Here you will find the best current social media concept for SMEs – developed in daily practice. With this system you can start immediately, it is simple, clear and will give you lasting visibility in social media.
We will first highlight the common problems that many businesses face when using social media. Then we will look at the immense benefits that social media can have for your business.
Overview:
– The difficulties of the social media world
– The incredible benefits of social media
– The world of content creation
– The best tools for an optimal social media strategy
The complete checklist with all the points for practical application: CLICK HERE
1. The Challenges Of Social Media
It is no secret that making the leap into the world of digital marketing is a challenge for many companies.
The internal structures of many companies are still geared towards traditional communication channels such as telephone, letter, fax, catalogues, reports and advertisements in newspapers, handbills and posters.
These channels are not wrong in principle. But in a time when a 30-year-old spends more than 2 hours DAILY on the internet, you should definitely expand their communication channels in this direction.
If social media was only a marginal topic for the CEO so far, the priority is of course missing but – even worse – the knowledge about good quality in the field of social media.
Many cannot judge which concept is reasonable for their current situation. As a result, you do nothing at all, or continue as before.
Social media is here to stay. Instagram, Facebook, YouTube etc. will become their main information channels. You therefore need to understand this system.
In this blog, I show below a strategy for you to start YOURSELF.
Because when your are active yourself, you get to know the system best and you can better assess the quality of agencies or consultants later on.
The incredible benefits of social media
Using social media offers immense benefits that will change the game for your business.
Social media offers the opportunity to significantly increase your visibility to your target audiences – clients, applicants, suppliers. You need to be present on platforms where your contacts regularly spend time. These platforms are currently: Instagram, still Facebook, YouTube, and some more.
In addition, you can get in touch with these groups directly through social media. You have the opportunity to immediately answer customer questions and respond to comments. A real exchange is created. Nowhere else do you have this advantage in terms of a large number of contacts.
In addition, social media will help you expand your target groups through challenges. For example, you can reach new future customers very easily on Instagram or Facebook through prize competitions(=challenge) – without advertising costs.
Probably the most important trump card of social media is market analysis. By constantly varying and thus testing their topics (different (new) product offers, service offers, special promotions, internal reports, etc.), you get accurate data about the interest of their followers.
This enables them, for example, to tailor their offers better and better to customer interest, and save an extremely large amount of money on advertising and product development.
2. A New Start: Production Masterpieces
Your guardrails: company goals
It’s time to uncover the landscape of your business. We’re talking quarterly or annual goals here. They’re not just goals, they’re the force that drives your ship. Also think about revenue sub-targets, especially specific product lines. Are you planning to introduce new product lines? Wonderful, because these are your pillars to create your content.
Bring values to life: Brand as a starting point
Now it’s time to talk about your brand. It has your voice, your color, your logo. It represents your values and messages. This should be the guideline for all your social media posts. Your content should reflect the essence of your brand and reinforce its values.
Who is your audience: segmentation of target audiences.
We’re talking about your avatar audience. You’ve heard this term before, right? It’s the detailed description of your target audience. It’s like the addressee of a letter or the caller on the other end of the line. When you write your copy, you’re speaking directly to him. You can relate to his problems, he will feel understood and addressed by it. And that is the basis for good business.
The complete checklist with all the points for practical application: CLICK HERE
What you want to achieve: Your goals
Goals are always an important question. What do you want to achieve?
- Do you want to increase the recognition (awareness) of your brand in order to make subsequent purchases?
- Or do you want to sell a certain product immediately (buy)?
Accordingly, you need to differentiate: Your Awareness campaigns should strongly target the customer problem, while your Buy campaigns should focus on the benefits you as a seller and your product can offer.
And to achieve this, you should choose your main themes: Products, Use of Products, Internal, Employees, Values of the Company, General News.
3. How To Find The Right Channels For Your Company
Targeted: Selecting the right social media channels
Audience segmentation_ is key when it comes to selecting the right social media channels. The questions you should ask yourself are:
Where are my target avatars active?
Where can I get reach virtually for free and where can I place ads inexpensively?
Tip: Search for the most important companies in your industry on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Analyze: how many followers do these pages have, how often are posts published. Base your choice of channels on this.
Consider formats!
It’s important to keep in mind: Each channel has its own specifications when it comes to image formats. Some prefer portrait, others square. YouTube, for example, requires landscape format, while Instagram Stories, Reels, and TikTok and short videos (shorts) on YouTube again require portrait format to be uploaded.
If you are unsure, then use square format 1:1.
This format is a compromise: it has no optimal effect on any channel, because margins always have to be created somewhere. But format 1:1 is accepted almost everywhere.
Communication style:
Not only image formats are different, but also the way users communicate on platforms. To help you understand text styles and imagery, we recommend scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube regularly.
Generally, the language style on social media is:
- short sentences.
- Personal style, as if telling a friend.
- Invitation to share: write us in the comments …
Engagement:
Social media channels, rate posts with engagement (clicks, likes, comments, shares) much higher. As a result, these posts are automatically played out more often. So you get much more reach.
