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What does a freelance social media plan look like?
I’ve worked in digital marketing for 6 years now, and feel fairly confident in what I do. But I work for a large organisation and my work is very specific. I don’t do a hell of a lot of hands-on social media, but obviously integrate it into bigger campaigns.
I’ve been asked by a friend to help out (paid) with his social media. He’s a writer looking to promote his self-published books and raise his profile to try and get his name out there. I said yes because I thought it would be a good challenge to see if something more freelance would suit me.
But I all of a sudden feel overwhelmed. I see loads of people online offering freelance social media planning/social media consultants, but I cannot get a good idea of what these people provide. He is happy to implement the plan with some support from me as he has time, but really just needs the guidance.
I’m writing up a plan that looks something like this:
* Overview / general direction/ target audience for his niche
* A list of immediate quick wins for him to get started with, including deleting old/bad-form posts, changing his bios, updating header images, making sure all his links are correct, getting a professional headshot etc.
* List of objectives and KPI’s, based on a conversation I’ve had with him and what he wants to achieve
* A brief competitor analysis of what’s happening in his niche, including examples of what’s good and what isn’t
* An overview of the channels I recommend he use, suggestions on timings, visual consistency of posts, tone of voice, use of hashtags etc.
* A content plan, including a content calendar and suggestions on how to breakdown his types of content (video, photo, writings) for each channel
* Community management tips, such as how to find relevant accounts to follow, how to engage commenters etc. I’ll feed this into his calendar as an action, too
* Some promotional ideas, such as running competitions and trying to engage the audience beyond just posting. Will be followed up in a chat with him about which ones he’d like to put into the calendar and plan for
* Advice on paid promotions, and how I would advise he feed that into his calendar if he chooses to use them (he doesn’t want to if he can avoid it, but thought it good form to include)
* Also a general list of hints and tips he can look over when creating his content and choosing what to postWould you say I’m on the right lines of what people would expect to receive? I have already spent a day or so on it, and I imagine one more and I’ll be done. Is that enough? I’m a bit nervous he’s going to think I’m full of rubbish and he expected way better, but I’m not sure what else I can do at this stage. I think that people think there’s some magical way to be “good” at social media when really it’s just a lot of common sense and a lot of patience…
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7 Replies
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Quickly putting a comment here to respond as soon as I can. I’ve been a freelance marketer for over 20 years. I’d be happy to help you out, offer free consultation, and I have a feeling our services will mesh perfectly helping your friend’s book push.
BRB hopefully tonight
-Overview / general direction/ target audience for his niche
This you’ll need to do a bit of research but the research is fast. It comes down to getting clear on who the exact type of person would want to read this book. Let’s say it’s a book about cats for cat owners. Cat owners is your target, and now the next step is locating where a lot of cat owners are online. For example, I would most likely start looking for sales on Instagram and Facebook, and research what accounts do the cat owners follow, what hashtags do they use. I’ll help you brainstorm on niches to target, lemme know what the book is about.
-A list of immediate quick wins for him to get started with, including deleting old/bad-form posts, changing his bios, updating header images, making sure all his links are correct, getting a professional headshot etc.
Everything you just mentioned. “Dusting off” all old pages and updating the info. Prepare each page for this specific goal of selling the book. I wouldn’t call these quick wins though. This is just being smart and planning your marketing/branding/influence approach.
-List of objectives and KPI’s, based on a conversation I’ve had with him and what he wants to achieve
Conversions is the most important metric/KPI. The next important metric is showing the growth of all other metrics over time (growth in social media followers, engagement, shares, etc). The next important to monitor would be the general exposure of the business/profiles (followers, impressions, clicks,etc). However, what I just mentioned is the goal for revenue. If the goal is to gain influence/brand awareness now, with the goal of revenue in the future, but not now, then building up followers and engagement is the most important metric.
-A brief competitor analysis of what’s happening in his niche, including examples of what’s good and what isn’t
Personally, I look at competitors for ideas. I simply think of the biggest brands in the niche, and look at what they’re doing.
