The social media plan that actually works when you're the owner

Every agency-authored social media plan you've read was written by people who bill against hours. The more work the plan creates, the better their margin. You, the owner, bill against outcomes. The math is inverted. Here's what the plan looks like when you optimise for outcomes instead of activity.

The five-slot week

Pick five content slots per week and never deviate. Two on LinkedIn (or the platform your buyers actually use), two on whatever vertical-native channel matters for your niche, one newsletter. That's it. No daily posting. No twelve-channel matrix. If you can't sustain five a week for six months, you don't have a plan, you have a wishlist.

Three rotating jobs-to-be-done

Instead of 'content pillars' (which collapses under its own weight by month two), assign each post one of three jobs:

1) Credibility, you proved something specific. Numbers, outcomes, or a decision you made that went against the grain.

2) Utility, your audience got useful immediately. A framework, a tool, a checklist, a teardown.

3) Point of view, you disagree with something the market believes. Named, specific, and willing to be wrong.

Rotate 2-2-1 across the week. Never ship a post that doesn't clearly hit one of those three. 'Happy Monday' posts are not a job, they're decoration.

The measurement rule

Stop measuring likes and followers. Measure two numbers: (1) inbound conversations started from content in the last 30 days, and (2) the cost in hours of producing it. Divide the first by the second. If that number doesn't improve over a quarter, change the content, not the cadence.

A plan you can run for 24 months beats a plan that dazzles for eight weeks. Consistency is the strategy.

When to add more

Add a channel only when the five-slot week has been steady for six months and one of the channels is generating at least 40% of your inbound. That's the signal there's appetite for more. Before that, additional channels split your attention and your audience.