So your primary goal with posts must be: to get users to engage (click, like…). Do this with a textual prompt (Write in the comments), or with a simple question: what do you think?
Don’t give up: in the first weeks and months, comments, clicks will be few or sporadic. But with each month, their follower count will grow and engagement is guaranteed to come – so be patient!
The complete checklist with all the points for practical application: CLICK HERE
Leveraging trends: Popular formats and platforms
Another important aspect is taking advantage of _trending social media_. Platforms such as TikTok, Facebook Reels and LinkedIn are currently very popular and should definitely be considered in your strategy.
On LinkedIn, for example, only about 3 – 5% of users currently post regularly. This means you have little competition for posts and a huge audience, so gift reach.
If you are starting out or in business-to-business, NOW LinkedIn is their turbo channel.
Do you have a product line or service that looks good visually: then prefer YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Instagram Reels&Stories and Facebook Reels – but always the portrait format and short videos – max 60 seconds.
Do you have a complex topic with a lot of explanation needed: prefer Twitter and LinkedIn, here the attention span is longer and the consumption of text content is still the rule.
Find inspiration: Learn from the best
For continuous inspiration, we recommend that you keep scrolling through Facebook and Instagram. If something catches your eye and gives you pause. Reflect on why that is.
Save the post using the bookmark feature below the image. This will ensure you keep getting new ideas. Over time, this will give you a large library of posts that you can use as a topic base or idea themselves.
Also, be aware of what’s happening in your industry. Who is posting what and how often? What speaks to you personally and appeals to you?
To do this, you can simply follow these pages and thus get played out as a follower every post.
Such enterprise news and insights can provide valuable insights for your own social media strategy.
4. How To Produce Valuable Content For Social Media
Creating creative content: Become your own content producer
One key to successful social media marketing is to take control of as much _content production_ as possible. This will give you more content choices and give you more control over your _brand identity_. Be sure to shoot in both portrait and landscape mode – your phone gives you both options.
When creating content, always stick to your _brand values_ and company goals, whether it’s increasing sales or promoting specific _product lines_. And remember: short videos (usually 15 seconds, max 60 seconds, like Instagram reels) as well as images are the formats of choice.
Store all images/videos in the cloud (Google, Apple) or on your server. Also, create fixed dates per month or even per week for content production. For example, spend 30 minutes creating photos or videos.
Efficiency is the keyword: Minimize follow-up.
One thing you should definitely keep in mind: Try to minimize the amount of post-processing you do on your PC or cell phone. Use images and videos in their original form if possible. This not only saves you time, but also comes across as authentic and honest.
Always keep in mind that the picture or video is only part of the post. Tell a story that reflects your company’s style and _brand_ claims. The first sentence is especially important!
Variety creates flexibility: different shots for more options
For each object, theme or idea, I recommend taking 3 to 5 images or short videos. This gives you more variations to choose from.
Involve your employees! Encourage your team to provide regular photos, whether from the office, skilled workers at machines, or in the field.
Another tip: Ask your customers to film or photograph themselves with your product. These images often create the greatest impact because your are authentic and build trust.
From amateur to professional: Go for the mix
Use professional photos from photographers and filmmakers, too. A good mix is important and makes your social media profile more exciting. Drone shots, high-quality portraits of your employees, and product photos-or videos-help reinforce your _brand identity_ and convey a professional image.
Remember, when shooting yourself, be natural. Simple, straightforward selfie shots often work very well. Professional photographers can then provide the high-quality images to give a quality insight.
In the long run, you will need a mix of your own and professional images.
Deliberately simple:
Don’t try to deliver contrived, high-quality footage when filming or photographing yourself. This often looks unnatural and is quickly recognized by users.
Simple, straightforward shots in selfie mode usually look more authentic and attract people. Professional photographers can then deliver the high-quality images that emphasize your quality claims while providing an excellent balance.
5. The Power Of The Social Media Calendar: Why Omni-Channel Is The New Norm
Omni-channel marketing has become essential in today’s connected world. Instead of focusing on a single platform like Instagram, choose two to three platforms. With one click, you can post the same image to multiple channels at once. Adjust the text content slightly if necessary. This will give you triple the impact and more data for later performance measurements: Which channel works best?
Change topics
Consider the first few months in particular as a test phase. To do this, vary the 4 – 6 themes that you have, after all, established beforehand: Products, Employees, Events, Brand Message, News, etc.
Vary not only the themes but also the style. You can:
- Bring contributions as questions
- Launch a challenge (contest)
- EXPLAIN a product
- Demonstrate a product
- Etc.
Get ideas directly from Instagram and Facebook by browsing posts in their industry and saving good posts.
The power of scheduling: frequency and timing of posts.
Determine the timing and frequency of your posts. For example, a rule might be: every Tuesday and Friday at 5 p.m. each day. It’s important to find an appropriate frequency. Too many posts might overwhelm you in the beginning, too few will not provide visibility and analytics data. Think of the launch as a test phase: what works? This test should run for 3 to 4 months.
Google Calendar: your simple but effective helper.
