We’re coming unstuck with the gift that is social media and here’s why. We often forget that social media is not the same as advertising, that it’s not just a collective of platforms we use to blast messages at people. Then there is our obsession about the tactics. The question I hear asked of social media experts every day is;
“Which social media platform should I be focusing on?”

Here’s the thing—the platforms you choose and the reasons you choose them are tactical. You can’t think tactics before you have a strategy and reasons for that strategy (beyond I just need to sell more stuff). Here then are ten questions that will help you get beyond the tactics.

10 Questions To Consider Before Embarking On A Social Media Strategy

1. Who is my audience?

2. What do they care about?

3. Where and when do they spend their time online?

4. Why are they there?

5. What do they do there?

6. How does my message serve them in this context?

7. Why will they care about what I have to say, serve or sell?

8. How can I add value, inform, educate and inspire them?

9. Why am I reaching out to them (do I have a bigger purpose than a single bottom line metric
or am I just showing up to flog more stuff)?

10. What are my goals—what results am I expecting?

The tools and the tactics don’t matter so much as the intention behind using them.

Image by Jason Howie.