What’s up everyone,

I’m still new to this whole newsletter thing but trying to figure it out as I go.

This will eventually be a paid newsletter (similar to Lenny’s Product Newsletter) or maybe I’ll try to land sponsorships to make it sustainable (it would be awesome to bring in some design & research support down the line).

I’ll continue to share most (if not all) of my content on social for free, but will consolidate everything into newsletter editions so that they are easy to consume for people who want to go deeper.

Hope you enjoy this first edition.

If you did, let me know on socials @ishverduzco.

If you didn’t then whoops, maybe this newsletter is not for you (and that’s ok too. No hard feelings).

What you’re about to read is literally the outline that I use whenever I take over a fresh social account. It works best for Twitter/X and LinkedIn but can be modified for Instagram or any other social platform.

Also worth noting that this is not perfect, but it should help you design an overarching strategy doc that can be passed around within your organization.

Your final product should be a 2-3 page doc that someone else can pick up, read in 10 minutes, and manage the social account(s) if the social lead is out sick for a few days. It should be thorough, self explanatory, and provide tons of direct examples.

If you’re a Social Lead, then you probably already have something similar to this — hope it sheds light on my process and helps you out a bit.

If you’re a Head of Marketing or Founder, then your team should have something like this in place — forward this to them.

And if you’re just building a brand for yourself online but want to know how it’s done for at an established company, then I hope you enjoy this and take what you need.

Ok, enough chatting.

Let’s dive in. ↓

𝕏 & LinkedIn Strategy Template

Note: This doc was created for anyone managing or creating content for XYZ Twitter/𝕏 account

Goals - At least one of these should be tied to the business.

• Increase our following by X amount by X date

• Drive 20% of app downloads from social by X date

• Increase our brand awareness through our daily content (as tracked and measured by impressions & mentions)

Voice/Tone - If your brand was a person, how would they speak? Examples below.

• Helpful - Always looking to provide value to our audience

• Playful - We don’t take ourselves too seriously

• Knowledgeable - We are subject matter experts in our domain

• Succinct - We don’t ramble or repeat ourselves. We get to the point.

Audience(s) - Who are you speaking to?

• Audience #1 - Your core audience. Most likely your users or customers.

• Audience #2 - Influential people in your domain.

• Audience #3 - Community (can be others brands, people, or creators building in the industry but not competing with you)

Content Cadence - How often do you want to post?

• Somewhere between 5-10 posts per week seems right to start

• Aim for quality and consistency while keeping an eye on engagement

• Optimize over time based on best performing content themes & posts

Content Types - What types of content do you post? 

• Threads? Memes? Case Studies? AMAs? Blogs? Infographics? Long form posts? Short form posts? Videos?

• Pick your tools based on your strength and existing resources

• You can always build out more content types over time

Content Pillars - What are the consistent themes you want to be known for?

• Theme 1 - Directly tied to your core business or persona

• Theme 2 - Tangental to your core business

• Theme 3 - Doesn’t not directly related to your business

• Note: I’d aim to have 70% of your content fall in Theme #1, 20% fall in theme #2, and 10% fall in Theme #3

Review - Process for sharing updates via social

• Who needs to review after the first draft is created?

• How long do they have to review and approve?

• What type of content is ok to share without review?

• If review is a must, can you get bulk approvals?

Content Examples - Specifically, how would we write on Twitter?

• Write out 5 pieces of social copy for different use cases

• Maybe one can be a product promo post, another can be a case study, another can be a simple 1-line tweet related to your industry

Memes, GIFs, & Emojis - How do we use them? Examples below

• Use GIFs only in replies to show personality (never in original tweets)

• Use a wide range of GIFs & memes (not the same ones every time)

• Use memes in original tweets (no more than once per week)

• Use only the yellow emoji skin tone (not shaded) 👍

Content to Avoid - Never post this content

• Get input from different members of the team

• What do they find to be cringe online — avoid this like the plague

• Developing a voice & tone online will take time, knowing what not to post or say helps speed up the process

Crisis Management - What happens when there’s a fire?

• Who do you contact?

• Do you delete posts? Keep them up?

• Who approves this?

• What if it’s not during business hours?

• Do you call, text, Slack, or email the team?

• What do you define as a crisis? (get input from company leads here)

Community Management - When do we reply/like? Examples below.

• We aim to reply/like all neutral or positive mentions

• We ignore blatantly ignorant negative mentions

• We pass along the concerning negative mentions to the founder

Community Management - Reply examples

• Exactly how do you reply to people?

• Do you use emojis? Memes?

• Which words or phrases will you use?

• Outline 10 examples of replies to different types of posts

Follower Strategy - Who do we follow?

• Will you follow everyone back?

• Will you follow only a select few of people?

• Do you only follow your team and founders?

Favorite Follows - Who are your favorite creators in the space?

• Set notifications for their posts and engage with them regularly

• Learn from their content, social copy, and engagement strategy

Growth Strategy  - How will you grow our account? Examples below.

• What’s your growth strategy?

• Will you leverage paid marketing?

• Will you aim to create highly shareable content to grow your audience?

• Will you work with influencers and other creators to cross-pollinate audiences?

• Will you drive people from your email or podcast to follow you on social?

Misc. Notes - Final things to consider before running the account.

• What are subtle nuances that someone who maybe isn’t a social media pro should know about taking over your account?

• Are there any accounts online that they should avoid engaging with?

• This is also a great place to link out to any content calendars, other strategy docs or resources that would be helpful

I really hope you found this helpful!

If you did, I would really appreciate you sharing it with a friend or posting it online and tagging me on Twitter/X & LinkedIn.

You can also reply to this email with a testimonial to be featured on the landing page.

Lastly, some humor for my fellow social marketers:

Cheers y’all

Ish