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ALPACA ASSESSMENTS - SOCIAL MEDIA

Star Social Media Strategy
and Implementation Star

Why was a Social Media Strategy needed?

ALPACA’s social media presence showed room for improvement, particularly on Instagram where, despite a substantial following of 1,440 followers, their engagement strategy appeared lacking. The frequency of their posts was notably sparse, with the last post made in July 2023, and the account only accumulating a total of 9 posts. 

This limited activity could potentially have hindered their ability to maintain follower interest and engagement, which are crucial for leveraging Instagram’s capabilities to enhance visibility and drive conversions.

By implementing a consistent posting schedule, I could help ALPACA effectively expand its reach, engage its audience, and capitalize on the potential offered by social media platforms.

Goals of the Social Media Strategy

The implementation of this social media strategy was hoped to provide numerous benefits:

  • Increased Engagement: By aligning content with the needs and interests of their audience, ALPACA hoped to drive deeper interaction and engagement across all platforms.
  • Enhanced Visibility and Brand Awareness: A consistent and professional social media presence was intended to increase ALPACA’s visibility and strengthen its brand identity across the educational technology landscape.
  • Education and Empowerment: Through informative and insightful content, ALPACA aimed to educate its audience on the benefits of using ALPACA, industry trends, and the effective use of their assessment tools.

Development of the Strategy

Key Takeaways from the Social Media Strategy

  1. Purpose and Goals Were Outlined: The strategy aimed to establish a clear rationale for ALPACA’s content on social media, focusing on increasing visibility, engagement, building trust and educating the viewers.
  2. Addressed Existing Challenges: ALPACA’s previous social media presence was inconsistent across platforms with varying follower counts and infrequent posting schedules. This presented an opportunity for growth by aiming to establish a more consistent posting schedule and tailor content for each platform.
  3. Targeted Audience and Brand Identity: The strategy focused on understanding and targeting key demographic groups such as educators and administrators, emphasizing their roles and needs. ALPACA hoped to center its core values like evidence-based solutions and empowering educators in its branding and marketing efforts.

4. Competitive Analysis and Aspiration for Differentiation: The document included a competitor matrix, SWOT analysis and perceptual maps to assess ALPACA’s position relative to competitors, highlighting hoped-for improvements in engagement and content variety to differentiate ALPACA in the market.

5. Strategic Content and Platform Recommendations Were Made: Specific content types for different social media platforms were recommended to better engage different segments of the target audience. For instance, it was hoped that Instagram would connect effectively with teachers due to the insights, while LinkedIn was chosen to engage with principals and SENCOs in a more professional manner.

Content Calendar

Breakdown of Content Calendar

  1. Strategized Posting Times for Instagram: ALPACA aimed to maximize engagement by posting during peak interaction times on Instagram using knowledge from Hootsuite (2023), particularly mid-day and mid-week, aligning with the typical browsing patterns of its target demographic of educators and administrators.
  2. Assessed Patterns for Effective Scheduling: We hoped to continually refine its posting schedule based on emerging patterns from analytics, such as reach, interactions, and click-through rates. This strategic approach was intended to enhance visibility and engagement by aligning posts with when the audience was most active.
  3. Diverse Recommendations for LinkedIn: The strategy considered various recommendations from the likes of HubSpot, Sprout Social and Buffer for optimal posting times on LinkedIn but decided not to adhere strictly to these. The focus was on weekdays around 12pm to coincide with the break times of primary school educators, based on INTO guidelines (2022), to catch the target audience when they were likely to be online.
  4. Flexibility in Posting Schedule: Both Instagram and LinkedIn strategies were designed to be flexible, adjusting based on the performance and engagement data that would emerge as ALPACA posted more consistently

Content Creation +
Implementation of the Strategy

Review and Learnings from Content

Although the content was created in accordance with the content calendar and the goals identified within the strategy, much of this content did not get posted. This further emphasizes one of the key issues identified during the initial brand audit within the social media strategy.

According to insights from HubSpot (2024), maintaining a consistent and engaging presence on social media is crucial because it plays a significant role in how consumers perceive and interact with brands. Inactivity can lead to a decrease in customer trust and a lack of engagement, which in turn can make a brand seem less reliable and less attractive to potential and current customers. These were recommendations passed on to ALPACA following this implementation stage.

Although clear metrics were not obtained from this content, looking back, there were improvements that could have been made:

  1. Insufficient CTAs: Not enough calls to action were used, which are crucial for directing audience behavior and increasing engagement.
  2. Background Color: The use of blue as a background color was found to be less visually appealing than beige, potentially affecting audience retention and interest.
  3. Lack of Shareability: The content lacked elements that encourage sharing, which is vital for expanding reach and engagement.


These learnings have been taken into account in the implementation of the Free Trial campaign.

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