Having a social media strategy as a Bitcoin business is essential as the likes of Twitter, Telegram, and Nostr have become the town hall of the Bitcoin community, where ideas are shared, open discussions are held, and brands receive visibility.
Read on to learn how to create an effective Bitcoin social media strategy for your business.
Why Social Media?
The times when social media was treated as a fun experiment on the side are long gone. Today, it’s essential for brands to reach their users, get insights, grow a brand, and ultimately make sales.
Most of the world is already on social media. The people who you want to sell to? Yeah, they’re probably on social media too.
This is a generalization, but here’s how social media can help your Bitcoin businesses:
Increase brand awareness → build engaged communities → sell your product or service.
Companies that have successful social media presence have one thing in common: they have a strategy.
That’s what we’ll be focusing on – in 6 steps.
Step 1: Set good goals
Before thinking about your social media strategy, you need to ask yourself: what do I want to achieve by being on social media?
Pick 2-3 clear goals you want to achieve in a defined timeframe. This will allow you to focus on what moves you towards these goals and ignore everything that doesn’t. Don’t pick too many and too vague goals. Otherwise, your social presence will suffer.
Some goal examples:
- Grow your Twitter account from 2,000 followers to 15,000 engaged followers
- Get 1 million monthly impressions
- Get 10 new clients for your agency from social media
- Get 5,000 email subscribers from social media
Remember: keep your goals simple and measurable – this way, you can keep yourself accountable. Also, these goals need to be somehow tied to your brand’s business goals.
Here are examples of how social media goals can help your business goals:
- More engagement = better reach and more impressions
- More impressions = bigger audience
- Bigger audience = more email subscribers (data shows people are more likely to buy via email)
All of the above-mentioned will help your business grow.
Step 2: Do a social media audit
After you have written down your goals, look at your current media presence. If you don’t have any accounts yet, don’t worry: what I’m about to tell you also applies to you.
To be successful on social media, you need to stand out. “Standing out” can mean lots of things. The first thing you have to do is do a social media audit. I recommend you approach it from three lenses:
- Brand
- Market
- Industry
Brand: Who are we?
You need to know the brand you’re working for inside and out. The questions you should ask yourself:
- What are the brand values?
- What services does my brand offer?
- How do I want to be perceived on social media?
- What do existing customers think about your products?
You need to figure out this from scratch if you’re a founder. If you’re joining an existing team, interview the founders and the leadership to learn everything you can about the brand.
Market: Who am I talking to?
Before posting on social media, you must know who you’re talking to. Your followers are real people with real interests and needs. Learn everything you can about your audience.
Questions to ask at this stage:
- What do I want my target user to know about my brand?
- What are our customers’ pain points?
- What do our customers dream about?
- Where do your customers hang out? (e.g., Reddit, Twitter, LinkedIn)
- Who are we trying to attract with our content?
- What do your customers say about this problem?
- What do your customers say about the product?
- How do your customers like to be spoken to? (ie. humor, education)
There is one very efficient way to learn about your target audience. It’s also most marketers’ worst nightmare: talking to clients.
Chances are you already have a few paying customers. Schedule a call with them. Ask them very good questions. Try to find out how they felt before they used your product (pains) and how they felt after using it (gains). Once you know your customer’s pains and gains, you can create content around those topics.
When creating content on social media, try to imagine a specific person you’re talking to. Give them a name, visualize how they look, and use the words they would use. Talk about topics he cares about.
Industry: What is already out there?
The last part of your audit should be looking at your industry. And more specifically, looking for a way to stand out.
You can stand out with the following:
- Platform selection
- Content formats
- Tone of voice
- Brand personality
Find an edge – something other brand accounts in your industry aren’t doing and double down on it. Don’t do what everyone else does – you will struggle to stand out.
Here are a few questions you can ask yourself:
- Who are your top 2-4 competitors?
- What are they doing on social media? Is it working?
- How can you stand out from them?
- What kind of content works for brands in your industry (or other industries)?
- Which brands outside your industry are killing it on social? Can you learn anything from them?
Important note: you should not only try to do the opposite of your competitors. There are some aspects you can “steal.” Nothing wrong with that. But as a general rule, you should develop your angle; otherwise, you will be blended in with the rest.
Step 3: Choosing the platforms
Don’t try to be on all the platforms. You risk spreading yourself too thin, which can lead to the following:
- Poor quality content
- Bad experience for your audience
- Burnout
Pick no more than three platforms. Ideally, you would have two. These will depend on where your target audience is active.
If you’re a Bitcoin company, Twitter is currently a no-brainer since that’s where the current Bitcoin community hangs on. Ideally, your other platforms would have similar content styles.
For example, Twitter + LinkedIn work well together since they’re both text-based. You can easily repurpose content from one to another—more on repurposing later.
