1. Where is your audience spending time?

Is social media even the right channel to get your brand in front of your audience? If you don’t know where your clients spend time, then you shouldn’t be jumping straight onto socials with your content. Try to understand where your clients seek information that relates to their work. Do they attend conferences, read journals, subscribe to newsletters, search the web or, indeed, scroll on social media?

In the B2B space, it’s probably a bit of everything, so don’t put all your eggs (or budget) in one basket. Social media should be part of – not the whole of – your marketing strategy. Within that strategy you’ll need to think about which social media platform works for your audience, so address the question of ‘where’ again in this context.

With so many social media channels available to us, it’s tempting to use all of them. After all, profiles are free to set up and it’s easy to copy-paste your content across a few, right? Wrong. Take a moment to really think about where your audience spends time that relates to your business. While most people will use multiple platforms themselves, they might only want to curate professional relationships on one platform. This should inform your platform choice. Don’t be afraid to have just one platform to start with, as this will focus your resources.

2. What does your audience need?

Now that you know where your audience spends time, you need to understand what they are looking for in that space. Are they just browsing without purpose or searching for something specific? Do they have a general desire to learn more about their industry or a definite question which needs to be answered? Understanding these questions helps to define your content strategy.

Within your content strategy, you’ll need to think about the messages you create (which answer your client’s needs), as well as the format in which you deliver the message. For example, a white paper is a long-form piece of content which is ideal for sharing detailed information such as research findings. You will naturally share much more knowledge and expertise in whitepaper than you would a meme, and therefore would likely ‘gatekeep’ this content. So, what formats can you use higher up the funnel to raise awareness of this piece?

Without a strategy, you might be making noise without really getting to the issues at hand. You might give away too much too soon, or to the wrong audience. Your content strategy should align with your purpose and solutions, but your messages should relate to your audience first and foremost. If you can be clear on this point, it becomes easy to create content centred around a set of key messages, in a range of formats, that add value for clients.

3. Why are you best placed to help?

If you’re targeting clients with your content, then there’s a good chance many other businesses are doing the same. So, as part of your content strategy, you need to think about why your audience should engage with your content, listen to your advice, and ultimately choose to work with you. Why are you best placed to help? What makes you different?

Well, your brand – made up of your proposition, purpose and identity – will help to communicate why your target audience should choose you over your competition. Applying your brand to your content will make it unique, even if your message and format is similar to other businesses. This doesn’t mean just using the same logo and colour palette across your content but having a unique perspective from which you answer the client’s problems, and the message in a way that is consistent.

Consistency is key here. Consistency in your content – that means it looks, feels and sounds like you every time – builds trust with your audience. Changing your message, style or tone with every new piece of content is confusing for your prospects and leaves them unsure of who you are and how you will deliver. By showing up consistently, you’ll be top of mind when your client is ready to purchase.

Social media is one of the most widely used marketing channels of our generation, yet it’s also widely misused. As with all tactics, channels and tools, start with your strategy before diving in at the deep end. Remember, a strategy isn’t for life, it can be amended and improved as you learn more about your audience, but without it you’ll have no way of knowing if your content is hitting the mark with clients and therefore no way to improve.