If social media makes you feel like your head is spinning and your time is running - welcome to the jungle. There are millions of agencies, influencers, and software companies that want you to believe you need them to grow your business with content and social media.

Here’s exactly what I just told two different clients to do. One is starting from zero followers, the other is starting with 1,329 followers and a relatively successful but plateau'd business.

1. Get cozy with your customer. Everyone skips this, but you need to put yourself in their shoes so you can see everything they're seeing in your industry, and spend a few minutes thinking about how you can meet up with them. I recommend looking at who they’re following, what they’re hearing right now, and what they’re looking for that they can’t find. Kinda segues into number 2…

2. Review your competitive landscape. Find your one most ownable, differentiated position. Every single brand has this, and it's so easy to find when you just do a little competitive research. I'm in the most competitive industry in the world. I’m doing this exercise for a $60M fashion brand right now, and I've done it for countless beauty brands. There’s always a space to own, and this is the single most valuable exercise you can do. Look at the landscape, what they’re selling, and what they’re saying. Find the gap – that’s the science. The art is connecting the dots between #1, #2, and #3. 

3. Draw a direct line from that ownable space to your target market. We're gonna break down three stops along their journey: What they need to hear from you first, to build trust. What they need to hear from you second, to buy. What they need to hear from you third, to refer a friend. We craft a straightforward, direct, simple message at each of these points. 

4. Break each of those 3 messages down into 4 micro angles. Typically this is when you start to see all those "random" ideas you had for content fall into place with more purpose and see hooks start aligning to your business goals. You know which spot in the customer journey that message is going to sit, so you can more easily optimize your ideas. For example, if I know I’m publishing loyalty/advocacy content, I can add a call to action in the caption that says “share with a friend” and that will typically 10x my reach.

5. Post each of those angles 2x for 24 posts across 30 days. Keep formats founder-light and simple so you can be sure you’re testing the message. If you overdo the design, edits, storytelling etc at this phase, you’re not getting as clean of a test. Plus, this takes less time. Don’t be precious right now! You are a scientist, objectively finding your winning message. You’ll add your stories and your feelings to it later (even though you’ll always want to act like a scientist if ROI is your first priority). 

6. Identify your top 25% winning angles for each of those 3 core messages. You don’t measure likes. You measure each post by which job it was supposed to do and the social media KPI that matches that. There are 3 total – shares, clicks, comments – and it’s super quick when you’ve lined it up this way from the start.

7. Scale up the frequency of the winning message. Update your playbook with the winners. Have fun breathing more life into those specific directions and roll that message positioning out across your website, email, and any other digital marketing so everything moves your customers in the same direction instead of muddying the waters. 

Next month, we're taking our clients through this exact step-by-step process – and for the first time ever we’re inviting non-Strong Brand Social Club clients to join us… 

We'll get your strategy and playbook done in a week, your measurement systems set up, The S3 System™ humming, and we’ll find your winning message in less than 30 days! ⚡

You'll even get Beta access to our results-obsessed AI content team to build your strategy and your 30 day plan, plus support your ongoing content production and help you read your results. While me and my marketing team walk alongside you every week, of course!

This is the most exciting thing we've offered in a really long time. 

If you want a chance to get in on it…

Join the waitlist to learn more!

Katie Wight is the founder and CEO of Strong Brand Social, a global social media education and training company and 3x Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Business winner. She works with bootstrapping brand founders, family-owned businesses, and marketing leads who are ready to launch and scale the last content strategy their brand ever needs.

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