Creating and executing your social media strategy is a substantial job. It should be, since it’s such an important document and agent for your business. But it doesn’t have to be complicated. Here is the template I use that will guide you through the whole process of creating your social media marketing plan!

1. [Your name]
[Your title], [Your team]
[email address]
[Date]
[YOUR COMPANY NAME] SOCIAL
MEDIA STRATEGY
[place your logo here]

2. Instructions for using this template
Once you’ve completed the 8 steps to create a social media strategy, you are ready to start filling out this
template.
To make edits, you’ll need to make your own copy. To do that, click the File tab in the upper left hand corner
of your browser. Then select Make a copy… Once you’ve done that, you’ll have your own version of the
template to fill out.
Note: Grey slides, like this one, are instructions to help you customize the template. Before you share your
strategy with stakeholders, remember to remove them from the presentation.

3. Executive Summary

4. Writing an effective executive summary
The executive summary is a synopsis of your social media marketing plan. It should not exceed one page.
The summary should contain the following information:
● Identify the problem or need for the proposed project
● Explain the anticipated result(s) of the proposed project
● Lay out the budget, time, and resources required to complete the proposed project
● Include any additional information worth noting

5. Executive summary
● [Point no. 1]
● [Point no. 2]
● [Point no. 3]
● [etc.]

6. Social Media Goals

7. Setting smart goals
Set goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely
Make sure they are aligned to business objectives to accurately measure return on investment
Track the right metrics for your brand
➔ Help resource https://bit.ly/2Wx4lhp
The objective, goals, and metrics in the chart on slide no. 9 are examples. Update with what works for your
business.

8. By [date/month/quarter/EOY], we will:
Key performance indicators
1
[Insert S.M.A.R.T goal here — eg. “We will grow our Instagram audience by 50 new followers per
week.”]
2 [S.M.A.R.T goal]
3 [S.M.A.R.T goal]
4 [S.M.A.R.T goal]

9. How goals align to business objectives
Business objective Social media goal Metric(s)
Grow the brand
Awareness (these metrics
illuminate your current and
potential audience)
Followers, shares, etc.
Turn customers into advocates
Engagement (these metrics
show how audiences are
interacting with your content)
Comments, likes, @mentions,
etc.
Drive leads and sales
Conversions (these metrics
demonstrate the effectiveness of
your social engagement)
Website clicks, email signups,
etc.
Improve customer retention
Consumer (these metrics reflect
how active customers think and
feel about your brand)
Testimonials, social media
sentiment, etc.

10. Target Audience

11. Defining your audience
Knowing who your audience is and what they want to see is key to creating content that they will like,
comment on, and share. It’s also critical for planning how to turn followers into customers.
Use the next slide to clearly and succinctly define who your target audience/customer persona(s) is.
Related resource: Buyer Persona Template

12. [Persona name] [Persona name] [Persona name]
Example job title(s) [What sort of job titles would this
persona have? List them here?]
Needs(s) [What would they be looking to do with,
or get out of your
product/service/business?]
Pain Point(s) [What is their number one challenge
(that you can solve for them?]
Prefered social network(s) [What social media platform does this
person use most often, i.e. where is the
best place to connect with them?]
Unique Characteristic [XXX]
Budget (for your
product/service)
$[XXX]
[Other characteristic, e.g.
age, sex, location, etc.]
[XXX]
[Other characteristic] [XXX]

13. Competitive Analysis

14. Conducting a competitive analysis
Analyze the competition’s social media presence. This will help inform your own social strategy. If you know
what your competitors are doing well—and not so well—you’ll find areas of opportunity where you might have
a competitive edge.
Or, if you’re looking for your company to invest more in social, showing your leaders where your peers and
competitors are seeing success can help with that too.
Use the next slide to create a high-level overview of your competitors’ plan. Then conduct a SWOT analysis
(strengths, weakness, opportunities, threats) for your own company

15. Networks active
Number of
followers
Strengths Weaknesses
Content that
resonates
[Competitor # 1] [Use a tool like
Buzzsumo to
check]
[Competitor # 3]
[Competitor # 3]

16. SWOT Analysis
Positive Negative
Internal
STRENGTHS
● What are your strengths?
● Write them here
● And here
● Eg. “Video production and expertise”
● etc.
WEAKNESS
● What are your brand’s weakness on social media?
● List in point form
● Eg. “Low Twitter engagement”
● etc.
External
OPPORTUNITIES
● What/where are the opportunities for your
business on social media?
● List in point form
● Eg. “Competitors aren’t using Instagram
Stories”
THREATS
● What are your brand’s threats?
● Eg. “Competitor Y has a 2X higher follower rate on
Facebook”
● etc.

17. Social Media Audit

18. Auditing your social media presence
If you’re already using social media, take a step back and look at:
● What’s working and what’s not
● Who is engaging with you
● Which networks your target audience is most active on
● How your strategy compares to the competition
● Related resource: Free Template - Social Media Audit
Once you’ve conducted your audit and recorded all your findings, you can fill out the next slides.

19. We will maintain these accounts:
[Social network]
● What it’s best for:
● Target audience:
● Types of content we will share:
● Key performance indicators (KPIs):
[Social network]
● What it’s best for:
● Target audience:
● Types of content we will share:
● Key performance indicators (KPIs):

20. We will shut down the following accounts:
[Social network]
● Why it’s not working:
● Deprecation timeline:
[Social network]
● Why it’s not working:
● Deprecation timeline:

21. Content Strategy

22. Building your content strategy
Determine your content mix and posting cadence on the next two slides.
Use the social media content rule of thirds:
● ⅓ of content promotes business and converts audience
● ⅓ of content shares ideas and stories from thought leaders
● ⅓ is original brand content

23. Posting
The type of original content that we will create and post is:
The type of related content we will share is:
We will post to the following channels this frequently:
➢ [X channel / X times a day]

24. Process
The audience that we need to tailor content to is:
➢ [Reference audience research]
The editorial calendar that maps out our content release schedule is here:
➢ [Add Link]
The social media content calendar that maps out our promotion plan is here:
➢ [Add Link]

25. Next Steps

26. Measuring your progress
Use analytics tools to measure how you’re performing against the goals, business objectives, and metrics you
laid out in slide no. 9.
● Related resource: Social Media Analytics Report Template
Once you collected the data, create slides highlighting your key learnings so far and next steps.

27. What’s working well?
[Social network]
● What it’s best for:
● Target audience:
● Types of content we will share:
● Key performance indicators (KPIs):
[Social network]
● What it’s best for:
● Target audience:
● Types of content we will share:
● Key performance indicators (KPIs):

28. What’s not working?
[Social network]
● What it’s best for:
● Target audience:
● Types of content we will share:
● Key performance indicators (KPIs):
[Social network]
● What it’s best for:
● Target audience:
● Types of content we will share:
● Key performance indicators (KPIs):

29. Channel Date Range
Net Followers
Gain/Loss
# of Posts
Engagement
Rate
Click-throughs Mentions
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
TikTok
[Your Company’s] Progress

30. Action items
● [Summarize your plan here]
● [“We will shut down X account”]
● [“We will focus on Y and Z platforms to drive brand awareness”]
● [etc.]

31. Questions?
Reach out to me for help!
● Sign up for a social media consultation
● Text or call me 814.490.8762
● Message me on LinkedIn
● Send me an Email