Schedule your posts in advance and enter them into a calendar, such as Google Calendar. Color your posts by topic to get a better overview. A good resolution would be to schedule your posts at least a week in advance, better yet two to three weeks. This will help you stay on top of things and share the calendar with your coworkers.
Publishing strategies: immediate or scheduled?
There are two ways to publish posts:
- Schedule directly on mobile and post. You can simply post spontaneous posts (e.g., birthdays, etc.) in between.
- Use scheduling software for social media. Schedule your posts several weeks in advance. While this is better and allows for more effective strategy optimization, it also means a cost of about 20 euros a month.
Think of it as a dynamic system. Your social media calendar is flexible and can be adjusted at any time. Use tools like Social Pilot or Trello to improve your task organization and manage your social media calendar efficiently.
One thing is clear: if you follow these steps, you’ll be well on your way to achieving your business goals and strengthening your brand identity. Now it’s time to: Get to work!
6. Tools For Success: How Tools Transform Your Social Media Strategy
In social media marketing, tools are essential. They help save time and keep a clear overview. Even simple, repetitive tasks like scheduling a post for a specific time or adjusting the colors of a photo can be made easier with the use of tools.
Less is more: Focus on essential tools
In the universe of social media tools, less is often more. There are plenty of options, but not every tool is essential for your particular situation. Here are three tools that play a critical role in almost any social media strategy:
1. socialpilot: a tool that allows you to publish a post on multiple platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram with just one click. It is a scheduling tool for posts, available from 25 euros a month. The advantage: it helps you reduce stress and ensure consistency in your posts.
2. Trello: A great platform to organize tasks and break them down into individual headings and subtasks. You can break down work steps, list ideas, collect posts from your industry for inspiration, and more.
3. Canva: This web-based tool is perfect for editing and formatting images. It’s extremely easy to use and available anywhere. With built-in fonts and effects, you can edit your images intuitively and quickly. There are thousands of images and videos on any topic that you can edit online and then download. Plus, you can upload and edit your own images and videos.
Video Editing: Keep it Simple
When editing videos, you should use simple tools like VN Editor or CapCut. Both are free and ideal for basic edits like cutting video or adding text.
However, more complex or higher quality images and videos should be left to professionals. Cutting, inserting fonts, and making sound adjustments can quickly become very time-consuming. Pass these tasks off to a freelancer or have the photographer finish them directly.
The right mix makes all the difference: Image vs. video
When it comes to the ratio of images to videos, we recommend a 4:1 approach. Although videos are more time-consuming to edit, they tend to have a greater impact. Still, you should produce more images to ensure a balanced content mix. Ultimately, the key to success is finding the right balance and being able to focus on what really matters.
The complete checklist with all the points for practical application: CLICK HERE
7. Evaluating The Results: Measuring And Understanding Your Social Media Activity
After 2 – 3 months of intensive social media activity, it’s time to collect and analyze the first measurable results. For this, you need a certain frequency of posts. With a rhythm of two weekly posts over a period of three months, you will come to a total of 24 posts.
Analyzing the data: What should you pay attention to?
Look at the views of the different topics and individual posts. Which topics and posts got more likes? Which posts were even commented on? Can you see a pattern? For example, do pictures of employees work better than product photos?
If no clear patterns are apparent, continue testing with the same topics and styles for another two months and then measure again.
Note: You could theoretically do an extremely complicated data export on Facebook and look at more than 20 different values per post. I don’t recommend doing this, as it tends to be confusing at the beginning. Limit yourself to Likes, Shares, and Comments as your evaluation criteria.
Understanding engagement: quality matters
Understand the different meaning of engagement on your posts. A comment is worth more than a “post share,” which in turn is worth more than a Like. For platforms like Instagram, these different interactions mean different levels of post quality. A post with many comments will be played out much further (perhaps even going viral), while a post with few likes will be seen by only a few.
Patience and consistency: the key to success.
When starting out with a new account, practice patience: consistency and frequency are key. It’s not just engagement that matters, but the overall impression of all the posts that are on your page.
Always remember: organic social media work is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s about being present and being seen regularly. The quality (views, clicks, comments) will always vary, that’s normal and nothing to worry about. Keep your eye on the ball and you will find your way.
The complete checklist with all points for practical use: CLICK HERE
FAQs:
Social media is an effective tool for increasing your company’s visibility, interacting directly with your customers, reaching new audiences, and gaining valuable market intelligence.
This depends on your target audience and your business goals. Determine which platforms your target audience is active on and where you can best achieve your business goals.
You can measure the success of your social media activities using engagement data, such as likes, comments, and shares. But keep their analysis as simple as possible. Look for patterns of success on topics such as employees, or product demonstrations: which topics get lots of likes, comments
You should try to create as much content as possible yourself, always keeping your brand values and company goals in mind. This way you will get to know the system directly, understand it better, and later be able to judge the work of external partners (agencies, etc.) much better. But you should mix: use professional media from photographers and their own authentic, simple shots.
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Best regards and have a great weekend!
Joe Mayer