Social Media Marketing

C h a p t e r 5 : Ta c t i c a l P l a n n i n g a n d
Execution
 Learning Objectives
• When you finish reading this chapter, you will be able to answer these questions:

1 What is a social media marketing tactical plan and how does it support the execution of a social media
marketing strategy?

2 What is a channel plan and how is it used?

3 How does a content plan relate to experience strategies? What are the elements included in the content
plan?

4 What is an editorial calendar and what should be considered in developing the calendar?

5 How do social media teams manage the roles, tasks, and schedules related to executing social media
tactics?

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 Tactical Planning for Social Media Marketing

• Social Media Marketing Strategic Plan may exist independently or may be a sub-plan of an integrated marketing communications (marcom)
plan.

‒ When part of a marcom plan, social media marketing activities will be aligned with marcom elements (e.g., advertising and sales promotions) to amplify the
brand’s message and/or to activate campaign events.

‒ Consequently, many of the tactical decisions may already be determined.

o For new brand: Such as defining brand identity, determining strategic pillars that will serve as the foundation for the brand’s image and position, and defining the
value proposition that promises to deliver.
o For existing brands: Such as establishing brand persona and identifying a creative strategy to guide brand communications.

• Tactical planning brings the social media strategy to life, as it puts the social media strategy into actionable steps to ensure that strategic
decisions are implemented effectively.

‒ The practical steps required including determining the right:

Tactical
Strategy
✓ Channels Planning
✓ Content to deliver the desired experience
✓ Rules of engagement Details the specific
Shapes the overall
✓ Schedule goals actions to achieve
these goals

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 Tactical Planning for Social Media Marketing (Cont.)

• To do so, brands should address:

Why: Value-Driven Social Media Marketing

Who: Understanding and Honoring the Target Audience

Where: The Channel Plan

What: Designing the Experience

How: Producing and Scheduling Content Posting and Promotion

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 Why: Value-Driven Social Media Marketing

The reasons or
purpose for social
Marketing strategies
required to meet the
Tactical objectives
required to meet
The actions required
to meet the objectives • Value-driven social media marketing aims to deliver value to both the brand and the
media marketing strategic objectives the strategy
customer.
‒ While revenue generation is important, the broader goal is to meet customer needs and achieve brand
objectives such as engagement or awareness.

• Social Media Tactics are actions taken to execute the social media strategy.

‒ Informed by the situation analysis, target audience, and objectives.

‒ Designed to align with the social media zones most effective for engaging the audience.

• The Strategic Mapping ensures objectives are met through a structured approach.

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 Who: Understanding and Honoring the Target Audience
• Target audience research (can be done by reviewing the persona) helps identify where, when, and how to engage the audience.
‒ It provides the insights required to create an experience strategy for engaging the target audience.

▪ Social media networks and channels used

▪ Devices used
▪ Participation timing
▪ Interactions with people and brands.

• Engagement reflects the culture of social media, based on participation and sharing.
‒ The cultural expectation is that participants, including brands, will interact, co-create, and share.
‒ Thus, a social media strategy should be based on creating experiences.
o For engaging audience effectively, we need to understand what experiences might inspire action—inspire the audience to do, see, and/or feel.

• Experience Definitions

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary According to Cambridge dictionary

‒ A direct observation or participation in events as a basis of knowledge. ‒ The process of gaining knowledge or skill through doing, seeing, or feeling.
‒ The state of being affected by or gaining knowledge through direct observation or
participation.

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 Where: The Channel Plan
• A Channel Plan is a strategy that identifies the social media platforms a brand will use to engage with its audience.
‒ It evaluates each channel for fit, considering the channel functionality, culture, and audience characteristics.
‒ Channel selection influences content topics, types, activity volume, and engagement forms.

• B2B vs. B2C Channel Preferences

‒ Some channels suit both B2B and B2C, while others (e.g., LinkedIn) may be more suitable for specific business types.

• Questions Evaluating Channels for the Brand

Channel Culture Brand Fit Competitor Presence

Who uses this channel? What are they using it for? How much Can we establish a unique presence and make a Are competitors active here? How are they
time do they spend here? valuable contribution? performing?
What are conversations like? What kinds of content work best? Does our brand’s image, voice, and tone fit with the
channel culture?
Will participation in this channel help meet our objectives? Paid Media Options

Does the channel offer paid media for targeted

Brand Considerations Engagement Contribution audience reach?

Does it make sense for our business to use this channel? What will we contribute to the channel? Budget and resources
What specific goals can be pursued here, given the channel’s What will we ask fans and followers to do (e.g., share,
functionality? Do these goals align with our strategic plan? comment)? How much can be allocated for each platform?
Where: The Channel Plan (Cont.)

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 What: Designing the Experience
• What will the brand ask the target audience to do?

• Social Media Experience is the interaction the brand invites its audience to have.

