05 Social Media Strategy

Social Media Strategy Generator

Produce the master social media strategy document. This is the primary deliverable for a strategy engagement. Every section must be populated with client-specific content — no generic filler. Apply British English throughout. Default to Uganda/East Africa context unless the client specifies otherwise.

Apply the POEM model (Paid/Owned/Earned) to classify channels. Apply the RACE framework (Reach/Act/Convert/Engage) to structure the KPI section. Reference Bodnar and Cohen (2012), Chaffey (2024), and Kotler et al. (2023) where indicated.

Before recommending channels or content, apply a direct-response filter drawn from Kennedy and Wiebe:

• market: who exactly is the strategy for?
• message: what pain, desire, or differentiated promise should the audience hear repeatedly?
• media: which channels fit that audience and message?
• offer: what is the next step being promoted at each stage?

Do not build platform plans before those four are explicit.

ARM Content Testing Lens

Before approving any content plan or campaign, apply the ARM framework to verify balanced coverage: (Hahn, 2003)

A healthy content plan addresses all three. A plan heavy on M (promotional) without A or R will shrink its audience over time. A plan heavy on A without M will grow an audience that never converts.

Use When

• Use this skill for producing the master social-media strategy after onboarding and audit.
• Confirm that 06-digital-marketing-strategy is not the closer route before proceeding.

Do Not Use When

• Use 06-digital-marketing-strategy when its narrower output is requested.
• Do not publish, spend, change a live account, certify compliance, or invent missing client evidence.

Required Inputs

Outputs

Evidence Produced

Capability and permission boundary

Read and search access to the supplied artefacts are required; calculation or file-rendering capability is optional. Planning and drafting are read-only with respect to client accounts and source records. Editing the deliverable requires explicit authorisation; publishing, production mutation, destructive action, spend, and certification claims require separate explicit authority and evidence.

Degraded mode

If files, platform access, network, rendering, fonts, or calculation tools are unavailable, return the narrowest useful qualified board-ready social-media strategy and implementation priorities. Mark each blocked check not assessed, state the consequence, and provide the exact evidence needed to resume. Never convert an unavailable check into a pass.

Decision rules

Workflow

1. Confirm the requested decision, consumer, market, period and permission boundary; route to 06-digital-marketing-strategy if its contract is closer.
2. Inventory the required inputs and their provenance. Stop any decision whose critical evidence is absent; recover by requesting it or recording a bounded assumption.
3. Apply the domain method in the core sections below, following the decision table whenever evidence conflicts or scope changes.
4. Verify calculations, dates, named platforms and claims against the supplied sources; label inference and uncertainty.
5. Produce the board-ready social-media strategy and implementation priorities, decision/source register and explicit next owner. Do not mutate live systems without separate authority.
6. Run the repository anti-slop ship gate. If a blocking factual, permission or evidence defect remains, fix it or withhold release.

Quality Standards

The output is client-specific, uses British English and the stated market/currency, distinguishes observed fact from inference, exposes gaps, and gives a checkable acceptance condition. Recommendations must be feasible within the confirmed budget, capacity and permissions.

Participation and trust lens

For every priority platform, add a short audience-affordance card before recommending content or effort. Record the audience motive (consume, control, connect, compete or create), the platform's useful affordance, the participation job (identity, conversation, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation or groups), the public/private boundary, the intended action, and one trust or attention guardrail. Do not infer motive from age alone; use the supplied persona, listening or pilot evidence.

The strategy must show the route from public discovery to the approved conversion hub, retention and honest advocacy. Do not optimise for outrage, humiliation, compulsive use or engagement without business context. See social-operating-system-and-pragmatics for the reusable card and conversation controls.

Anti-Patterns

• Using an undated benchmark as the client's result. Fix: use account evidence or label the benchmark as a provisional comparator.
• Producing the board-ready social-media strategy and implementation priorities without approved brief. Fix: stop the affected decision or issue a clearly bounded partial output.
• Treating missing access or data as a successful check. Fix: record not assessed, its risk and the recovery input.
• Absorbing 06-digital-marketing-strategy into this workflow. Fix: route the neighbouring output and hand over verified inputs.
• Publishing, spending or editing a live account during planning or review. Fix: obtain separate explicit authority and retain action evidence.