Step 4: Create a content strategy
Content strategy = What are you going to share on social media?
But don’t think about the types of content to share (images, videos, memes). Instead, think of the “theme” of your content.
When creating a content strategy, ensure it reflects your social media goals. It might be tempting to jump on every new meme and trend, but you should be strategic about the content you post. You can do this by organizing the content into pillars. For example:
- 33% of your content aims to educate your audience
- 33% of your content aims to entertain your audience
- 33% of your content promotes your offering
Or, you might want to have more goal-specific pillars:
- 25% of the content aims to convert viewers into email subscribers
- 25% of the content seeks to promote the service/product
- 50% of the content will be to generate engagement and grow your audience
But don’t overthink it. The core question is: is this content somehow bringing me closer to my social media goals?
Create native content
Now that you’ve thought about your content’s themes, let’s talk about content types. There are two realities you should know. The sooner you internalize them, the better your results be.
Reality 1: All social media platforms try to keep users on the platform for as long as possible. They will prioritize content that keeps the user on the platform.
Reality 2: Your audience prefers native content. People don’t log into Twitter just to find an interesting link to a 3000-page blog post and leave.
People log in to Twitter to scroll until they find a funny meme about Michael Saylor. Or until they find a thread on a topic they’re interested in. And what do memes and informative threads have in common?
They’re native in terms of content type (thread) and culture (Bitcoin Twitter culture).
In a nutshell, native content aligns with the platform’s wants (keep users on the platform) and the audience’s wants (consume content on the platforms). By posting native content, you’re algorithm-proof.
Create a social media content calendar
Okay, now you’ve figured out the type of content you’ll post and in which format (native format, of course). The last step is to organize your content so that you know which content goes out and when. This is where a content calendar comes into play.
Creating good content is HARD. This is why it’s essential to squeeze out all the juice from it by posting it at an optimal time. Every brand has optimal posting time (usually when the target audience is awake and scrolling social media). You will determine the best posting time by experimenting with posting at different times and looking at which times get the best engagement.
I keep it simple and use Trello with the Calendar Power-Up feature (to get a calendar view). But you can use other software to see your content calendar quickly. This is how you keep your content organized and always know when to post what. Your calendar ensures your posts are spaced out appropriately and published at the optimal post times.
Pro tip: Try to stick to cadence, but don’t force it. Only say something when you have something to say.
Content repurposing
If you value your time and yourself, you must repurpose content. If you’re actively posting on social media, you know the following to be true: creating good content is hard.
That’s why you have to repurpose content. You’ll want to squeeze every bit of juice out when you create content that pops off. Also, it will help you to come up with content when you’re in a hurry or not in a creative mood.
There are three types of content repurposing that I’ll touch on. In my opinion, these are the most important:
1. Long-form → Short form
This is taking ideas or bits of content from long-form content such as blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, and newsletters and turning them into short-form content for social media.
Example: Post short clips from a longer video on social media. Look for the best parts and make them native to your posting platform.
2. Platform x → Platform y
This is straightforward: taking social content from one platform and posting it to another. If a piece of content did well on one platform, there’s a high chance it will do well on a similar platform. The key is to be aware of the nuance of each platform. Don’t just copy-paste. Always have the feel of what your audiences on each platform might enjoy.
Example: That meme that went viral on Twitter? Consider posting it to LinkedIn, but maybe tone it down a bit.
Example: Post your best TikToks to Reels
This strategy works best when the platform you’re reposting from and to have similar mediums (i.e., both are text-based platforms or both are video-based platforms).
3. Same platform but at a different time.
This is the simplest form of repurposing. Take your best-performing content and repost it after 6-12 months. If it performs well, it will probably perform again. You can copy-paste the original post or adjust it slightly before reposting. I do this all the time, saving me a lot of time.
Protip: I use the Twemex extension to find my best-performing content on Twitter.
Step 5: Grow your social presence
There’s a saying: content is king. This is true. However, it’s not enough to succeed on social media. Posting content is only one part of the equation. The second one is engaging with your audience.
Outbound engagement
What do you need to increase engagement? Well, you need to participate in it. Social Media has the word ‘social‘ for a reason. Be strategic about your outbound engagement.
But what does outbound engagement mean exactly?
Simple. It’s when you are commenting on other accounts. Nobody will see your content if you have three followers. Outbound is how you guarantee people outside of your audience see your content.
There are two types of accounts to engage with in your niche:
- Content creators, meme accounts, and influencers. These accounts already have the attention of your target audience. You can funnel some of that attention to your account by engaging with them.
- Your target audience. This is the group of people that you want to buy from you. It’s a no-brainer to engage with them. Make these comments thoughtful, though.