‒ It should encourage participation and sharing, aligning the brand’s identity with the needs and passions of the target audience.
‒ A successful social media experience is engaging, relevant, and aligned with the brand’s image.

• Key Elements for Effective Experiences

‒ Like advertising, it must be able to:

1. Attracts attention and breaks through clutter.

2. Delivers the intended message effectively.
3. Aids comprehension and boosts recall.
4. Positively influences brand attitudes and purchase intent.

‒ Additional Success Factors: Brands should also develop experiences that are:

5. Discoverable: should be easily found through search and on relevant platforms.

6. Scalable: should be extended or replicated across multiple channels and audiences without losing its effectiveness or quality.
7. Sustainable: must be sustainable over time, allowing for consistency in messaging.
8. Authentic and conversational to fit the culture of social media.

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 What: Designing the Experience (Cont.)

• Core Elements of Social Media Experience

Type of Tactic Content Type Content Strategy

What actions or interactions will the brand What kind of content will be used The overall approach, including:
encourage (e.g., likes, shares, comments)? (e.g., video, polls, infographics)?
Themes and topics, Appeals (emotional, rational),
Source (user-generated, influencer, or brand-
created), and Style (tone, voice, imagery)

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 Types of Tactic
• The experience the brand offers the target audience should align with the relevant zone of social media marketing.

‒ Some tactics work across zones, while others are zone-specific.

o Examples: Brand X used community-building tactics (social community) and live-streamed product demos (social
entertainment) to engage their audience, which Increased engagement and higher conversion rates by aligning tactics to the
zone.

• Successful brands choose tactics that fit their objectives, audience needs, and platform characteristics.

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 Content Type

• Content Type is an information asset that varies based on format and purpose.
‒ Role of Content: Provides a social object for audience engagement, as content facilitates interaction.

• Common Types of Social Media Content

‒ Live video, prerecorded video, photos, images.
‒ Articles, quotes, infographics, announcements.
‒ News headlines, Q&A, statements, case studies.
‒ eBooks, white papers, songs, games.

• Marketers will consider which types of content are :

‒ Typical for the SNS where the content will be deployed.
‒ Fit the tactic’s strategic intent.
‒ Most popular among the target audience (perhaps based on data on engagement rates
by content type).

‒ Best for relaying brand messages.

‒ Feasible given the staffing, creative, monetary, and temporal resources of the brand.

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 Content Strategy

• Content Strategy identifies themes, topics, and content formats to engage the target audience.
‒ Must fit brand values, target audience interests, and employed tactics.

• Content Strategy Document ensures that all decisions related to content are formally outlined.
‒ It provides a clear roadmap for the content creation process and helps maintain consistency across various content pieces.

Themes

‒ Themes are the broad ideas that content revolves around.

o Reflecting brand values (e.g., sustainability), industry trends (e.g., technological advancements), seasonal
events (e.g., holidays, trends), or target audience interests (e.g., health and wellness).

Topics

‒ Subcategories of the identified themes that guide specific content pieces.

o More specific subjects within a theme (e.g., recycling tips under sustainability).

Content Formats

‒ Formats such as videos, infographics, articles, or social media posts.

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 Content Strategy (Cont.)

• A Content Mix Strategy (The 80-20 Rule)

– Industry best practices suggest that the content mix should follow an 80–20 formula such that 80% of the content is audience-focused and 20% brand-
focused.

80% Audience-Centric 20% Brand-Centric

Focuses on what benefits or interests the Highlights the brand’s products or services
audience (entertainment, problem-solving) directly (promotions, new releases)

• Importance of Content Mix Strategy

– This approach benefits the brand by building trust and fostering deeper engagement, as the audience is more likely to interact with content that feels
relevant and less self-serving.

o By prioritizing the audience’s interests, a brand can nurture long-term relationships and increase the likelihood of conversions without overwhelming the audience
with constant promotional content.

– The 80-20 rule allows the brand to remain present in the audience's social media feed while subtly incorporating marketing messages.

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 Content Strategy (Cont.)

• Publishing Standards
– The content strategy will likely also include standards for content that ensure everything published and promoted for social media marketing is optimized
for effectiveness.

o The goal is to ensure that every piece of content is optimized for engagement and effectiveness.

– For instance, keywords, tags, and meta-tags that are relevant for the brand’s search engine optimization (SEO) strategy should be emphasized in
social media content.

o Hashtags used for specific brand campaigns or related to seasonal themes will be identified.

o Optimizing content is to improve visibility in search results.

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 How: Producing and Scheduling Content Posting and
Promotion

• The next stage of tactical planning is to establish processes for producing content and setting a schedule to guide workflow.

• Producing the Content

– Variations of creative briefs are used to document the required elements (e.g., word count, image sizes, hashtags, and call to action) of each content unit.
o If the content piece is part of a larger campaign, there may be a series of briefs (moving from campaign level to content type to content unit).