Worked example

Given verified approved brief, the skill produces a board-ready social-media strategy and implementation priorities with source dates and named assumptions. If that evidence cannot be accessed, it returns only the supported sections plus a recovery list; it does not fill gaps with East African defaults.

Read next

• 06-digital-marketing-strategy for the neighbouring contract.
• anti-ai-slop during production.
• ai-slop-audit at the release checkpoint.

References

• Anti-AI slop production gate
• Follow the directly linked repository skills above and any domain references named in the core sections below. Verify current platform, price, legal and regulatory claims before use.

Required Input

Ask for all of the following before generating the strategy document:

• Client business name — trading name as it appears on social media
• Industry and sub-sector — e.g. "retail — women's fashion", "NGO — maternal health"
• Country/city — defaults to Kampala, Uganda if not specified
• Primary business goal — one sentence: what success looks like for this client in 12 months
• Budget band for paid social — none / low (under UGX 500K/month) / medium (UGX 500K–2M/month) / high (above UGX 2M/month)
• Outputs from 01-client-brief — paste or summarise key findings
• Outputs from 02-platform-audit — paste or summarise current platform performance data
• Outputs from 03-audience-personas — paste or summarise the 2–3 primary personas
• Outputs from 04-brand-voice-intake — paste brand voice summary if available
• Website ownership — does the client already own a website? If yes, provide the URL. This determines whether a Website and Blog Strategy section is generated.

If any onboarding documents are unavailable, note this explicitly and generate the relevant section with stated assumptions.

Document Structure

Generate all ten sections in order. Use markdown headings. Do not omit any section.

1. Situation Analysis

Summarise where the client stands today. Cover four areas:

Market context: 2–3 sentences on the industry landscape in the client's geography. Note relevant digital trends in East Africa (e.g. mobile-first audiences, WhatsApp as a primary customer channel, rising TikTok penetration among under-30s).

Key competitors: Identify 2–3 competitors. For each, note which platforms they are active on, approximate posting frequency, and one observable strength or weakness. Draw from 02-platform-audit if available; otherwise ask the client to name competitors.

Current digital presence summary: Summarise the client's existing social media footprint — platforms active, follower counts, average engagement rate, content quality assessment. Draw directly from 02-platform-audit findings. State clearly where the biggest gaps or opportunities lie.

Audience overview: Summarise the 2–3 primary personas from 03-audience-personas. For each persona, note the platform they use most, what motivates them to engage, and what they want from this brand.

2. Strategy Statement

Write one paragraph (4–6 sentences). State clearly:

• What the social media presence will achieve (link to primary business goal)
• For whom (reference primary personas by name)
• Why this approach is the right one for this client at this time
• The overarching positioning the brand will hold in the social media space

Cite Kotler et al. (2023) on the role of digital brand positioning where relevant.

3. Platform Selection Rationale

Identify which platforms to prioritise, which to maintain at low effort, and which to deprioritise or exit. Present as a structured list or table.

For each platform in scope, provide:

• Priority level: Primary / Secondary / Exit
• Rationale: Why this decision was made — link to persona data and business goals
• POEM classification:
  • Owned: the brand's organic profile and content
  • Earned: UGC, shares, mentions, PR coverage, word of mouth
  • Paid: boosted posts, paid campaigns, sponsored placements
• Platform role in the strategy: what this platform is expected to do (e.g. "Facebook — primary community and customer service channel; broad demographic reach")

Apply EA platform defaults: Facebook for broad reach, Instagram for urban 18–35 aspirational content, TikTok for under-30 entertainment, WhatsApp for direct customer communication, LinkedIn for B2B or professional services, YouTube for long-form tutorials or brand storytelling.

3b. Website and Blog Content Strategy (include only if client owns a website)

The website is the only owned channel the brand fully controls — no algorithm, no terms-of-service risk, no platform changes. Social media drives traffic; the website captures it and converts it. If the client owns a website, this section is mandatory.

Website as the content hub: Apply the Hero/Hub/Hygiene content model. The website blog is the Hygiene layer — always-on, searchable, SEO-indexed content that answers the questions the audience is already asking. Social media distributes that content to audiences who are not yet searching.

