The Difference Between Social Media Management and Social Media Strategy

If you've ever wondered why your social media content isn't doing much for your brand, this might be why: you've paid for management, but what you needed was strategy.

It's one of the most common disconnects we see when taking over from other agencies. The grid looks fine. The captions are written. But there was never a bigger plan. No target audience breakdown, no content themes, no cross-platform logic. Just a handful of posts each month, floating into the void.

So, what is the difference?

Social media management: the admin layer

Management is what most people think of when they imagine hiring a social media agency. It's the doing. Writing the captions. Sourcing the imagery. Scheduling the posts. Replying to the comments.

And while it's a necessary part of the work, it doesn't build a brand on its own. Good social media management is consistent and accurate. Great social media management also understands brand tone and basic content hygiene (don't post blurry screenshots, don't mix three fonts on one story tile, please stop starting every Reel with a jumpcut and a shout).

But if there's no strategic thinking underneath it, you're just doing the job of a digital PA. Keeping things afloat without steering the ship.

Social media strategy: the thinking layer

Strategy is what actually grows accounts. It's the thinking that happens before and beneath the posting. It asks: who are we trying to reach? What do they care about? Where do they spend their time online? What do we want them to do after seeing our content?

This leads to clearer content pillars, a better mix of formats, smarter use of trends, more aligned influencer choices, and a longer-term understanding of how social media fits into your wider marketing and sales funnel.

It's also what protects your brand in a crisis. A strategic plan includes tone of voice guidance, brand boundaries, holding statements, and a clear sense of when to engage and when to log off.

In short: strategy is the part that requires experience.

You need both, but most brands forget that

Imagine trying to run a kitchen with only a head chef and no one on the line. Or all junior cooks, but no one designing the menu. It's the same thing.

You can outsource social media management to a freelancer or virtual assistant if you're on a budget. But if you're serious about building a presence that actually converts, or represents your brand properly in public, you need strategy baked into the process.

At Honest London, we do both. But we always start with strategy.

Because good posting might keep you visible, but good strategy makes people care.