In this day and age, every business needs a social media strategy in place. And as a social media manager, knowing how to create an effective social media strategy for a business can turn these businesses into new clients.
So, where do you begin with creating this strategy?
You need to know what type of business you’re dealing with, and get clear on what the immediate goals and needs of the business are.
That’s why I’ve identified the four primary types of businesses that you’ll come across as a social media manager in my step-by-step strategy playbook.
My strategy method was created in a time when I was hired by a content marketing agency to complete over 300+ social media strategies in just two years.
During the course of creating these 300+ strategies, I discovered patterns and processes that sped up my work…
And one of these patterns is the 4 main businesses that you will come across as a social media manager, and how to apply my social media strategy template to all four of these types.
This approach can work across any kind of business, especially these 4 core types of businesses.
With a slight variation in approach and by knowing the specific client’s customer base and branding, you can tweak this strategy template and apply it to every business you encounter.
The 4 Main Categories of Businesses
Whether it be a B2B or B2C business, there are 4 main categories of businesses — all of which need Social Media Management services — each of which has specific strategies.
A majority of the time, the types of businesses that are going to approach you about social media are going to fall into one of these four categories.
The first type of business is digital products or subscriptions.
This is when a business is selling information in the form of e-books, online courses, an online software or technology, or some kind of digital subscription. In other words, the customer for this type of business pays for a product online and then receives the product digitally.
This type of business is often B2C, but it can also be B2B. For instance, in a SaaS product (software as a service), the business might be selling a software to another business to use for their company’s needs. However, you can still approach this type of B2B social media strategy in the same way you would if it were a customer that you were selling the product to.
An example of this is with online tools, such as a tool like Hootsuite. There are two versions of Hootsuite. One version is for the customer, ie: a social media manager or solopreneur. This would be B2C (business to consumer), marketing and selling to the end user. The other is their enterprise version, selling packages with multiple logins for an entire company or marketing team to access. In this case, it would be B2B (business to business), marketing and selling to other businesses.
The next type of business is physical products purchased online.
This is when products are purchased online and then the physical product is shipped to your house, such as businesses with products sold on Amazon, Etsy, or a Shopify storefront. This is any B2C situation where customers are buying online and then the products are being mailed and shipped to the customer.
The third type of business is local brick & mortar businesses or services.
This includes any type of in-person store or boutique, hairdressers, auto-shops, restaurants, movie theaters, etc.
For local brick & mortar shops, your social media strategy will be tweaked to cater to a specific location in order to target that local customer base. Having a location-based business requires the customer to leave their house, get in their car, and drive to that location. A customer’s physical presence is required in order for a transaction to happen. So the social media strategy for a local business follows the same baseline strategy template, but is then adjusted a target the local area.
Lastly, the fourth type of business is virtual services.
Virtual services is any type of service-based business that happens online, including bookkeeping, virtual assistant roles, social media management, web development, data entry, etc.
My social media strategy technique can be applied to all 4 of these types of businesses.
Social Media Strategy for the 4 Main Types of Businesses
With the Social Media Pro approach and strategy, you’ll be able to offer comprehensive social media services for all four of these types of businesses using my step-by-step strategic playbook.
When one of these four types of businesses reaches out to you about social media marketing, the first thing you should do is offer a free consultation call to get clear on their goals, what they need, and to answer any questions they may have.
A successful audit begins with the consultation. Here you can determine what your client’s objectives are by listening and asking specific questions to find out what they’re struggling with and what they’re looking to accomplish. In my strategy playbook, I provide a strategic client questionnaire to use for your consultation calls so you can ensure you’re asking the right questions on your first call with a client.
Once you’ve had your initial consultation with a client, now is the time to inform them of the “next steps”. This is your time to tell them what the next steps are to work with you, and where you’ll offer your audit and strategy services to the client.
Now is where my game-changer strategy technique comes in: selling the audit and strategy as a service to the client. Gone are the days where you do work upfront for the client for free.
With my strategic method, you learn how to get paid to create social media strategies for your prospective clients so that you never write another client proposal for free.
Announcing Social Strategy Day 2023!
If my social strategy playbook sounds like something you could use, I’ve got good news for you.
I’m excited to announce my extended Social Strategy Webclass on June 29th at 1:00 pm CDT!
Say goodbye to writing proposals for free and hello to a game-changing opportunity.
Here’s a sneak peek of what you’ll learn:
- The #1 way to position yourself so clients want to pay you for advice, over getting it elsewhere
- How to get your next 1-3 dream clients paying you ‘high ticket’ for a stand-alone audit & strategy
- How to never ‘pitch’ your full service again (you’ll see how my paid Social Media Strategy does all the selling for me!)
- How I was able to ‘rinse & repeat’ Strategy creation in under 60 minutes, for over 300+ businesses (and counting)
- How to automatically increase your current fees 2x-3x for your full DFY social media services as a result
You’ll also find out how to get access to my audit & strategy template for repeatable results that will impress clients, guaranteed! Plus, my free strategic client questionnaire will be included.
Join us to learn my strategic method for escaping the ‘hustle and grind’ way of making money in your social media business.
