How To Build A Social Media Marketing Playbook in 6 Easy Steps

In this article, I will teach how to build a social media marketing playbook in 6 easy steps.

 Why is social media marketing important?

Social media marketing is important because of the countless hours consumers spend with their faces glued to a screen.

Too many opportunities would be missed if we sat idly by and did not grab a piece of online real estate and compete for consumers’ attention.

It is now 2024, and the days of promoting your brand via the newspaper or using boring old billboards are over.

The new age of marketing is here and it is online. According to a 2023 study by Al Jazeera there is approximately 4.8 billion users on social media every single day.

That is almost 60% of the world!

With this many people spending time with some kind of screen glued to their faces the opportunity to market our business, brand, and/or product is more than evident now more than ever.

What is a social media playbook?

A social media playbook is any document or plan that explains in detail how to engage and grow your business/ brand through social media. 

Having a social media strategy to grow your online identity and engage viewers with your brand is essential.

Think of new-age celebrities such as Kai Cenat, Druski, or Jake Paul. 

These influencers used social media marketing as the number one tool to boost their brand popularity which led to a dramatic increase in brand recognition, brand credibility and millions of dollars in the bank.

Just using these few examples you can see the direct benefit social media marketing can have on a brand, business, and/or product.

But enough background information.

You came to get tried and true step-by-step strategies to build and grow your own brand on social media.

So, Lets Get To It!

How to build a social media marketing playbook in 6 easy steps

1. Ask Yourself What Is The End Goal?

Think of of the final outcome, what is it?

Outlining your goals should be the first step you take when setting up any plan. Especially a plan involved in marketing. You should know and understand the main objective you are trying to complete for the most efficient results. 

View digital marketing as a mission, would you go into a mission without knowing what you are trying to do in the first place?

No, you wouldn’t. So don’t start now.

Whether your main goal is to build brand credibility, brand equity or just to get more eyes on your brand, having an intentionally clear purpose is a must in starting any plan.

Use ‘SMART’ Short Term & Long Term Goals To Track Progress

Use SMART Goals to track the progress you have made toward your desired result. SMART goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Based. AKA ‘SMART’

SMART goals are great as they make it a lot easier to attract the progress in what you are doing, as you are doing it.

Know that tracking the progress you have made toward your goal is almost just as important as the goal itself.

Knowing where you are in relation to where you are going will make it easier to understand what is, and what is not working.

2. Understand Your Target Audience

Understanding your target audience.

Marketing 101.

Who are you targeting? Who do you want to see interact with your brand?

Knowing who your target audience is the first step to producing any form of mass content.  Producing content such as videos, posts, or articles without having a designated audience in mind makes your content subject to being lost in the algorithm, as the information can appear to be too broad.

Take this article for example, I created this post with a direct audience in mind (you), individuals who want to use and implement a social media strategy to boost sales and brand recognition.

If I wrote this article without an intended target audience in mind it would be almost impossible for me to get this content in front of your face.

How Does Someone Choose Their Target Audience?

I know what you’re thinking,  if understanding my target audience is the first step in establishing my social media playbook, how do I choose my target audience?

This question is really up to you to figure out however, I’m here to guide your mind in the right ballpark.

Ask Yourself These 3  Questions When Choosing Your Target Audience

Who am I trying to help, entertain, or sell to?

Ask yourself who am I trying to help, sell to, or just frankly entertain. When you think of your business who do you envision being the recipient of it?

Who would benefit best from what I am doing?

Take these wise words from a marketer, people are SELFISH, people don’t care about what you are doing if it can’t directly benefit them. So how can you benefit them? Think hard about who could best benefit and grow from what you are trying to do, then target them.

Who are my competitors targeting in their marketing efforts?

Who are your competitors going after? 9/10 if a mass percent of your competitors are going after the same group they’re right. This does not mean only going after the audience your entrepreneur peers are going after however, use their marketing efforts as research to closely dial in more on the group you are looking for.

3. Understand The Algorithm Of The Platform

A key component I feel enough people either don’t know about or simply just don’t care about is, taking the time to understand what the platform looks for from its content creators.

Understand that these platforms are also businesses.

They have goals they want to reach to stay ahead of their competitors. The majority of social media companies openly let their users know what they are looking for to grow their platform in order to promote transparency.

For example, I am going to give you some tips directly from Instagran that will help you intelligently market your Instagram to gain more views to your account, which can directly lead to brand exposure and increased revenue if managed correctly.

How To Use Instagram To Market in 2024

According to an article written by Instagram developer Adam Mosseri states, “Instagram does not have just one algorithm but several algorithms. There is an algorithm for every aspect of Instagram from Stories, Reels, to the Explore Page.”