– The best ideas will produce atomized content.

o Content atomization means the content can be partitioned and/or repackaged in several ways while still remaining strategically aligned, amplifying the message
across channels.

Atomized content appears across different channels in unique forms.

Content
Atomization Increased Exposure — Multiple touchpoints with the same message.
Benefits

Message Recall— Enhances target audience's memory and engagement.

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 How: Producing and Scheduling Content Posting and
Promotion (Cont.)

• Scheduling with a Content Calendar

– The content calendar is a tool to schedule and prioritize content across various timeframes (annually,
quarterly, monthly, and sometimes weekly).
o It helps in identifying, prioritizing, and planning new content creation.

– The design of the editorial calendar should fit marketing goals and resources.
o Consider the volume, format, and frequency of content.
o The calendar should reflect the activity level for each social media channel.

– Studies on the effectiveness of posting schedules suggest that brands should post:
o Several times per week, spread among each day of the week.
o High-value content (e.g., blog posts, videos) should be less frequent but impactful.
o More conversational, brief posts for social network sites.

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 How: Producing and Scheduling Content Posting and
Promotion (Cont.)

• Fundamental Calendar Fields

Date of content publication.

Topic or Headline of content.

Author of the content.

Owner responsible for production and promotion.
Current Status (updated throughout the publishing cycle).

• Advanced Elements for Better Organization and Tracking

Channels: Owned, paid, or earned platforms (blog, YouTube, Facebook).

Content Formats: Blog, video, podcast, infographic, etc.
Visuals (e.g., Cover Make it easier to ensure that your work has a signature look and cohesive
images, logos) brand identity.
Topic Categories: Helps with searchability and content gap identification.
Keywords & Meta-data: Help keep your SEO efforts aligned with your content creation.

URLs: Archive for future audits and linking.

Calls to Action (CTAs): Helps ensure that every piece of created content is aligning with company’s
marketing goals.

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How: Producing and Scheduling Content Posting and
Promotion (Cont.)

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 How: Producing and Scheduling Content Posting and
Promotion (Cont.)

• Roles and Workflow

‒ A social media workflow is a sequence of connected steps that enables the organization to act efficiently with minimal overlapping tasks and
resources in order to implement the social media marketing plan effectively.

‒ A solid workflow helps you and your entire team to:

o Understand the big vision behind daily tasks and projects.
o Know what each person’s role and responsibilities are.
o Prioritize time and resources.

‒ Workflows can be incredibly complex, especially for large teams in global companies. To implement a workflow that actually works, follow
these steps:
o Identify the tasks needed for each piece of content and daily social media activities.
o Assign tasks based on team members’ roles.
o Schedule tasks in order of priority.
o Hold team members accountable for timely completion.

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 Summary
• What is a social media marketing tactical plan and how does it support the execution of a social media marketing strategy?
– The tactical plan brings the social media marketing strategy to life and addresses the why, who, where, what, when, and how of social media marketing.
There are several practical steps required including determining the right channels, content to deliver the desired experience, rules of engagement, and
schedule. It also involves developing processes to create, produce, and deliver the content, conversation, and other experiential elements of our strategy.

• What is a channel plan and how is it used?

– The channel plan determines where the brand will engage with the target audience. In this step, each channel is evaluated for fit. It is important to ask if
brand image, voice, and tone fit with the channel culture. The culture, guidelines and rules, and functionality of each prospective channel will influence
what can and should be shared, how people engage with each other, and choices about the timing and frequency of participation.

• How does a content plan relate to experience strategies? What are the elements included in the content plan?
– Experience strategies are how social media marketers inspire the target audience to engage with the brand in social media, participate or interact with the
brand, and hopefully also share the brand experience with others. The experience may be delivered using an app, game, branded entertainment, or many
other formats, but most often, the experience is in the form of content. The content plan includes the tactical decisions to bring the experience strategy to
life.

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 Summary

• What is a content calendar and what should be considered in developing the calendar?
– Content calendars help to identify, prioritize, and plan for new- and future-content creation. Calendars will typically include several sheets to accommodate
planning for different time periods while maintaining perspective of how the content fits together. The content calendar captures which content is scheduled
and prioritized for an organization, generally with an annual, quarterly, monthly, and sometimes weekly view. The calendar will reflect the intended volume
and frequency of activity for each channel in your social media plan.

• How do social media teams manage the roles, tasks, and schedules related to executing social media tactics?
– A clearly defined workflow will help your team communicate more efficiently, and it gives everyone something to be accountable for. A social media
workflow is a sequence of connected steps that enables the organization to act efficiently with minimal overlapping tasks and resources to implement the
social media marketing plan effectively. A solid workflow helps you and your entire team understand the big vision behind daily tasks and projects,
understand roles within the group, and prioritize time and resources.

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