What does a social media strategy actually include? The honest checklist.

The short answer: a real strategy answers seven questions. Where are you now, who are you talking to, what do you stand for, how do you sound, how often can you sustain, where do you post, and what numbers decide if it's working. Anything sold as a "strategy" that doesn't answer all seven is a mood board with an invoice.

I charge $2,000 for a strategy document, so you can read this as a sales pitch if you like. But I'd rather you read it as a checklist, because the dirty secret of this industry is that most paid strategies end up in a drawer. Not because the businesses are lazy, but because the documents were built to impress on the day they're presented, not to be used on a random Tuesday in month four. Here's what a strategy needs to actually earn its money.

The seven parts of a real strategy

1. 1. The honest audit. Where your account actually stands: what's working, what's dead weight, and how you compare to the businesses you're losing attention to. If a strategy starts with your logo instead of your numbers, be suspicious.
2. 2. A defined audience. Not "women 25 to 54." Who actually buys from you, what they scroll at 9pm, and what would make them stop. Reaching the wrong audience is one of the three reasons accounts stall.
3. 3. Content pillars. The three to five things your account talks about, chosen because each one does a job: some earn reach, some build trust, some sell. A pillar without a job is just a category.
4. 4. Tone of voice. How you sound in captions, replies and on camera, specific enough that someone else could write as you and your regulars wouldn't notice.
5. 5. A cadence you can sustain. The number of posts per week you'll still be hitting in month eleven, which is almost always lower than the number you're about to say.
6. 6. A platform plan. Where you post, in what order, and what gets repurposed where. Usually: win Instagram and Facebook first, expand when the rhythm is easy.
7. 7. A measurement plan. The three or four numbers that decide whether this is working, and when you'll look at them. Without this, every monthly conversation becomes vibes.

The part nobody includes: what to film next Tuesday

This is where strategies go to die. A document can nail all seven points and still be useless if it doesn't translate into a shot list. The bridge between "our pillar is behind-the-scenes authenticity" and a person standing in your venue filming something is where most strategies snap. That's why every pillar in mine comes with repeatable content formats: not "post authentic content" but "every Tuesday, film the delivery arriving, 15 seconds, this hook style." A strategy should be an operating system, not a philosophy.

Red flags when you're buying one

• It could belong to any business. Swap your logo for a competitor's and nothing else needs changing? It's a template.
• It's all platforms and no content. Twelve pages on algorithm theory, half a page on what you'll actually post.
• It's presented by someone who won't execute it. Strategy and execution split across two parties is where accountability goes to hide. Ask who makes the first video.
• There's no number in it. No baseline, no target, no date. If nothing is measurable, nothing is promised.

What it should cost

Standalone strategy documents in Australia run from about $1,000 to $5,000 depending on depth and who's behind it. I used to sell mine separately for $2,000; these days it's built into month one of every retainer instead, because a strategy without the execution attached is exactly the drawer document this article is warning you about. If you're weighing up whether to buy a strategy, hire help or go it alone, I've written an honest comparison of the options here.