Using the explore page and reels is the best way to get your content in front of new viewers as Instagram understands that these aspects of their app are most used to search and inspire and not to see your current friends funny memes.

Instagram recognizes that with the hype of social media platforms like TikTok, short-form videos are the way of the future. With the average attention span shortening year after year content creators such as yourself have to start thinking quick entertaining ways to spread your message.

AKA focus on reels.

When making content you need to make the post have a high chance of being interacted with in some form to give Instagram signals that people are enjoying your post and it is safe to push it out.

Signals are very important as they let the robotic algorithm understand how, where, and when to disperse your content.

Here are the 4 signals that Instagram uses to push content to new viewers

“The 4 signals below are directly from the Instagram announcement website for total transparency”

• Information about the post. Here we are looking at how popular a post seems to be. These are signals like how many and how quickly other people are liking, commenting, sharing, and saving a post. These signals matter much more in Explore than they do in Feed or in Stories.

• Your history of interacting with the person who posted. Most likely the post was shared by someone you’ve never heard of, but if you have interacted with them that gives us a sense of how interested you might be in what they shared.

• Your activity. These are signals like what posts you’ve liked, saved, or commented on and how you’ve interacted with posts in Explore in the past.

• Information about the person who posted. These are signals like how many times people have interacted with that person in the past few weeks, to help find compelling content from a wide array of people.

4. Make Your Content Engaging

Make your content engaging! This is where you put on your entrepreneur hat and find a way. We’ve already discussed the signals that social media companies are using to push direct content properly. 

Having engaging content makes it easier for the algorithm to spread your content as well as promotes a great user experience. 

Great user experience usually leads to scrolling through more of your content which in turn leads to more activity on your posts, more eyes on your brand, and more possible cheddar in your wallet.

Understanding The Importance of User Experience

We’ve spoken on the importance of pleasing the algorithm now it’s time to explain the importance of user experience.

It is just not enough to please the algorithm, after all the user is in control in the end.

All the algorithm does is push your content in front of the user’s face. It is up to you to entertain, educate, or sell in an attention-grabbing way to maintain great user experience to promote a positive chain of reaction.

Research what other successful entrepreneurs do in your field to promote engagement as replicating other’s tactics can be a sure-fire way to gain knowledge on the task at hand.

Tips To Make Your Content More Engaging

• Make your content funny
• Make your content relatable
• Answer questions
• Post content consistently
• Know your audience

5. Measure your results

Measure your results.

 What’s working? What isn’t working?

Experimenting and learning from your lessons will only boost you toward your end goal even faster.

Look at your account and ask yourself has it grown?

Did I meet and surpass my goals?

At the end of the day, the only thing that matters are results . Give yourself room and leadway to update your plan if need be. Speak to those close to you and ask them how can you better improve your content so that it can grab the attention of the audience you are targeting. 

Getting honest and positive feedback about what you are doing and honest feedback on if your strategy is working is essential to growth. You do not want to overpost redundant, boring, and spread misinformation as this will attach to you and become the identity of your brand.

Measuring and understanding results are key however, it is much more important to roll with the punches and understand what is, and what isn’t working. This way you will avoid making the same mistake over and over, which damges your reputation and cost you time and money.

Remember focus on the black and white. Never shy away from understanding the objective at hand.

The entire goal of this marketing playbook is to help you change the botom line in your business/brand using social media.

6. Don’t Be Scared Of Others Reaction To The Change

Many people are fearful of the idea of starting a whole new image of themselves and their platform

I knows it’s scary to put yourself out there with the fear of not knowing if your efforts will be in vain.

However, with the right strategy, the reward is far greater than the risk. Most people are in fear of their peers unfollowing them taking their content as annoying. ‘

And the truth is that for some people that may be the case but the audience that you have not tapped are eager to see what you have to offer. Promoting yourself and putting your brand out there can and will lead to numerous leads and an increase in revenue in your account. 

Dive head first you can do it!

All in All

You are an entrepreneur. There is no one coming to save you or your business the time to start is now! Social media can be used as an excellent tool to boost brand recognition and credibility.

Make sure to have fun. When you having fun it becomes easier to work and produce quality engaging content.

The 6 Steps To Create a Social Media Marketing Playbook

• Set Goals
• Understand Your Audience
• Understand The Algorithm 
• Make Your Content Engaging
• Measure and Track Your Results
• Don’t Be Afraid Of Others Opinions

I have given you six steps to easily set a bomb social media playbook but it’s up to you to take control of your future. This is not hard work but it is a lot of work however with time, patience, and consistency you will get it done amazingly.

Thank you for your time reading this article and I wish you nothing but the best in your marketing journey!

If you enjoyed this article I invite you to visit LeAnthony Stephens: The Guide To Success for more marketing and practical advice.