Don’t: Post generic replies, platitudes, or spam. Don’t engage in sensitive or touchy subjects.
Do: Post content that adds value to the conversation. This can be in the form of education, POV, or humor (bonus if you can make this a ‘billboard’ for your brand). Before posting, understand the context of the conversation.
Engaging with people takes time, and I understand that you might be pressed for time. That being said, it’s an essential part of social media growth. Dedicate a timeslot to do outbound engagement every day. If you don’t have time to do this, hire a part-time community manager. Outbound is how you get your first 1000 followers. Good original content is how you get 10K followers.
Bad: You don’t engage at all
Okay-ish: You only do inbound engagement
Good: You do both inbound and outbound engagement
Founder-led growth
In this part, I’ll explain why young Bitcoin businesses should focus on growing their founders’ social media presence before the brand accounts.
1. Lack of brand awareness
This is why organically growing a new brand account is hard. LIKE REALLY HARD.
“McDonald’s is doing it and getting killer engagement, so why can’t I?”
Because your six-month-old Bitcoin brand doesn’t have brand awareness. Simply put, nobody knows and cares about you. Don’t get discouraged; this is normal.
2. User behavior
The second reason why growing a brand account is hard is how we behave on social platforms. People don’t log onto social platforms to keep up with their favorite brands. They are on social media to:
- Consume interesting content
- Stay in touch with online friends
- Look at dank memes
- Follow Bitcoin drama
Nobody likes brand accounts. Nobody likes a faceless brand with no personality. People like people – they like connecting and talking with faces, not logos. This is where founders come into play. Start documenting the journey of building your product or service. People are more likely to follow along.
Here are things you can share from your founder’s profile:
- Milestones
- Obstacles
- Building the product
- Product updates
Relevant people in your niche will start rooting for the founder. But you can’t have a successful social media presence without a brand account. Founder-led growth is an excellent strategy for new brands. After gaining social media momentum, founders can funnel some of that growth into brand accounts.
Founder-led growth is a shortcut to a great social media presence. Just remember that the brand accounts are needed to separate the brand from the founder. You don’t want your content strategy to rely solely on the founders.
At some point, brand accounts must function independently from the founder (for example, if the founder leaves the company). Remember, you’re not trying to become an influencer – but a Bitcoin brand.
If you’re the founder – great. If you’re not, you have two options:
- Sit down with the founder and explain the importance of founder-led growth
- If the founder has no time, offer to ghostwrite for them
Note: it doesn’t always have to be the founder in the spotlight. It can be the CMO, CEO, or any other key employees. This is precisely what we’ve done at Relai: the team behind the brand is well-known and active on social media.
Remember, your audience cares about people, not brands.
The power of memes
Memes are really powerful, especially in the Bitcoin space. They are effective communication tools. Here’s why:
1. They communicate more effectively than words.
See the example below. I could’ve written how long-term Bitcoin saving is superior. Instead, I used a meme and got more reach.
Take care of your #Bitcoin
One day it will take care of you. pic.twitter.com/7jvMqaeVij
— Relai 🇨🇭 (@relai_app) April 4, 2023
2. They are shareable and have the potential to go viral (if done right)
Memes should be part of your arsenal as social media marketer. They can boost your brand’s social media growth. But they can also be misused. Keep reading to learn how.
Generally speaking, a social marketer should use two types of memes:
- Industry-related memes
Industry-related memes highlight and joke about something in the Bitcoin industry and don’t directly promote or mention your product.
These memes speak to a broader audience and contribute to follower growth. By growing your follower base, you can attract potential customers. Essentially, meme marketing gets you in front of new bitcoiners that could be customers. The trick is to balance going too broad (and watering down the message) and going too niche, where only a few people get the joke.
Industry-related memes have their purpose, but you must also discuss selling your product. Your short terms goal might be to get likes, but in the end, you should be contributing to making $$$. This is where product-related memes come into play:
2. Product-related memes
These are meant to:
- Highlight a feature
- Highlight how your product is different from the competition
- Show the pain points of your customer and how you can help them
- And bring general awareness of your product
These usually get less engagement because they are specific to your customers. That’s okay – your industry-related memes take care of that.
In summary, you need both meme types to succeed as a social media manager. If you only do industry-related memes, you never actually sell your product. If you only do product-related memes, your engagement will suffer, and you will become too “salesy.”
Use the right tools
You will need the right tools to have a killer social media presence. I like to keep my toolkit simple.
Here’s what I use:
- Buffer – a scheduling tool
- Sprout Social – social media analytics
- Hyperfury – to automate my Twitter presence. They have a lot of Twitter power features.
- Notes – any notes app will do. I use Telegram Notes
- Twemex – to find good content on Twitter
- Canva – for easy image and video editing
These are just examples. Play around with different tools and figure out which ones you like.
