Would-be strategy

Definition of a would-be strategy

A would-be strategy is is not a strategy but it is called one. It is no strategy because it lacks most important elements of a strategy. Normally a would-be strategy misses one or more of this core elements of strategy

  • resources,
  • the possible benefits of social media for a business and
  • the decision as to which benefits the company wants to realize
  • the competition and the assessment of competitiveness
  • the description of how the choosen benefits of social media can be realized in competition. 

In social media, you come across would-be strategies far more often than a real social media strategy. 

Importance and benefit of a would-be strategy

A social media strategy defines the success a company wants to achieve in social media. A company that uses social media without a strategy not only misses out on essential parts of the success of social media for its business, it also wastes essential resources. For example, by engaging in a competition on social media for topics that it cannot win or that are not very important for the company’s success.

  • A company that uses a would-be strategy has the same disadvantages as a company that does not have a social media strategy.
  • In addition, a company that uses a would-be strategy has the problem that it gives its social media managers and employees a false sense of certainty. They believe that they are doing the right thing in social media and that their work is contributing to the company’s success in the best possible way. Unfortunately, this is not the case in either case.
    In addition, the existence of a would-be strategy prevents social media managers from thinking about using a social media strategy.
  • With a would-be strategy, insufficient success is less attributed to the lack of a strategy. Instead, people often try to solve the problem through greater commitment. This only leads to a greater waste of resources.

The significance of a would-be strategy does not lie in its contribution to the company’s success. Its sole but essential significance lies in the waste of company resources.

The problems caused by a would-be strategy

A would-be strategy is no less damaging to a company than having no strategy at all for using social media. A would-be strategy in social media

  • still prevents a company from getting the best possible benefit from social media and it destroys company resources. 
  • still leads social media employees into a situation of increasing overload because they want to compensate for a lack of strategy with more input in social media. Which simply cannot work.
  • creates a false sense of security and makes social media teams believe they are on the right track when using social media.

Furthermore, the use of a would-be strategy in social media is a solid sign of a lack of strategic competence on the part of the managers responsible for social media.  In addition, this raises questions about the strategic competence of the company manager who approved this strategy.

How to recognize a “would-be” strategy

If we take the requirements of a strategy as a benchmark, we can easily identify would-be strategies using the following criteria

  • The strategy does not serve to focus company resources on maximizing the contribution of social media to company success.
  • The strategy is not based on the potential benefits of social media for the company. 
  • The strategy is not based on the company’s resources. 
  • The strategy ignores the competitive situation. 

The main causes that lead to would-be strategies

Would-be strategies are unmistakable signs of a lack of strategic competence for social media.

If the existing strategic competence were even sufficient, there would be no would-be strategies. Unfortunately, would-be strategies are more common than well-founded social media strategies.

There are two main reasons for this.

The training of social media managers

In the training of social media managers, the focus is on the use of social media and on the development of social media campaigns.
Strategy here takes place at best in the form of the development of communication concepts and campaigns. An actual social media strategy is only found in the rarest of cases.
Our social media learned and are learning how to use social media practically, but not the strategic use of social media for company success. They learn how to use social media correctly. They do not learn which use of social media offers the greatest benefit for company success.

When we hire a social media manager, we get someone who can use and operate social media.
When we hire a social media strategist, we get someone who can develop communication concepts and campaigns.

If we are looking for a social media manager with real strategic competence, we either have to find the right candidate or provide appropriate training for a social media manager.

Two good ways to separate the wheat from the chaff are to test using the Business Canvas – have the candidate explain the benefits and potential for change of social media on the components of the Business Canvas – or by explaining the components of a strategy and their meaning, interaction and interrelationship.

A flood of misinformation on the Internet leads to would-be strategies

On the Internet – as unfortunately also in some specialist books on social media – a social media strategy is equated with a measure or tactic in terms of content. To build a social media strategy align with goals and target groups and focus on distributing the appropriate content. This inevitably leads to a would-be strategies. Social media strategy as the decision about which goals you want to pursue is more of an exception.
If we google the content of a social media strategy or let an AI explain it to us, we will almost inevitably be shown the content of a measure and end up again with a would-be strategy. Recognizing the difference requires a strategic competence with which we would recognize the error and probably not google this content.
The reason for this is simple. Both Google and AIs are based on the amount of what is available in databases on a topic, but not on its quality or accuracy.
Since the trend towards using content from the Internet when developing content on the topic of social media strategy seems unbroken, an improvement is unfortunately not to be expected.
As those responsible in companies, we can only ensure that our employees have the necessary social media strategy skills if we can recruit appropriately competent staff or qualify them accordingly.

Solutions to avoid would-be strategies

Social media level

  • Check existing social media strategies using the criterias of strategies. 
  • Avoid building would-be strategies by building sound expertise in developing social media strategies. 
  • This needs the necessary strategic know-how or a method that guides you step by step through the relevant processes. 
  • Methods: the pbsm is the only method for creating social media strategies that meets the requirements for a strategy and ensures the benefits of social media as a whole for the success of the business model. With the pbsm there will be no would-be strategies anymore.

CEO Recommendations

  • Have an existing social media strategy checked for its quality as a strategy.
  • If it is a would-be strategy, it needs to be replaced with a well-founded strategy. The priority is to stop further wasting resources and to use social media in such a way that it makes the greatest possible contribution to the company’s success, rather than continuing in the same way.
  • Building up sound strategic skills for social media is another priority to ensure the successful use of social media. This can be done through personnel solutions or appropriate training of current staff.

Links to further informations

Pbsm.wiki: informations about social media strategy and the pbsm.

The pbsm,strategyBlog – a monthly newsletter

Follow me on LinkedIn if social media strategy is an importent topic for you.

would-be strategy