What is the PAGER Method? The Social Media Strategy Explained
It’s time to simplify social media for small businesses and brands. The PAGER Method is a social media strategy that you can easily use on any platform and in any niche. You’ll know what to create, ensure that your content isn’t too salesy, and still promote the events and initiatives that your business needs to survive. Here, get an overview of Downstage Media’s own content method with examples.
You’re Too Busy to Come Up With a Social Media Strategy
Of course you know that social media is vital for every small business. Whether you’re in the arts, the medical field, or in tech, you know that it’s important to show up where your audience is, remind them of how what you offer is going to make their lives better, and help them get it. It just seems so complicated.
I’ve been creating social media strategies and content for businesses in and out of the arts for nearly a decade now. Many of the methods that I’ve tried don’t last because:
they are platform specific (they work great on Instagram, but not on LinkedIn, for example)
they require you to always have your phone “documenting” what you’re doing, which is hard for anyone who needs to do more than take pics and videos of what they’re doing all of the time
they’re great at building community but not increasing sales
they’re great at promoting your business but not increasing community
So out of necessity I’ve created a social media strategy called the PAGER Method. It combats all of the aforementioned issues by:
working on every platform
not relying on content that is created “in the moment” (but it can be if that work flow works for you)
still making sure to focus on initiatives, promotions, and upcoming events
encouraging dialogue with your audience
Okay, so let’s make your social media strategy really, really simple because all of these systems are complicated. And nothing breaks down big concepts like a 90s throwback mnemonic device. For the record, if I had to create a 90s grunge cover band, I would name it Mnemonic Device.
The PAGER Method
Here’s how the PAGER Method works, each day of the week you’re going to post one piece of content on your social media platform of choice. It will correspond to each letter of the word PAGER and will help you with your different social media goals. Before I get into what each letter means and how you use, here’s a commercial for a Motorola pager from 1994.
P of PAGER: Promotional Material
One of the biggest issues with social media that I hear from clients is that they spend all of this time creating and posting social media content but it doesn’t really “move the needle” and affect their businesses. This is often because they are posting stuff about their brand or their audience. But they aren’t posting about what they actually sell. They never ask people to buy the thing, subscribe now, or come to the event.
On the other hand, doing that too often will make your audience scroll past your stuff because no one wants to follow a walking billboard.
So, by posting promotional material once, or at most twice a week, you’ll be able to let your audience know what you are up to, business-wise, but not bombard them with salesy content.
Here is what promotional content entails:
Promotions - If you are having a sale of some sort, it goes with Promotional content. Below, Emily Feinsod Photography wanted to spread the word about the mini sessions that she was taking appointments for.
Initiatives - When your business offers more than one thing, it may want to choose one to highlight for a specific amount of time. For example, back when I worked at The Container Store, they would always highlight their dorm solutions May to September - right around graduation and move-in time. Those products were sold throughout the year, but there was a specific initiative to draw attention to them during those months.
Events - If you are in the performing arts, you have many events that you are pointing people towards. Your Promotional content is where you will be overt about how to buy tickets.
By making sure that you post Promotional content once a week, you will be sure to let your audience know what you have going on in your business, without bombarding them with spammy posts all of the time. To make your own Promotional Content (and learn my “Talking Points” trick) read What is Promotional Content and How to Make It.
A of PAGER: Articles
Once a week it’s worthwhile to post content that is more in-depth. It’s a great way to highlight the work that you are creating or appearing in. And if you are just getting started and aren’t creating your own long form content, then it’s the perfect place to share other people’s in your industry and then share your two cents. Here is the kind of content that you can share on social media in the Articles section of the PAGER mode:
Articles you have written or appeared in
Podcast episodes you have created or appeared on
Blog posts you have published or guest published
Blog posts that you have appeared in
Long form videos (longer than three minutes) that you have created or appeared in
Curated content (of any of the above) that resonated with you or your brand
Too often when brands publish their long form content they simply share the link to the video, podcast, or blog post once and then move on to creating the next piece of content. But by continually sharing those posts they have a chance to really sink in with your audience. Imagine if Taylor Swift had to come up with new songs every time she stepped out on stage. She’d burn out quickly. Instead, when she goes onstage she does have new material, but she also plays the hits. You should too.
