Key takeaways:
- Align content on platforms with business goals: Ensure your social media platform choices align with your organizational goals, focusing on those that drive conversions and engage your audience effectively.
- Leverage audience personas to guide your content strategy: Use audience personas and continuous evaluation of audience reactions to tailor content strategies across platforms and resonate with diverse audiences.
- Evaluate campaign performances: Assess platform effectiveness on a campaign basis, rather than overall, to determine where to invest resources and maximize engagement during key events or initiatives.
During a recent SocialMedia.org leadership panel on leveling up your social media content strategy, our Board Members shared insights on how to evaluate which channels to prioritize for engaging content.
They shared insights on how to track which channels perform well with content, steps for deciding which platforms to invest in, and using audience personas to guide their content creating process.
We’ll examine how you can navigate ongoing social media platform changes and the strategies our members use to decide which ones to invest more into with your organization’s content.
1. Invest in Platforms That Resonate with Cultural Relevance
Lauren Eiden, Social Media Content Manager at United Airlines, talked about aligning your platform choices with organizational goals and focusing on content that resonates with cultural trends.
She noted that platforms like LinkedIn, while valuable for engaging with employees and industry professionals, may not contribute significantly to cultural relevance.
Instead, she noted that platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels are best for their ability to reach diverse audiences and evoke specific sentiments.
Lauren highlighted the value of assessing audience reactions and engagement across platforms, looking beyond just demographics to understand how communities respond to content.
“How do they react to your content?” Lauren asked, “Are they supportive? Are they excited, or mean and aggressive? Do they actually engage and say things like, ‘You understand me’ or ‘This is so real’?”
Are they supportive? Are they excited, or mean and aggressive? Do they actually engage and say things like, ‘You understand me’ or ‘This is so real’?
Lauren Eiden, Social Media Content Manager at United Airlines
Lauren also stressed the need to invest in platforms where audiences feel seen and engaged, such as TikTok and Instagram.
“If the comment section is showcasing the goal of what we wanted our audience to feel, that’s how we can also see success there,” she added.
2. Align Your Platform and Social Media Content with Business Goals
Catalina Holzer, Director of Content and Social Media at Hilton Grand Vacations, described her team’s strategic approach to platform prioritization, and also emphasized the need to align social media goals with broader business goals.
“It’s about understanding the goals for social media – for the entire program – and connecting them to the goals for the business and the performance that each channel is having against those goals,” Catalina said.
She explained how you must measure your content’s alignment to organizational goals consistently and factor in bandwidth and resources for your team. Understanding the limits of your team members and being aware of your budget are key steps in deciding which channels effectively drive your goals.
It’s about understanding the goals for social media – for the entire program – and connecting them to the goals for the business and the performance that each channel is having against those goals.
Catalina Holzer, Director of Content and Social Media at Hilton Grand Vacations
Catalina also highlighted the importance of focusing efforts on channels that are driving conversions and engaging the audience.
One example she shared was how her team is deprioritizing X (formerly known as Twitter) for custom content due to their declining audience presence, but maintaining a presence for customer support.
“The effort of organic content on that channel is just not working,” Catalina said. “So let’s not dedicate all this time ideating for a channel that’s just not doing us what we need it to be doing.“
3. Leverage Audience Personas and Feedback to Prioritize Platforms Best for Social Media Content
Dace de la Foret, Director of Social Media and Enterprise Brand Content at Nationwide, highlighted the significance of audience personas in shaping content strategies.
He shared his experience of developing personas based on actual engagements and discussed an example where his team evaluated their audiences on all channels and the type of content that resonated best.
In this exercise, Dace noted that his team was able to find out the type of content on each channel that created the most comments and shares based on demographics.
He also talked about the value of collaboration with other business teams to align your strategy with business goals. He said it’s key to ensure your efforts target users across various channels, including X, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
“Make sure you’re talking to your other marketing and sales teams and ensuring that the people that you are reaching and engaging with are actually people that we’re trying to reach from a broader company standpoint,” Dace added.
By identifying and focusing on specific audience demographics, such as sports fans or business professionals, he shared how his team achieved positive results and expanded their reach effectively.
Make sure you’re talking to your other marketing and sales teams and ensuring that the people that you are reaching and engaging with are actually people that we’re trying to reach from a broader company standpoint.
Dace de la Foret, Director of Social Media at Nationwide
In SocialMedia.org’s guide on developing an adaptable and inclusive social media content strategy, Lenovo Global Social Media Governance and Alignment Manager Brandy Mann shared more best practices you can leverage to better understand what your audience wants.
In one example, Brandy shared how her team released a video for International Women’s Day, but after getting feedback from teams in other regions, they determined the video lacked Latin-American representation.
She said they saw the experience as a learning opportunity to ensure future videos would be more diverse and representative of different groups, and her team committed to checking with a diverse group of people before creating new content.
“A lot of my team’s role is trying to make relationships solid and listening to audiences for feedback,” Brandy said. “In building those relationships, you get people to give you real feedback, not the standard cookie cutter things they feel like is the right thing to do. You really get unsolicited advice.”
In building those relationships, you get people to give you real feedback, not the standard cookie cutter things they feel like is the right thing to do. You really get unsolicited advice.
Brandy Mann, Global Social Media Governance and Alignment Manager at Lenovo
4. Use Campaign-Specific Metrics for Platform Evaluation
According to Catalina, it’s also crucial to evaluate your platform effectiveness on a campaign basis rather than a blanket approach.
“Sometimes you have to also measure it on the campaign itself, not necessarily just as a whole,” Catalina said.
She shared an example of using live content on X during events. One recent event her team used live content for was the LPGA kickoff hosted by Hilton Grand Vacations.
Despite not focusing on X year-round, their engagement during such events proved successful, showcasing the value of individual campaigns rather than solely on overall channel performance.
Gain More Insights From Your Peers in SocialMedia.org
As social media channels continue to evolve, strategic platform prioritization is crucial for driving impactful content strategies.
By aligning your platform investments with organizational goals, utilizing structured decision-making frameworks, understanding audience personas, and evaluating platform effectiveness on a campaign basis, you can optimize your presence and drive meaningful engagement.
And if you’re a social media leader at a large company looking for more insights on how to strategically decide which platforms to invest in, you can apply to join SocialMedia.org.
Our Board Members meet weekly to benchmark their strategies without any vendors present, including protecting your brand reputation, executive social strategies, and more.
Learn how a membership can help you enhance your content strategy moving forward.
