We are often contacted by clients who have been trying to create an effective social media strategy and their efforts to date have fallen short. Almost universally, we find the client had prepared something other than a social media strategy and were just calling it a social media strategy.

Most companies develop one of 5 things and call it a social media strategy. In this article, we’ll explore the 5 mistakes companies make with their social media strategy and what a social media strategy is.

Your Social Media Strategy is Not…

1. The Goals for Your Social Media Efforts

Every company should have goals for their social media efforts, but the social media strategy is not a list of goals you’d like to achieve in social media. A social media strategy does not list that you want 1,000 followers on Twitter, 2500 fans on Facebook, a 33% increase in web traffic from social media platforms, and so on. These are goals and are part of the process, but they are not a strategy.

2. A Plan for Social Media

Some companies put together a plan for social media and call it their social media strategy. Unfortunately, a plan is not enough to be called a social media strategy. A plan is a list of goals or objectives and the tactics we will take to achieve them. It is always a good idea to have a plan for your social media, but this does not equate well to being a social media strategy.

3. The Tactics for Social Media

There are a number of great tactics you can use to achieve objectives in social media, but the tactics are not the same as a social media strategy. The tactics are the how in the process – how do you achieve your objectives? How do you take advantage of the different social media platforms? How do you leverage the resources you have in social media? However, it is not a strategy for social media.

4. A Vision for Social Media

Some organizations create a vision for how they believe social media will work for their company and then call that a social media strategy. A vision is an inspiring portrait of what the organization intends to accomplish. Leaders will use vision to motivate employees to a certain goal, but this not the same as a social media strategy.

5. A Timeline for Your Social Media Efforts

The fifth mistake we see companies making is confusing a timeline of a social media marketing plan as an actual social media strategy. A timeline is simply a timeline and is not a strategy for social media. A real social media strategy actually isn’t based on a timeline with a fixed end date.

What is a Social Media Strategy?

First, let’s look at a definition for business strategy to try to define what our social media strategy should be:

Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfill stakeholder expectations. (Johnson & Scholes, Exploring Corporate Strategy)

Let’s break this down into a definition of social media strategy:

Social media strategy is the direction and scope of an organization’s social media efforts to create a sustained long-term advantage through the application of resources within a constrained environment to meet the needs and expectations of stakeholders (including internal business units, external customers, and shareholders).

We’ve tweaked the business strategy definition a little to define social media strategy. This definition provides a great guide for creating the actual social media strategy.

Direction and Scope of Social Media Efforts

A social media strategy details the direction and scope of social media efforts. It should define where the social media efforts are and what scope does it contain: does it only apply to certain sites on the web? Does it apply to only online marketing efforts, or offline as well (think social activities such as conferences, concerts, meetups)?

Creating a Long Term Advantage

If your plan is to create a Facebook page and a Twitter account, then you don’t have a social media strategy. You have a “me too” plan copying your competitors (and everyone else) and have little chance to create a long term advantage. It’s not necessarily bad to create a “me too” social media plan, but don’t fool yourself into thinking it will result in a great outcome for the business if you aren’t striving to create some sort of long term advantage in your market.

Applying Resources in a Constrained Environment

Another key part of the social media strategy is describing how you will apply resources in a constrained work environment. We understand: there isn’t enough money or time to go around, but you need to plan out how you will staff your social media efforts or they are likely to fail. One of the key problems we have seen at some companies is a lack of planning for the amount of time and effort social media requires. We’ve seen our clients who do understand this experience a tremendous ROI from social media when they are willing and able to make the investment. The social media strategy should provide details as to how the social media execution will be staffed or supported.

Needs and Expectations of Stakeholders

Finally, the social media strategy explains how the needs and expectations of stakeholders will be met. If they won’t be met, the social media strategy explains the expectations a stakeholder should have so there isn’t a misunderstanding. The needs and expectations of stakeholders is an important part of the strategy: how will customer service, marketing, and sales all work together to ensure a seamless and effective social media effort?

Developing Your Social Media Strategy

Now that we’ve reviewed what a social media strategy isn’t and what a social media strategy is, you now understand what is required for an effective social media strategy. Using this definition, you will need to create a strategy which reflects each of the elements.