How to Develop a Custom Social Media Strategy

If you're a small business owner in Orlando or the surrounding Central Florida areas, you're busy. You wear every hat and juggle it all, and now you have to contend with social media marketing? Yeah, I can feel your stress through space and time. We got you—just follow this guide, and you'll be reaching new audiences in no time.

This strategy prioritizes relatability because there's more to us than our purchasing power. Making relatable posts means they're more likely to be shared, which gets you more exposure. It also makes people resonate with you more because you understand and see them enough to talk about it in a post. That is powerful.

Step 1: Who are your people?

For efficient posting, we need to know who we're talking to. Professionally, we'd call this a "target audience." Who are your buyers? What are they like, and how could you characterize them? Here are some examples we identified with previous clients in Orlando and Central Florida:

1. Young, frugal, health-conscious moms looking for family-friendly activities.
2. Retirees exploring things to do outside the house in Central Florida.
3. Stressed-out students from UCF or Valencia College who need a break.

You probably have a few groups in mind, which is excellent. The more, the merrier! The more descriptive, the better. Pick one to start rolling with, but don't forget about the others.

Step 2: What do your people care about?

Let's say you run an ice cream shop like the one in Waterford Lakes that we love. Maybe you've selected dads of a family of 4 who have a dog and like weightlifting. What does he care about? Knowing what they care about and what draws their attention will be crucial to deciding what to post. What is a common experience that people like him usually have?

Step 3: Write out some post ideas.

So, that father... here are some things that might catch his attention:

1. A video of customers' pets enjoying dog-friendly ice cream at your store, with the family in the background!
2. A video of a father trying to console his teenage daughter with corny dad jokes and ice cream.
3. A "rugged dad" starter pack meme that includes cargo shorts, a baseball cap, a leash or dog treats, a huge ice cream, maybe some sunglasses, and a Yeti mug.

The point is to create things that make this target demographic feel seen—maybe even enough to send to their friend who lives a similar lifestyle.

Step 4: Take videos.

To start, all you need is a smartphone. Take your videos, and use a microphone! It makes a difference. Don't take it too seriously; sometimes, the more casual look and feel does better on social media because it's more relatable. Although, if your brand appeals to luxury and high-end goods, this is probably not the move!

Step 5: Edit videos.

Download CapCut, and edit the videos! I don't recommend using the audio from CapCut unless you're planning on making this into a paid advertisement. The music is good for ads but usually not as good as the music you can add in Instagram or TikTok.

Step 6: Get to posting!

Post your videos on all your accounts. Consider adding a call-to-action in the caption to drive more engagement, which the algorithm will see and then show the post to others.

Step 7: Experiment and repeat.

See what works, what doesn't, what does well, and what flops. Try to understand what does well and why so that you can reproduce that in later videos.

It may seem like a lot, but this strategy will take you further than a strategy of only posting your products. You want to give people a reason to engage with the post—maybe share it with a friend or save it for later. And of course, if you're a small business in Orlando or Central Florida, you can always reach out to us to do all this for you! ;)