Stop, drop and strategize: Checking in on your social strategy

We blinked and 2023 is halfway over, which means it’s a great time to reassess the social media strategy and goals you set in January. Are you on the right track to meeting your goals? If not, where can you make adjustments to ensure those goals are met? Use this mid-year check-in as a time to see how your socials are performing, determine what type of content you should continue producing and begin planning your social strategy for the remainder of the year. 

To help you on your journey, account coordinators Carson Burchette and Olivia Toliver are sharing helpful tips to make the most of your social strategy.

Measure results to determine what’s working and what’s not 

Now is a great time to dive deep into your analytics to see what content is receiving the most engagement from your intended audience. Compare these analytics with your social strategy. Where are you meeting goals? Is there room for improvement? What needs to be adjusted? Take what you’ve learned and apply it to help you win in the second half of the year. You’ll be grateful come December that you made the necessary changes now. 

Adjust your strategy

When evaluating your social media performance, it’s important to examine and modify certain areas. For example, gauge the frequency at which you post content. Whether it’s once a week or every day, assess how it is affecting your audience engagement. Dial it back or up based on this information. At Pierce PR, we’re always recommending ‘quality over quantity.’ 

Take a look at what type of content you are producing. Social platforms allow you to post a wide variety of content: Graphics, videos, photos, stories, polls and more. What types of content are you currently plugging into and is it engaging with your audience? Increase the frequency of the high-performing content. 

You should also take a look at how your content compares to current trends and determine how you can incorporate these trends into your strategy to stay relevant and relatable. 

Lastly, consider your bandwidth as you make a plan of action for the remainder of the year. You may develop a robust list of ideas from this reassessment, but make sure your plan is realistic and doable based on your team’s capabilities. Don’t overstretch your team, but make a plan that allows you to show up consistently on your socials in a way that makes progress towards your goals. 

Organize and reassess your assets

We know how quickly your computer can become disheveled when consistently creating social media content, which is why it’s important to sort through and reorganize your current assets. This includes photos, videos, graphics and anything else you might want to post. By filtering through and organizing your assets, you can free up space, allowing your day-to-day processes to run much smoother.

This is also the perfect time to reassess how you’re receiving content, allowing you to better plan for the future. Who is submitting content? Are you receiving too much or too little? Are you having to recycle images? If so, it may be time to schedule a photoshoot to generate content. It’s important to look ahead at your social plans and check to see if your current assets are aligned with your needs so you can determine the next best steps.  

Plan for the future

The second half of the year tends to pick up pace due to the desire to meet end-of-year goals. This becomes especially challenging during the holiday season. That’s why it’s important to get ahead on planning your content for the last few months of the year. Now is the time to begin discussing the implementation of holiday content into your current social plans and to check your team’s status to see who could take on the extra lift. 

Crafting a successful social media strategy is not easy. It’s important to remember that consistency is key, and you most likely won’t see any drastic changes overnight. As the saying goes, “slow and steady wins the race,” and this holds particularly true in the realm of social media. So celebrate your victories – big and small – and get excited to finish out the year strong. Before you realize it, it will be 2024! 

Carson Burchette and Olivia Toliver are account coordinators at Pierce PR.