics like page visits and dwell time on your website make excellent KPIs for determining volume and
quality of your social media efforts.

The actual metrics you want to focus on depend on your objectives and social media strategy.
Here are some of our favorites:

Conversions - Define the various conversion Development of community - Is your fan/

targets along the sales cycle. Dont simply think following count increasing, declining or
of the end goal in terms of direct revenue, remaining steady? Focus on the composition
but determine the value of softer targets and general health of the fan group, not mere
such as event sign ups, brochure downloads, numbers acting as a vanity metric. A constant
campaign offer claims or submission of find increase in fans is not necessarily the best for
out more forms. your brand. Make sure you have the right type
of fans. That is, people who have an actual
Reach - this directly translates to the good old interest in your brand and whom you can
awareness or exposure factor. nurture a relationship with instead of prize
hunters who are only engaging with you to join
Traffic to website or other off-social a competition.
destinations - Google Analytics already gives
you data on traffic referral, but you can go Mentions - Using monitoring tools like Falcons
much further than that. With Falcons URL listening module you can track your share of
Builder to create custom URLs with tracking voice on social as well as the wider internet.
(UTM tags or similar). This way, you can track Tracking mentions of your brand, your
amount of clicks and connect traffic to your competitors and key topics on social media
website. puts a tangible face to something as abstract
as word of mouth.
Quality and value of traffic - For traffic
generated by social media, use a tool such Response rate - Social media are not just
as Google Analytics to determine the value marketing channels, they are two-way
and quality of this traffic. How do social platforms of communication. Dont forget
users compare to other types of users in that customer service is a key component of
terms of page views, bounce rate, session social media. Tracking your response rate and
duration? Whats the conversion, the revenue message volume gives you hard facts on how
generated? Thats hard ROI right there. One social is improving customer relations and
thing thats particularly interesting is to see earning ROI (shifting customer queries from
the conversion rate for social vs. other digital man-intensive telephone calls to more cost-
activities. You may be able to convince your effective online communication). Also, tracking
boss to allocate more budget to social if s/he team performance enables you to forecast
sees that conversion rates for social are twice bottlenecks to shift manpower to peak hours
what they are for display advertising. of the week or month.

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 Summary
Embrace the language of your customers. When in doubt, review your content and
consider if it sounds more like a human or more like a brand. Sticking to human-
speak will keep your message genuine.

So go forth and create content confidently! We hope this playbook helps shape and
inspire your organizations social content strategy.

Thanks for reading!

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@FalconIO Falcon.io welcome@falcon.io