Adam Robinson of freight logistics company Cerasis wrote a series of posts which outlined the company’s social media and content marketing strategy and the successes the company has achieved through the execution of their strategy.  The series also included how-to guides: how to create a social media and content marketing strategy and how to execute a social media and content marketing strategy.  Robinson’s series is a must read for companies interested in learning the potential business value of a social media and content marketing strategy and for companies wondering the steps they need to take to create and execute a successful strategy.

Two sentences in Robinson’s series stand out:

“It all comes down to strategy!”

“Now, if you have the resources to be on every social media platform, you should, but only if you do it well!”

Sage advice.

Without a strategy it is unlikely that your company will be successful.  Social media and content marketing can be effective tools for attracting new customers and retaining current customers; however, it is unlikely that your company will reap these benefits if you do not have a strategy in place.  A 2014 study shows just how important strategy is.  The study found that 60 percent of companies with a documented strategy in place consider their efforts to be effective as compared to 11 percent of companies with no documented strategy in place.

A successful strategy takes into consideration your company’s strengths, resources, limitations, and goals.  Another component of success – doing things well.  For some companies it is possible (and makes sense) to be on every social media platform.  For many companies a well-executed strategy means focusing on one or two platforms. Don’t spread yourself thin, make your company show up strong!

It is also important to remember that if you need help, there is help available.  It is possible to obtain training in social media and content marketing and it is possible to outsource these functions.

This article also appeared on DC Velocity.