Most marketers have started asking, “What is your LinkedIn strategy, Facebook strategy, Instagram strategy, or Twitter strategy?” instead of asking, “What is your people strategy?”
Social media marketing and advertising are not strategies—they’re about buying attention on these platforms or wasting time boosting someone else’s channel. Instead of spending so much time on social media, focus on earning the trust of your audience.
Why is social media not a strategy?
Sun Tzu never created a gun strategy or weapon strategy to win wars, and Muhammad Yunus never created a bank strategy or mortgage strategy. They focused on the essential element: people.
Asking, “What is your people strategy?” is the right question. Social media is merely a tool and a tactic that can be automated or outsourced. Whether it works or not, it’s not worth stressing over. However, this cannot be said for your audience—understanding how to serve them cannot be outsourced.
During challenging times, the effectiveness of your strategy will be tested, and its strengths and weaknesses will be exposed.
If your people strategy is strong, you will be better equipped to navigate adversity. If it’s weak, you’ll quickly see that businesses reliant on tactics like SEO, ads, social media, AI-powered personalized recommendations, influencer marketing, or price cuts struggle when there’s no solid people strategy in place.
Tactics are necessary and highly effective when they support a strong strategy, but tactics alone are not enough.
‘Strategy deals with the entire business and the products or services you choose to offer.’