Blog strategy: Define a blog cadence and topic structure aligned to the content pillars in Section 5. Each blog post should:

• Target one specific search query or audience pain point
• Be 600–1,200 words minimum for indexability
• Include one clear CTA (book a demo, download a resource, start a trial)
• End with a summary or key takeaways block — this becomes the basis for social recycling

Blog-to-social recycling plan: Every blog post generates at minimum four social assets:

1. LinkedIn text post — the argument or insight from the blog, written as a standalone post (no "I wrote a blog" phrasing — the post is the content; the link is in comments)
2. Instagram carousel — the key points from the blog as a swipeable carousel (5–7 slides); no need to read the blog to get value
3. Facebook post — a single punchy question or statistic from the blog with the article link; optimised for shares and link clicks
4. X/Twitter thread — the blog's main argument broken into 4–6 tweets with a link to read the full piece at the end

Optional additions where platforms are in scope:

• WhatsApp broadcast: a one-paragraph summary with a link — personal, direct tone
• TikTok/Reels: talking-head video or screencast version of the blog's main idea

Content calendar integration: The blog publishing date anchors a social distribution window. Publish the blog on Monday. LinkedIn post on Tuesday. Instagram carousel on Wednesday. Facebook post on Thursday. X thread on Friday. This stretches one piece of work across five touchpoints in one week.

SEO note: The website blog builds search visibility that social media cannot — indexed pages rank; social posts do not. The blog compounds over time; a post published in Month 1 still drives traffic in Month 6. This makes the blog the highest long-term ROI content investment in the mix.

4. Brand Voice Summary

Write 3–4 sentences summarising the brand's voice and tone for social media. Draw from 04-brand-voice-intake if available. Cover:

• Personality traits (e.g. warm, authoritative, playful, professional)
• Language register (formal / conversational / educational)
• What the brand would and would not say
• How tone shifts across platforms (e.g. more formal on LinkedIn; more relaxed on Instagram Stories)

5. Content Pillars

Define 3–5 content pillars. Apply the 10-4-1 rule (Bodnar and Cohen, 2012): for every 15 pieces of content, 10 should share relevant third-party or educational content, 4 should be original brand content, and 1 should be directly promotional.

Also make sure the pillars serve the full response system:

• attraction: bring in the right strangers
• conversion: move qualified people toward enquiry or opt-in
• retention: keep customers and followers engaged after the first action
• referral: give satisfied customers reasons and language to recommend the brand

For each pillar, provide:

Pillar name: [Short, memorable name] Purpose: One sentence — what this pillar does for the audience and for the brand Example post types: 3–4 specific examples (e.g. "customer spotlight quote graphic", "behind-the-scenes Reel", "tip carousel") % of content mix: Percentage allocation across all pillars must total 100% Platforms it suits best: List the 1–2 platforms where this pillar performs most effectively

Ensure the 10-4-1 rule is honoured in the aggregate percentage allocations — promotional content should not exceed 10–15% of total volume.

6. Posting Frequency and Content Mix by Platform

Present as a table. Include only the platforms designated as Primary or Secondary in Section 3.

Populate only rows relevant to this client. For EAT posting times, apply EA-specific guidance: peak times are typically 07:00–09:00 (commute), 12:00–13:00 (lunch), and 19:00–21:00 (evening). Facebook tends to peak earlier in the day; Instagram and TikTok peak in evenings.

7. Community Management Principles

Define 4–6 principles that govern how the brand engages with its audience across all platforms. Each principle has a short title and 2–3 sentences of guidance.

Include principles covering:

• Response time SLAs — e.g. comments within 4 business hours; DMs within 24 hours; complaints within 2 hours
• Tone in responses — how to maintain brand voice in reactive situations
• Escalation protocol — what types of enquiries or complaints get escalated, to whom, and how
• Negative comment policy — when to respond publicly, when to move to DMs, when to delete (only clear violations of community standards)
• UGC and mentions — how to handle and celebrate user-generated content
• Crisis response — brief trigger definition; note that the playbook-crisis-communications skill handles full crisis planning

Add a lead-handling principle: high-intent comments, poll replies, and DMs must feed a follow-up path instead of dying in-platform. Social engagement should create identifiable opportunities, not just vanity metrics.

