If you’ve ever tried to create an organic social media strategy, you’ll know it can be a balancing act. Too much guesswork wastes time and budget. Too rigid, and you miss opportunities. At Content Rebels, we’ve built a process that removes the chaos without killing the creativity. A framework that works across industries but is always customised to each client’s priorities, goals and appetite for boldness.
Michelle Herbison, Strategy Manager at Content Rebels, says, “Strategy is only valuable when it matches your reality — your goals, your resources and your voice. The magic is in aligning those three things from day one.”
Research with purpose: how we kick off every social media content strategy
Every strong social media content strategy starts with research. We’re not talking, the obvious competitor scroll. We go deeper, mapping out three critical layers before anything is planned.
1. Brand priorities
We start with you. That means clarifying the purpose of your social media presence, how it connects to your broader marketing and business strategies, and setting clear goals and KPIs. We’ll identify priority topics, key messages to amplify, and areas to avoid.
Michelle says: “Defining what you want to stand for — and what you don’t — gives your content its backbone. It’s the filter every idea passes through.”
2. Off-channel audience analysis
Next, we look beyond social media to understand your audience’s interests and behaviours across channels. We use search data, news, trend analysis and broader cultural signals to see what’s capturing attention right now.
Michelle notes: “This is where you uncover the unexpected — the conversations and topics that matter to your audience long before they hit your feed.”
3. On-channel analysis
Finally, we investigate where your audience is already spending time on social media and what they’re engaging with. This includes competitor analysis, inspiration from adjacent industries, and a look at the diverse accounts your audience follows.
“Growth comes from seeing what’s resonating — not just with your competitors’ followers, but with your audience’s whole world,” Michelle explains.
Building your organic social media strategy
Armed with research, we shape your organic social media strategy. This includes:
- Content pillars and sub-pillars
- Recommended content types and formats
- Guidance on production style, editing, and platform features
- Processes for incorporating trends (where relevant)
- Posting cadence and timing
We also map your social media content creation into a wider ecosystem, integrating with email, website content, and paid campaigns where it supports your goals.
Michelle says: “A well-built strategy connects all your content to the bigger picture and moves your audience toward action.”
Layering paid into your social media content planning (only when it makes sense)
While our focus here is organic, we acknowledge the value of paid campaigns when they’re used strategically. We identify where paid can amplify your organic social media strategy — whether that’s reaching new audiences, driving engagement, or retargeting warm prospects. The goal isn’t to throw ad spend at a problem but to ensure paid and organic work in harmony.
Why this approach to social media content creation works
The strength of this process is how it’s applied to your brand. A challenger brand will have a different plan from a heritage business reaching for a younger audience or a niche B2B player chasing qualified leads.
Michelle says, “A strong social strategy is built to adapt. It grows with you as your audience, platforms and priorities change — so it stays effective over the long term.”
When to bring in the Rebels
If you’re thinking, “This is exactly what we need, but we don’t have the time or headspace to make it happen,” that’s where we come in. We can work with you end-to-end or plug in where you need the most support.
We don’t hand you a static PDF and disappear. We work alongside you to make sure your organic social media strategy lands — and lives — in a way that delivers real results.
We’re here for brands that want to be noticed, spark the right conversations, and create content their audience actually cares about.
That’s when the real momentum begins. Keen to get started? Reach out today.
Founder of Content Rebels | Proud marketing and strategy nerd
