Craft a Winning Social Media Strategy

Establishing a social media presence isn’t just crucial for content creators—it’s an effective instrument for Toastmasters clubs to reach new audiences, attract potential members, and build a community. By deliberately leveraging social networking sites, clubs can share the immense value of the Toastmasters experience and encourage more people to join.

I first discovered this after an early quarter-life crisis at age 22 led me to launch my own business, Touchic, and join Toastmasters. At the time, I could not have known these actions would propel me into a journey of influence-building on social media.

In 2021, I joined Metro Manila Toastmasters Club and later took on the role of Vice President Public Relations (VPPR). At that point, I had no prior experience in content creation or strategy. I took digital marketing and content creation courses and embraced a hands-on learning approach, both of which helped me build a social media presence for my then club, and laid the foundation for my career as a content creator.

Through consistent and timely uploads, what began as a modest goal to amplify the club’s message scaled my personal social media presence to over 2 million followers across different social media platforms. The skills I honed in Toastmasters, including communication, leadership, and creative thinking, became the pillars of building an online platform.

Here are five key lessons that I learned as a VPPR and content creator to help you transform your club’s social media strategy.

1. Understand Your Membership

Building a social media presence isn’t just about posting content—it’s about providing real value to potential members by understanding their goals, challenges, and what they seek in a Toastmasters club.

Begin by gathering feedback from current members to gain insights into their motivations. Are they seeking to enhance their public speaking skills for professional growth? Are they young professionals preparing for future careers? Understanding these aspirations helps you craft a club brand that resonates with both current and prospective members.

Tailor your content to their needs

Once you have a clear understanding of your ideal members, create content that directly addresses their challenges. If your members are professionals, post videos on presentation tips or workplace communication strategies. For students, focus on content that helps them build confidence and prepare for interviews.

Dominate a niche

Focus on a specific niche that aligns with your members’ core interests. For example, if your club is known for leadership development, create content around that and aim to be the go-to club for aspiring leaders.

Once you’ve established a strong identity in one area, you can gradually expand to others, such as personal growth or professional development. This focused approach will help your club stand out in a crowded digital landscape and attract followers who are genuinely interested in your club.

2. Have Strong Branding

Your digital footprint is your identity. Creating a consistent type of content, with a consistent message and personality, is called branding. A strong brand helps people remember and trust you, and allows someone to understand and connect with your club in seconds.

Shape your message

In Donald Miller’s book Building a StoryBrand, he shares how the audience should be the hero and you serve as their guide. Shape your messaging on how you can guide your audience toward success. For instance, rather than saying, “Join our club to improve your public speaking skills,” change the message to something more member-focused, such as, “We help aspiring public speakers build their confidence and manage speech anxiety.” This subtle shift makes your content more audience-centric and relatable.

Use Toastmasters branding

The key to building trust is consistency. Adhere to the Toastmasters branding across all platforms by using the proper color palette, fonts, and brand voice. A consistent brand helps your audience relate to you and recognize your content.

3. Use Research and Planning Tools

High-performing content doesn’t happen by accident. It is driven by intentional research and strategic content planning.

Jump on trends

Participating in social media trends can help your club’s content reach a wider audience. Trends can be recurring audio clips, hashtags, or video formats that many people are using. To find them, pay attention to what keeps appearing on your feed. If you repeatedly notice certain sounds, styles, or topics, that’s a good indication of a current trend.

For example, if a renowned public figure stuttered during a speech and it’s making headlines, use the clip as a hook and create a post highlighting how Toastmasters can help smooth out your speaking. You could pair catchy audio with a tip on building confidence before delivering a speech. Remember to tie your message into something familiar to your ideal members to make it more engaging and relevant.

Create a content calendar

A content calendar is a tool that helps you plan and organize your club’s social media posts. It helps to ensure you’re posting regularly, which maintains consistency and engagement with your audience.

To create a content calendar, start by identifying at least three key topics or “content pillars” that reflect your club’s core values and the interests of your ideal members (for example, public speaking, leadership, and personal development). These topics will serve as the foundation for your content and guide what you post.

Once you have your content pillars, plan out the posts you’ll create each week. For example, one week you could share tips on overcoming stage fright (public speaking), followed by a post on team-building strategies (leadership), and wrap up with advice on goal setting (personal development). You can use tools like Google Calendar or a spreadsheet to map out your posts for the month ahead.

Set aside a specific time each week to review your content calendar and prepare upcoming posts. This will give you time to adjust if something relevant comes up, like a new public speaking trend. Staying consistent ensures that your content is relevant, timely, and aligned with your goals.

4. Leverage Data Analytics to Refine Your Strategy

You'll want to learn how to leverage data analytics to monitor what content resonates with your audience. Use your channel insights to find out what posts get the most response. Then examine those posts and see if there are any trends, such as length of text, number of photos, or the type of information you are sharing. These analytics can help you refine your content strategy.

Build your strategy

It’s important to set clear, realistic goals to track your progress. One helpful way to do this is by using SMART goals—goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. For instance, instead of aiming for exponential growth like gaining 1,000 followers in three months, focus on smaller, achievable goals like attracting 10 new followers per month.

To facilitate this, create content that resonates with your audience—post weekly tips on improving public speaking or document your club’s activities. Offering value in your posts will encourage more people to follow and engage with your page.

You could create a short series of posts titled “Public Speaking Tips for Beginners” or “How Toastmasters Can Help You Lead,” making sure the titles are catchy and easy to remember. Over time, as you post consistently and interact with your audience, you’ll see gradual growth in your social media presence.

Use analytics to adapt your approach

All platforms offer analytics to help you track your content’s performance, which helps you uncover the type of content your ideal audience wants to see. If instructional videos perform better than motivational videos, adjust your content strategy and focus on how-to videos. Assess what’s working and double down on your efforts on videos that work.

5. Design Systems for Sustained Marketing Success

Steady social media growth demands effective systems. With sustainable processes, you can engage with your audience and avoid burnout in the process of building your platform.

Build a strong PR team

Leverage the notion that Toastmasters attracts individuals focused on personal development and encourages members to improve skills beyond public speaking. In my club, many expressed their interest in improving their writing skills, so I had them write initial content for posts. Encourage members to join your team by highlighting how they can grow from the experience.

Educate followers about Toastmasters

Create content that inspires and informs. Tell stories of how Toastmasters has impacted the lives of your members. Highlight the tangible benefits of becoming a Toastmaster to attract an audience that aligns with your club’s values and mission.

A compelling way to promote your club and its impact is by sharing personal testimonials. For example, through Toastmasters, I’ve learned impactful communication and purposeful leadership—skills that laid the foundation for my success as a content creator and entrepreneur.

To create an effective testimonial, I documented my Toastmasters journey by recording my practice sessions and showcasing my progress over time. This allowed others to witness my transformation, making it a credible and relatable testimonial to share online.

Ultimately, your testimonial should reflect your authentic journey with Toastmasters and highlight how it has empowered you, both personally and professionally. This genuine representation will inspire others to see the value of Toastmasters in their own lives.

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