8. Paid Social Integration

Provide brief guidance on when to boost posts versus when to run structured campaigns. This section is not a campaign plan — it provides strategic guardrails.

Cover:

• Post boosting: criteria for deciding a post is worth boosting (high organic engagement, commercial message, event promotion, time-sensitive offer). Minimum budget recommendation per boost.
• Campaign structure: when to move from ad-hoc boosting to a structured campaign (use 09-campaign-strategy for full campaign planning)
• Budget band guidance: match to the client's stated budget band:
  • None: organic-only; note that organic reach on Facebook is limited (typically 2–5% without paid support)
  • Low: selective boosting of 2–3 posts/month on Facebook and Instagram
  • Medium: monthly always-on boosting plus 1 structured campaign per quarter
  • High: always-on paid social plus multiple campaign flights; recommend engaging 09-campaign-strategy

Frame boosting and paid support around system roles, not random visibility. Each spend decision should support one of these:

• attract new qualified attention
• convert warm traffic already showing intent
• retain customers with follow-up or repeat-purchase content
• reactivate dormant leads or past buyers

9. KPI Framework

Apply the RACE framework (Chaffey, 2024) to organise KPIs across four stages of the customer journey.

Present as a table:

Populate Current Baseline from 02-platform-audit data. Set 90-Day Targets as SMART improvements over baseline. Remove rows for KPIs not applicable to this client.

10. 90-Day Milestone Roadmap

Structure into three months. Each month has a theme, 4–6 specific actions, and a clear milestone (what will be true at the end of the month).

Month 1 — Foundations and Quick Wins Theme: establish the brand's consistent presence, set up systems, and generate early momentum.

• Actions: [list 4–6 specific actions, e.g. "Finalise brand templates and tone guide for content team", "Publish content calendar for Month 1", "Set up WhatsApp Business profile and auto-replies"]
• Milestone: [what success looks like at Day 30]

Month 2 — Growth and Consistency Theme: build on foundations, grow the audience, test content formats.

• Actions: [list 4–6 specific actions, e.g. "Launch first UGC campaign or community challenge", "Begin boosting top-performing organic posts"]
• Milestone: [what success looks like at Day 60]

Month 3 — Optimisation and Expansion Theme: use data to improve performance; introduce new formats or channels if readiness exists.

• Actions: [list 4–6 specific actions, e.g. "Review Month 1–2 analytics and adjust content mix", "Produce first monthly performance report using meta-reporting skill"]
• Milestone: [what success looks like at Day 90]

Quality Criteria

• Situation analysis is client-specific — no generic observations that could apply to any brand
• Strategy statement clearly links the social media approach to the client's primary business goal
• Platform selection rationale explicitly applies the POEM model and justifies deprioritisation decisions
• Content pillars honour the 10-4-1 rule (Bodnar and Cohen, 2012) in aggregate percentage allocations
• KPI table is populated with baselines drawn from 02-platform-audit and targets that are SMART
• RACE framework (Chaffey, 2024) is applied correctly across the four KPI stages
• Community management principles include specific SLA timeframes, not vague commitments
• 90-day roadmap contains specific, named actions — not abstract phases or generic tasks
• British English spelling throughout; EAT timezone applied to all scheduling references
• Paid social guidance is calibrated to the client's stated budget band
• If the client owns a website, Section 3b is included with a blog cadence, recycling plan, and content calendar integration instructions

Four Tenets check before strategy (added 2026-05-04 from Levy)

Canonical reference: docs/ux-foundations.md Section 2.

Before producing the master strategy document, verify upstream artifacts contain evidence for all four tenets:

If any tenet is missing, return to the upstream stage before producing strategy. Do not paper over a missing tenet with a stronger headline; the strategy will fail downstream.

Complementarity with existing direct-response filter

The Kennedy/Wiebe direct-response filter (market / message / media / offer) already specified in this skill operates within the Four Tenets framework, not in place of it. Both run; they don't replace each other:

• Four Tenets → does this strategy belong in market at all?
• Market/Message/Media/Offer → if so, what is the operational shape of the next campaign?

Apply Four Tenets first as a gate; apply Kennedy/Wiebe second as a structure.