It’s what marketer Ross Simmonds is often talking about, “create once, distribute forever.”
On the flip side, if someone else hosted you on their podcast, video, or blog, distribute that content as well. You will help to build up that relationship with them so they may think of you again in the future. Earned media opportunities like that give your brand more authority, so it’s also in your best interest to share it.
G of PAGER: General Material
Many people who are on social media, though, don’t want to “change the channel” and click on a link to your website to read an article that you have appeared in. This is where General content comes into play. You are giving information, entertainment, and insight right then and there in their feed. With General content, you:
solve problems
answer questions
overcome objections
give tips
provide case studies
share testimonials
validate beliefs your audience has
empathize with motivations your audience has
share in what your audience loves and gripes about
laugh at something funny in your niche
celebrate holidays in your niche, area, or country
Basically, you want to come up with ideas or concepts from this list, and then create posts that are in three different formats all based around those ideas.
Think of relaying the same information as:
text-only posts
still shots
videos
Obviously, in the case of a platform like TikTok, it’s mostly going to be video-based. But on Facebook or LinkedIn, for example, the posts you create could come in any of the above formats.
Note: I’ve adapted this concept from Rachel Miller’s $47 Social System which explains how to come up with content statements that your audience will resonate with, build content around that in big batches, and then schedule them out so you have about a hundred days of content ready to go. I highly, highly recommend checking out this system when it’s time to stockpile some content.
Rachel Miller’s Social System
And speaking of stockpiling content, Trello boards are excellent ways to store your social media content. Especially if you need to get approvals or feedback on your posts or if you want them to go out at specific times. I have created a public board that uses the PAGER Method and gives hints for how to use it best. Check it out so you can start creating, organizing, stockpiling, and uploading your content.
E of PAGER: Engagement Posts
We all know that communication is a two-way street. And although you can encourage interaction with your audience at any time, it’s great to have a day in your schedule that’s simply devoted to posts that get your audience tapping, commenting, and providing their thoughts.
Engagement posts are:
polls
fill in the blanks
answer with a gif / emoji
this or that
any kinds of games
By getting your audience to interact with your posts, you not only get to know more about them and what they like, but it helps in the algorithms too. Many times algorithms will show more content from the accounts that users interact with. And at the same time, the more people that interact with a post, the more accounts the algorithm will show that content to. So it’s in your best interest to include this type of content into your mix.
I also love to use AI to generate a bunch of open ended questions on social media. Jasper.ai does this very easily.
R of PAGER: Random Posts
The final letter of PAGER stands for Random. Some third party schedulers, like MeetEdgar will send out any piece of random content that you’ve uploaded. If you want to post a fifth time in a week, this is a great option. You don’t have to come up with anything new, just use the content that you’ve already created and put it here as well.
When to Post PAGER Content
To decide which day of the week is a Promotional Day or which day of the week is an Articles Day, take a look at the platform you’re posting on, and your audience. Then simply assign a letter to each day of the week. If you’re only posting four days a week, then just do PAGE.
It’s Work at First, and Then It’s Done
Implementing the PAGER method takes a bit of work right off the bat. Coming up with the different kinds of content, creating it, stockpiling it, and then scheduling it. Once it is going, though, you will find that almost all of your social media content creation time is eliminated. When you have a new event to promote, or a holiday coming up, then you add a few posts into the mix.
That’s it!
You can go about your life without worrying about creating your social media content! How nice would it be to have that little bit of anxiety that is always there (and probably has been there ever since Facebook launched Pages ten years ago) just gone.
Learn the PAGER Method
Attend an upcoming Simplify Your Social webinar to learn the PAGER Method and how to start creating, varying, and automating social media content and save yourself hours each week!
