01/02/2024
An Organic Social Framework to Turn Casual Followers Into Brand Evangelists
Not getting the results you want from your organic social efforts? In today’s crowded digital landscape, simply having social media channels is not enough. To stand out, brands need an intentional organic strategy that fosters genuine engagement and loyalty.
Ground Your Team to Organically Nurture Fans
Step 1: Mission & Goals
The first step is to define your mission—your social media goals. You must clearly articulate why you use social channels and what you aim to achieve. Next, outline how to leverage social media tactics to support your broader business goals. State the goal first, then explain your social media game plan to drive it.
You could say: Our goal is to generate $50,000 in revenue in Q1 from our new product launch. To support this on social media, we will:
Post 1 Instagram story per week
Conduct early product reviews with fans
Record and post fan reactions weekly
Launch a micro-influencer campaign
Reevaluate performance at the end of Q1
If your mission is to create loyal brand evangelists, your organic social media strategy could be to lift up your customers so that they actively promote your products and services. Your tactics could be to do a weekly giveaway or amplify your customers' special activities—interact with your customers so that they develop a deep loyalty and love for your brand.
Whatever your mission, it serves as your guiding “North Star” for evaluating future opportunities and requests. Simply posting whatever, whenever, dilutes your impact. So, anchor on your purpose before creating anything. Then, if someone asks you to promote some random event, you can easily say no if it doesn’t align with your stated mission.
Step 2: Messaging
Each piece of content on social media contributes to the broader story you tell followers about your brand. People are going to scroll through your content three times before they decide whether they want to follow you or not. Having diverse posts that map back to your goals and resonate visually creates a memorable, high-impact social narrative.
To assess your overall brand story, ask yourself these questions:
What story am I telling potential new followers in my first three scrolls?
Am I showcasing diverse facets of my brand?
Is my content entertaining and engaging?
You don’t need an elaborate story with every post. The key is having an overarching unified story that aligns with your goals. Rather than getting fixated on single posts, look at your entire body of work and evaluate whether the collection clearly reaches your social media objectives.
Step 3: Process Management
To consistently execute an organic social strategy, outline your steps from ideation to post-publishing that work for your team.
Detailing your processes enables smooth handoffs if you're unavailable and sets expectations with internal partners. If someone requests you "quickly post this", you can point them to the process guide detailing when and how to submit content ideas.
Pro Tip: Create an official playbook to educate partners on ideal timelines for pitches and content needs. A playbook can also scale your operation by allowing others to follow the blueprint easily.
Step 4: Monitor Mentions, Comments, and Conversations
The work doesn’t end once you hit “post.” Continual monitoring builds on your metrics by directly surveying social conversations, comments, and mentions. This real-time feedback lets you keep a pulse on your fans’ needs and evolving perceptions.
Carefully review comments on your content and notice who replies to each one. Then, visit those profiles to see who is a customer and community member and prioritize their feedback accordingly.
Jenny also suggests checking broader discussions on Reddit and Google searches. For example, if you’re creating a new hashtag, Google it first to ensure no unintended meanings exist.
Today's advice is provided with insights from Jenny Li Fowler.
Social Media Examiner
