Learning as I Go
Strategies, Systems, and Tactics
One of the things I discussed during my webinar with HeyOrca last week was the importance of differentiating strategy from tactics when it comes to social media content creation. And one of the most overlooked aspects of developing a social media strategy is determining which framework(s) to implement.
To be fair, I think this is in part because many social media marketers (if you're like me) stumbled into marketing and didn't have formal training in it (yay for learning as we go)! So for the next few weeks, buckle up because Professor Rachel will be guiding you through different frameworks you can implement into your social media strategy!
First, answer the following questions.
Whenever you are looking at implementing social media strategy frameworks, you should be able to answer the following before creating any content:
- What does your brand uniquely offer?
- Who does this product/service serve?
- Where are your ideal customers at (this answer to the above question) in their buyer's journey?
Then you can consider the following content questions:
- How often should you publish?
- Which channels should you show up on (social media platforms, email, etc.)?
- What's your overall goal with the content (website clicks, engagement on the post, form signups, etc.)
After you've established all of this, then you can start using different frameworks, like TOFU/MOFU/BOFU.
TOFU/MOFU/BOFU has been around since about 2006-2010. It was central to Hubspot's inbound marketing and content strategy. Its design is funnel-shaped, and it's focused on the customer journey. It answers the question: what does this person need at each decision stage?
So how do you implement this? Map all your answers to the questions above to each stage of the funnel. Like this:
TOFU Content answers: what will attract people to my business? This can include solutions to problems they may have and/or unique product/service offerings. This can be shared through:
- Trends You Can Connect to Your Brand
- Current Events Related to Your Offerings
- POV: "The Biggest Mistake [Audience] Makes when Facing [Problem Your Brand Solves]"
MOFU Content answers: why should anyone care? This type of content can include how-tos, processes, and customer proof. This can be shown using:
- Carousels with Step-by-Step Processes
- Explainer Videos
- Interactive Quizzes in Stories: "How to Choose the Right [Product Your Brand Offers]"
BOFU Content answers: where can I sign up? Essentially, this is the content that will force your audience to make a decision. This is where your call-to-actions are asking them to convert in some way:
- Leave a Comment
- Visit Our Website
- Sign Up for Our Training
Once you have content that answers those questions, it's easiest to focus on distribution and volume. Most pros agree that you should have a content spread around the following:
- TOFU: 40-60%
- MOFU: 30-35%
- BOFU: 10-25%
Since I run B2B socials, my content looks a little more like this:
- TOFU: 70%
- MOFU: 20%
- BOFU: 10%
Play around with formats and volume. What works for one brand may not work exactly the same for another.
If you're interested in working with someone to figure out how to implement this for your brand, reach out! I'd love to work with you to strategize how you might use this for your brand.
