Social Media Strategy Building Blocks

When it’s time to develop or refine your social media strategy, are you working with the building blocks that set the stage for success? 

As the world continues to shift into an increasingly digital space – and as social media becomes more than just entertainment, but also a key source of information – it’s important that your business, destination or organization keeps pace with the practices that have become commonplace. 

But don’t be intimidated! This blog will walk you through the essential building blocks to help you get the most out of platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube. You’ll be able to decide where to focus your efforts based on your goals and needs. Whether this is brand new or simply a helpful refresher, bookmark this page and return to it as a reference to keep your strategy moving forward. 

Define Your Goals

Before jumping into all the fun, take time to define your social media goals. Are you looking to build awareness around your destination or business? Are your platforms up and running, but you’d like to increase engagement among followers? Do you need to build up your following a bit?  

Maybe there’s a specific event or activation you’re promoting, and you’re leveraging your social channels to generate offline interest. Perhaps there’s a product in your store or gift shop – whether online or brick-and-mortar – that you’d like to see flying off the shelves. Or maybe you’re collaborating with nearby businesses to offer a killer package for visitors or consumers, and you want to get people interested and booking. 

These are just a handful of reasons you might be looking to leverage social media – so start here and determine which direction you’ll go in. 

Align Your Social Media Strategy with Your Marketing Plan

To best ensure alignment with your broader strategy, keep your overall business and marketing goals in mind. Social media should not operate in a silo—it should directly support your organization’s primary objectives, whether that’s increasing visitation, promoting specific experiences, or strengthening your destination’s brand identity.

The PESO model by Gini Dietrich of Spin Sucks (Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned media) offers a helpful framework. By viewing social media (shared media) as one part of a larger integrated strategy, you can ensure that your content aligns with and amplifies efforts across paid advertising, public relations, and owned content like your website and email campaigns.

Learn more about Shared Media as part of an integrated tourism marketing plan using PESO in Destination on the Left podcast episode 439.

Audience 

Now that you’ve got your why, let’s talk about the who. 

This is where your target audience work comes in – and it should tie directly to your overall business or marketing goals. Consider location demographics (drive market, regional, hyperlocal, national), audience demographics (age, gender, race), and general interests: What are their pain points? What drives them? What inspires or motivates them? How do they get their information? How tech-savvy are they? 

This will help you tailor your messaging to your target audience(s) and make sure everything is landing the way it should. 

Craft Your Messaging 

You’ve figured out why you’re using social media and who you’re talking to – now it’s time to start more of the fun: crafting what you’re saying! 

To get the results you want, everything needs to align. We’ll give you some freebies here, using the examples from the Define Your Goals section above (you’re welcome 😉): 

Goal: Build awareness around your destination or business 
Ask yourself: What do we do? What can we offer consumers?
Tactic: Highlight your offerings in ways that appeal to your target audience(s) and address their needs and desires. 

Goal: Increase following or follower engagement
Ask yourself: What types of content would keep our audiences coming back for more? 
Tactic: Do some social listening to learn what resonates, and study how followers are responding to your content. 

Goal: Promote an event or activation 
Ask yourself: What makes our event a can’t-miss? 
Tactic: Give audiences a glimpse of what they can expect, using visual content that helps them picture themselves at the center of the action. 

Goal: Drive merchandise or package sales 
Ask yourself: How does this product offer convenience, wellbeing, joy, service, comfort or necessity? 
Tactic: Use words and visuals to show how your product checks all those boxes. 

Learn more: Wondering how to write a social media post?  

Find the Balance: Posting Frequency 

Now that you’ve got great content lined up, resist the urge to post everything everywhere all at once. Be intentional about your posting frequency. 

It’s all about balance. Too much, and you risk overwhelming your audience or diluting your message. Too little, and your pages may appear inactive or forgettable. 

While frequency will vary based on your audience and goals, HootSuite recommends posting to Instagram: 3-5x per week (and stories 2x per day), Facebook: 1-2x per day and TikTok: 3-5x per week. (Read the full article) 

For YouTube content: Since video often requires more production time, your posting schedule here should be guided by what’s realistic for you. Consider how often you can create content, and how frequently (or for what purpose) you plan to promote it. Quality and consistency matter more than sticking to a rigid cadence. 

Whatever your mix, be honest with yourself about what’s manageable. The best posting strategy is one you can sustain. 

Choose Your Platform 

In the style of Blink-182: 🎶 Where are yooou?! 

What we mean is… where are you in terms of social media platforms? Where do you want audiences to find you? And where do you think you’ll perform best? 

With so many options out there, it’s easy to feel like you need to be on every platform. But if you’re not already – or if you are and you’re simply copy-pasting the same content across the board – take a moment to reconsider using these guidelines: 

• Facebook: A solid all-around platform. Its flexibility – with links, events, groups, reviews, video and image formatting, and less restrictive comment features – makes it a reliable choice. 

• Instagram: Great for eye-catching images and short-form video. Ideal for building inspiration and highlighting those Instagrammable spots and assets. 

• TikTok: Perfect for trend-based short-form video. Features like stitching, narration and effects open the door for highly creative and engaging content. Learn more about TikTok for tourism marketing.

• YouTube: Best for long-form video and showcasing production value. You can also tap into YouTube Shorts to tease or promote your full-length videos. 

Analyze and Reassess 

To make the most of your efforts, build in time to track and review your data. After all that hard work, it’s essential to understand what’s working – and what’s not – so you can adjust accordingly. 

Some staple metrics to consider when analyzing your social media performance include:

• Engagement (comments, reactions, shares)
• Reach and impressions
• Followers/follower growth
• Page interactions

Are you ready to build your social media marketing strategy? We’d love to help! Drop us a line and we’ll get right back with you.