-An overview of the channels I recommend he use, suggestions on timings, visual consistency of posts, tone of voice, use of hashtags etc.
Twitter/Pinterest/Facebook Groups/Youtube comments/Linkedin is where I would be able to generate sales without paid ads. Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/Pinterest is where I would be able to generate sales with paid ads. The other parts to your question, “the nuance” has so much depth and detail it’s not easily summed up. But, the “nuance” is what matters the most in my opinion. When you get real skilled at the wording you use and the timing of the use, it’s extremely beneficial.
-A content plan, including a content calendar and suggestions on how to breakdown his types of content (video, photo, writings) for each channel
Check out monday.com , you may like this service. I personally don’t handle content creation, but I suggest simply to find your own way that suits you. There are some blogs that give good scheduling suggestions.
-Community management tips, such as how to find relevant accounts to follow, how to engage commenters etc. I’ll feed this into his calendar as an action, too
This is a massive realm. This is what I personally specialize in, which is finding the quality targets, engaging, making them followers, and getting them to share. I’ll delve into more of this in a follow up.
-Some promotional ideas, such as running competitions and trying to engage the audience beyond just posting. Will be followed up in a chat with him about which ones he’d like to put into the calendar and plan for
-Advice on paid promotions, and how I would advise he feed that into his calendar if he chooses to use them (he doesn’t want to if he can avoid it, but thought it good form to include)
Check out Gleam.io this is a good start.
Also a general list of hints and tips he can look over when creating his content and choosing what to post.
Each social media site is different. There’s no simple cheat-sheet or quick guide. The best way to see what’s happening with the current landscape of each social media site are the social media subforums here on reddit. Someone here has asked the question, and many have given their thoughts.
Feel free to send me any more questions and brainstorms.
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You didn’t mention if his books are print and/or digital, fiction or non-fiction. The format is as important as the genre in your plan. Is he shooting for name awareness or book sales?
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I’m trying to learn how to be a digital marketer and an entrepreneur, so if anyone should be skeptical of you it should be me.
I honestly don’t see why you don’t think you’re good enough for what he needs?
You sound WELL beyond “good at social media”
Just be honest with the guy about what you can and cant do and he’ll love you, you are literally crushing it and even researching how to better serve his needs, you are already better than half your competition just from that fact alone.
I currently couldn’t even try to take that job from you because you have a better plan of attack than I do 😛
Granted the world is cutthroat and you have to perform well, but you’re fine.
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Perfectly in order. Excellent planning.
Hope the comment is in order.
Thanks.
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How do I add a freelancer like this to my video production company? I’ve been curious about this more recently. And mainly if this is even something clients want. (obviously this isnt something I’ve tried selling yet)
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Hi I’ve also started learning about digital marketing and done some research, you’re doing good 😀
He can engage his followers in his stories by a question a poll
You can learn about Instagram algorithms and figure out how the app decides which posts show up in the explore section for more people to see
Start a challenge or a contest for his followers and encourage them to share the post or like it & comment on it, then he can give awards that benefits both him & the winners -
Something powerful that stuck with me as I started my own business –
“there are people less qualified than you, doing the things you want to do, simply because they decide to believe in themselves.”
A major part of entrepreneurship is believing (sometimes over-believing) in your abilities. It’s why so many entrepreneurs’ resources are inspirational materials.You’re clearly qualified, you clearly know what you’re doing, so you’ve just got to start. My first social media gig I was majorly under-qualified, but I was able to take that experience to learn, grow, and honestly it was much easier to be an authority with my knowledge than I thought. I similarly laid out a very open plan of what i felt were the right steps and what we could accomplish together. If you keep that up as a rule of thumb, you’ll never struggle with work as you’ll always know their expectations are within your abilities.
That gig landed more, those landed more, and now I own my own business.
You’ve got the knowledge, you have the experience, you just need to believe that you’re already in the top 1% of social media marketers out there (which you are) and market yourself in that way. People will pay attention and as you need new skills, they’ll come same to you as everyone else.
Good luck – I have full confidence in your abilities to make this something big!
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