Building a social media strategy that fits your team
Most social strategies are written as though the team were twice its size. They read well, survive one month, and are quietly abandoned — which teaches everyone that strategy documents do not matter.
A strategy that works fits on one page and starts from what you can produce.
The one page#
- Who you are talking to, in one sentence, specific enough to exclude someone.
- What you want to happen — enquiries, sales, applications — not "awareness".
- Which two platforms, and why those two.
- What you will post: three or four repeatable formats, not a list of ideas.
- How much you can produce per month, honestly.
- How you will know it worked, in one number.
Formats beat ideas#
An idea produces one post. A format produces one post a week for a year. "Customer question answered on camera", "the making of one product", "a mistake we see every week" — each is a template someone can fill without a brainstorm, and repeatability is what keeps a calendar alive in a busy month.
Three or four formats you can execute beat twenty ideas you cannot. If a format needs a good day to produce, it is not a format yet.
Capacity is the constraint everyone skips#
| If you have | A realistic plan looks like |
|---|---|
| Two hours a week, no camera | One written post per week per platform, one platform |
| Half a day a week | Two posts a week plus comments, one or two platforms |
| A dedicated person | Three to five posts a week, two platforms, monthly reporting |
| A team | Daily on two platforms, paid social, proper reporting |
Review it every quarter, not every week#
A strategy you revise every week is not a strategy. Give it a full quarter, then look at the number you chose and decide: keep, change the format, or change the platform. Most of what looks like failure at week three is just not enough time.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a social strategy be?
One page. If it needs more, it is a plan for a team you do not have.
Should we be on every platform?
No. Two served properly beats five neglected, and the second one should only exist if the first is working.
How often should the strategy change?
Quarterly. Weekly changes are reactions, and they cost the consistency that makes any of it work.
social media strategysocial media plancontent strategysocial media planningbrand social strategy