Step 6: Track your results
Okay, now your social media strategy is done, and you’re ready for the whole year. Well, not quite.
Some assumptions about your strategy sometimes need to be corrected. You can’t assume that you will nail it the first time. As you start executing your plan, you will find things that work and don’t work as well as you expected.
Look at the metrics. Are they contributing to the goals you set in Step 1?
Yes? Great, keep doing more of what works.
No? Rethink your approach and try again.
Social media strategy should never be set in stone. After all, social platforms change. Algorithms change. Your target audience changes. Your brand changes. Don’t be afraid to adjust your strategy if something is not working or your brand’s business goals change. That’s why testing is critical on social media. It allows you to understand what works and what doesn’t. Continuously monitor your content performance.
Proving ROI of social media
Part of tracking your results is reporting your results and proving the value of social media. The age-old question: how does social media contribute to the business goals? All social media managers have heard this before. And it’s a valid question.
The problem? It’s almost always presented by people who don’t understand social media’s purpose and how it functions within the broader marketing strategy.
Let’s break it down:
Think of it as a football/soccer team. There are 11 players on the field who have different roles. Social media is like a midfielder who creates good shooting and goal-scoring opportunities.
Goal = sale
You don’t expect social media to be the primary goal scorer. They shouldn’t be the leading scorer – that’s not their primary job. The job of social media is to get the striker in the best position and pass them the ball. Like a football team, the whole marketing works together to make sales.
With that out the way, here’s how to prove your ROI to your boss:
1. Engagement
The first sign you should look at to measure success is engagement, aka “vanity metrics.”
While they don’t tell you how you’re contributing to making your company more money, they are still important. You need to measure how responsive your audience is to your content. Without engagement, you don’t have an audience. Without the audience, there’s nobody to sell to.
Engagement metrics include:
- Likes
- Shares
- Engagement rate
- Comments
- Impressions
- Follower growth
I wrote vanity metrics in air quotes because some marketers consider engagement metrics useless. They’re wrong. Most likely, these people just don’t know how to create engaging content that people care about.
Engagement = people like you and are more likely to buy from you.
Engagement, impressions, and views can also directly correlate to a generated value. Example: you’re a brand that got one million impressions on Twitter this month.
How much are these impressions worth?
If you were running ads to get impressions, you would be charged a certain CPM (cost per mille) for every thousand impressions you get. Assume the CPM on Twitter for a campaign to generate impressions is $10. In this case, the calculation would look like this:
(1,000,000/1000) x 10 = $10,000
This means that if you were to pay $10 CPM to acquire one million impressions, you would have to pay $10,000. And instead of paying this, you got these impressions for free (the only cost is the time you spent on organic social media).
2. Transfer to owned channel
We all know that social media algorithms change. This is why when you have your audience’s attention, you need to transfer it to the channels you own. These include:
- Email list (like I did with my Bitcoin Therapy Substack newsletter, for example)
- Podcast subscription
- SMS list
- Private community (for example, Discord)
Where you drive your social media traffic will depend on where you think sales can happen (see my midfielder analogy above). A well-crafted email works better than a social media post. Social media is like a bridge to drive your audience to channels where they’re more likely to buy from you.
3. Organic social → paid social
If your brand is running paid social media ads, you need to work with them.
Why? Because there’s a decent chance that your best-performing organic posts will perform well also as paid posts. After all, these posts already resonated with your target audience.
Send your best-performing posts to the team responsible for paid ads. They can test them to see if they perform well. Remember, the most common goal with paid ads is to convert your audience into users with the smallest possible CAC (customer acquisition cost).
See if the ads based on your organic content lower the cost of acquiring new users. If yes, you can calculate how much money you’ve saved your business.
4. Post-purchase survey
This one is simple. If your product or service allows, ask the new user where they found you:
“Where did you found about the ZYX brand?”
Few examples:
- Add a survey after the purchase
- Have your sales representative ask the new customer how they found out about your service/product
Final words
It might be tempting to skip the strategy part and just start posting content. Developing a strategy is hard because it forces you to step back and look at the big picture.
Focusing on daily tasks such as replying to people and scheduling random content is easier than thinking highly about your social media presence. But trust me: creating a strategy that will help you achieve your social media and business goals is one of the highest ROI things you could do.
Social media is not rocket science, but it’s not just pressing ‘send’ on a poorly cropped product image either. To learn what works, you need to be constantly testing.
Test, test, and test. Did I already say you need to test a lot? Anyways, you get the point.
With these six steps, you should be ready to craft a killer social media strategy for your Bitcoin business. If you need help, click here to contact us, and we can work with you to execute a social media strategy that works!
