Unlock fresh content ideas with a well-organized content strategy. Here’s how.
A social media blueprint helps make your content strategy stronger. The content marketing experts at Muse show you how!
As a savvy content marketer, you probably already know that specific content is effective content. There are endless topics to cover as part of your content strategy – no matter what industry you’re in – but it’s overwhelming to create content for every theme.
Content Strategy to the Rescue
People are creatures of habit – even if they claim they’re not. Humans crave consistency because it feels safe and familiar. Of course, it’s important to surprise and delight them, but there are tactics to do this inside their comfort zone. They come to your social channels for content they want to see. Deliver what’s expected but in new ways.
To do this, create a social media blueprint to act as a content roadmap. Let’s take a deep dive into why your social media blueprint should lead content creation, how we do this for clients…and how you can do it too.
How to Create a Social Media Blueprint
A solid social media blueprint guides your content creation. With a plan in place, social media planning is less stressful and allows you to focus on the content your audiences love most.
If you already have a social media blueprint, great! If not, here is a simple framework to get you started.
Social Media Blueprint Framework
- Best-in-class accounts: Peruse social media to identify 3-5 accounts or brands that you’d like to emulate. Take note of what these accounts do well.
- Audience characteristics: Establish who your current audiences and any habits you’ve notices, both on and offline. Consider thinking about prospective audiences, too!
- Current social media audit: Take stock of your current social media performance. Where do you shine and where could you improve? Metrics to evaluate can be follower count, average post performance (Reach or Impressions, depending on the platform) and audience breakdown (gender and age).
- Objectives by platform: Create 2-4 objectives that are most important to your brand. Perhaps you want to build authority, expand awareness or cultivate community. These will determine how you structure your content groups.
- Content pillars: Identify 3-5 categories to use for content creation. All your content will fall into one of these groups. We’ll take a look at how to create good content pillars in the next section.
- Community engagement style: Keep your finger on the pulse of your communities' social activities on your content. You'll be rewarded with engaged followers and better algorithm results!
Content pillars are the backbone of your social media blueprint and are referenced the most often – read on to see how we use them with clients.
A solid social media blueprint is essential to guide internal decision-making as well as content creation for social media. If you’re ready to upgrade your social media strategy with content marketing, our team will help you transform how you connect with audiences!
Now, let’s dig in to how you can create good content pillars.
Content Strategy Made Easy with Pillars
It can be hard to create knock-out content without a plan. Especially on days when news is slow and you’re feeling uninspired. We’ve all been there, so to solve for this, establish content pillars that guide how you create and execute your content.
Content pillars are the 3-5 topics your brand will consistently create content for, discuss and promote on social media. They help you stay organized and consistent. At Muse, we’ve defined pillars for agency culture, client wins, media and press and pro tips. Check out our Instagram feed to see these categories in action.
Content Pillars in Action
Ask yourself, in what area are you an expert? From there, own your niche! When you hone in on very specific content topics, your desired audiences will find you more easily. Let’s take a look at how we created content pillars for an Austin, Texas-based functional medicine practice.
We knew their niche was functional medicine and current communities were busy moms or working women over the age of 35. To engage them with niche content that spoke to their needs and lifestyles, we created content pillars like Patient Stories, Wellness Tips and Conditions & Treatments.
We tailored this client’s written content to fit into community lifestyle & preference. Busy women that make up this audience want to find wellness information quickly. They also trust the advice of other women who have been in their shoes and look for patient stories.
Content pillars like these empower clients to never have a slow news day! The categories spark new ideas, but keep their feed focused around the brand mission and position.
Visually, simplicity is key for this brand. We created a set of cool-toned Canva graphic templates that reinforce our client’s science-based approach to functional medicine. Explore our Canva packages to see how you can streamline your design process and save hours of time!
Read on for strategic content creation tips you can begin to use right now.
Activate Your Content Strategy
Incorporate a social media blueprint into your overall content strategy and be rewarded with positive results. Here are a few other tips to consider when using your pillars to create content for social media:
- Consistency: Use your brand’s colors, fonts and logos across all audience touchpoints. Does the look of your Instagram photos match those on your website? When you publish a video, does the text overlay match the font you use for your blog post’s featured image?
- Communities: Channel the mindset and behaviors of target buyers to better communicate with them. Read the Modern Wellness Persona blog to gain more insights.
- Tone & Voice: Your brand should have its own personality that shines through in copy. This should match the tone you establish in your brand strategy!
Once we craft the strategy for clients' social media blueprints, we provide them with a deck (like the one below for Filta Environmental Kitchen Solutions) to guide their future content creation
Support Content Strategy With a Strong Social Media Blueprint
Give your social media blueprint the time and dedication it deserves. It's a strategic document to steer one of your most important communication channels! If you need an experienced brand strategy and content marketing team on your side, schedule a consult to see how we can build a blueprint that empowers your team to post to their full potential.
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About the Author
Megan Factor is a Content Manager at Muse and a passionate creator, both professionally and personally. She developed her content marketing skills working in a wide range of industries and pulls inspiration from her diverse experiences. Her keen eye for design, penchant for writing, and love of good storytelling work together to create meaningful content that provides value to clients.
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