Social media has become an integral part of our lives, and it is the same with businesses. It’s an essential marketing tool for anyone who wants to grow their brand awareness, drive engagement, and generate leads.
But, have you ever wondered what goes into creating a single social media post? It’s more than just “quickly throwing together” content and “clicking post.” There should be an entire strategy, plan, and execution procedure involved, and this blog will give you an inside look at what really goes into a social media post.
1. Strategy
Before we dive into the creation process, it’s crucial to understand that strategy is the foundation of creating social media posts. Here are a few essential steps:
Review Past Analytics: The first step in any social media strategy is to review past analytics. It helps:
– determine what worked and what didn’t,
– identify high-performing content vs low-performing content,
– and where you can adjust your strategy accordingly.
Keyword and Hashtag Research: Keyword and hashtag research is essential for social media posts. It helps businesses understand what their target audience is searching for and what can be used to find similar content.
Content Research and Compilation: Social media strategists research and compile content that is relevant and aligned with your brand’s messaging and values.
Post Strategy and Brief: Once the research is done, the strategist will draft a detailed brief outlining the content, tone, messaging, and creative direction of the posts. The brief is then shared with the team for execution.
2. Content Creation
Once the strategy and plan are in place, it’s time to create the actual content.
Review Brief and Month’s Strategy: The content creation team reviews the brief and the month’s strategy to ensure they are aligned with the brand’s messaging and values.
Craft Keyword-Optimised Caption: The caption is the heart of the social media post. It’s where the message is conveyed and the audience is engaged. The writer crafts a keyword-optimised caption that is aligned with the brand voice.
Match Brand Voice Guide: Consistency is key when it comes to social media posts. The social media manager ensures that the tone, messaging, and creative direction are aligned with the brand voice guide.
Write Alt Text: Alt text helps search engines understand the image’s content and context, which helps improve the post’s visibility and accessibility. This step is crucial in creating accessible content for everyone!
Photography or Videography – If Needed: Depending on the post’s creative direction, the content creator might need to use a photographer or videographer to create visual content that aligns with the brand’s messaging. Alternatively, they may use their paid subscriptions where they source high-quality stock photos and videos.
3. Design
The design element of social media posts is just as important as the content. It’s what grabs the audience’s attention and creates a lasting impression.
Brief and Strategy Review: The graphic designer reviews the brief and the month’s strategy to ensure the design aligns with the brand’s messaging and values.
Artboard Creation: The artboard is set up in the correct size for the designated platform(s).
Research and Scamp Drawing: Research is conducted to gather inspiration for the post creative direction. The graphic designer will scamp out a rough drawing of the design.
Design and Edit: The design is created from scratch, and edited until the team is satisfied that it aligns with the brand’s strategy.
Final Check: The graphic designer checks that the design aligns with the brand’s style guide for consistency.
4. Management
Once the post is created, it’s time to manage the posts’ distribution and engagement.
Review and Approval: The social media manager submits the caption and design for review and approval by the relevant team members, including you, the client, if necessary.
Optimise and Schedule: The social media manager optimises the post for the designated platform by adding the designated hashtags, alt-text, and relevant links. They then schedule the post for the best engagement time and date, ensuring it’s consistent with the overall posting strategy.
Engagement: The social media manager engages with the audience by responding to comments, direct messages, and shares. They also monitor the post’s performance, making adjustments to improve engagement and reach.
Community Management: Social media is all about building relationships with the target audience. The social media manager manages the brand’s online community by responding to comments, DM’s, questions, concerns, and feedback.
5. Content Creation Tools and Subscriptions
To make all of this happen, we use various software tools including:
- Notion: for our content calendars and client reviews
- Adobe Creative Suite and Canva: for graphic design and video editing
- Google Suite: for our project management and content creation
- HelloBonsai: for contracts and invoicing
- Stock Memberships: for high-quality stock images and videos that aren’t overused
- …and many more!
All of this excludes the overheads that we also pay for to make your posts happen.😉
Other Considerations
We haven’t even touched on other processes that are involved in ONE post – such as paid social media if you want to pay for additional reach, engagement and page views. In this case, we would use our Social Media Marketer to facilitate this process.
Creating A Post Is A Lot More Than Clicking “Post”
As you can see…creating a social media post is a lot more involved than “quickly throwing together” content and “clicking post.” It’s an involved strategy that requires research, planning, and execution.
A Message For Social Media Management Clients
If you have a social media manager who can do all of this for you and gets results, consider giving them a raise!
However, if you have a social media manager who is struggling to get results, they may need extra support from professionals in their own designated specialties. There is so much work involved in creating a successful social media presence, and it’s not a one-person job anymore.
Don’t skimp on your social media budget if you want a professional social media presence, and don’t expect freelancers to do all of it for you for a small cost. Social media marketing is a BIG JOB, and an investment. It should be treated as such.
Reach out to our team if you’re looking for a quality social media team with experienced experts in our respective fields: Strategy, Content Writing and Graphic Design.
A Message For Social Media Managers
Social media managers, if you’re doing ALL of this and more for your clients for petty change – stop undervaluing yourself and realise how much you bring to the table. Think of how many roles are actually involved in this process that you’re doing on your OWN.
If these businesses had to hire these roles, they would be paying salaries and benefits to 5+ professionals. You’re saving them money by doing it all alone, so consider this next time you’re pricing yourself out.
But while we’re here…
Let’s talk about doing it alone. If you’re managing multiple clients yourself, quality assurance is going to slip in one or more of the areas of creating your clients’ SM posts. It’s not fair on you or the client to let this happen. Consider collaborating with other experts in their respective fields so you can up-level your quality output for your clients and get them real results. You deserve it and so do your clients.
If you don’t know where to look, our agency does offer white-label services. Reach out if you’re interested in having a full social media team at your disposal, underneath the name of YOUR agency. It’s a win-win!
Final Thoughts
It’s time we stop treating social media as an interns’ job! Your social media presence is invaluable when it comes to brand equity, awareness and lead generation. You don’t go to your HR Manager and ask them to manage your taxes – stop treating social media managers like an all-in-one-solution – they’re not.
