Social media management strategy — publishing, scheduling, content calendars, engagement workflows, analytics, team collaboration, tool comparison (Sprout Social, Hootsuite, Buffer, Agorapulse, Sendible, Later, Brandwatch, Meltwater Engage, Influencity, Vista Social, Pallyy, Statusbrew, Sociality.io, Loomly, Planable). Use when social posts aren't getting engagement, you're spending too much time manually publishing, your content calendar is chaotic, you don't know when to post for best reach, DMs and comments are piling up unanswered, team approval workflows are slowing you down, or you can't prove social media ROI. Do NOT use for platform-specific config (use /sales-later, /sales-sproutsocial, /sales-meltwater, /sales-brandwatch, or /sales-influencity), social listening strategy (use /sales-social-listening), influencer marketing (use /sales-influencer-marketing), or paid social ads (use /sales-retargeting or /sales-b2b-advertising).
Social media management strategy — publishing, scheduling, content calendars, engagement workflows, analytics, team collaboration, tool comparison (Sprout Social, Hootsuite, Buffer, Agorapulse, Sendible, Later, Brandwatch, Meltwater Engage, Influencity, Vista Social, Pallyy, Statusbrew, Sociality.io, Loomly, Planable). Use when social posts aren't getting engagement, you're spending too much time manually publishing, your content calendar is chaotic, you don't know when to post for best reach, DMs and comments are piling up unanswered, team approval workflows are slowing you down, or you can't prove social media ROI. Do NOT use for platform-specific config (use /sales-later, /sales-sproutsocial, /sales-meltwater, /sales-brandwatch, or /sales-influencity), social listening strategy (use /sales-social-listening), influencer marketing (use /sales-influencer-marketing), or paid social ads (use /sales-retargeting or /sales-b2b-advertising).
argument-hint
[describe your social media management question — e.g., 'which tool for my 3-person team' or 'how to set up a content approval workflow']
Helps the user plan and execute social media management — from choosing the right tool and setting up publishing workflows through engagement management, analytics, and team collaboration.
Step 1 — Gather context
If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated knowledge.
Ask the user:
What do you need help with?
A) Choosing a social media management tool
B) Setting up a publishing workflow and content calendar
C) Optimizing post timing and frequency
D) Managing engagement (inbox, comments, DMs)
E) Team collaboration and approval workflows
F) Analytics and reporting
G) Something else — describe it
Team size and structure?
A) Solo creator / founder
B) Small team (2-5 people)
C) Mid-size team (5-20 people)
D) Agency managing multiple clients
E) Enterprise with multiple brands/regions
Which social networks?
A) Instagram + Facebook (Meta-focused)
B) LinkedIn + X/Twitter (B2B-focused)
C) TikTok + YouTube (video-focused)
D) All major networks
E) Niche — Reddit, Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky
Budget range?
A) Free / under $30/mo
B) Mid-range ($30-200/mo)
C) Professional ($200-500/mo)
D) Enterprise ($500+/mo)
E) Not sure yet
If the user's request already provides most of this context, skip directly to the relevant step. Lead with your best-effort answer using reasonable assumptions (stated explicitly), then ask only the most critical 1-2 clarifying questions at the end.
Step 2 — Route or answer directly
If the request maps to a platform-specific skill, route:
Buffer setup, API/GraphQL, per-channel pricing, or v1→GraphQL migration → /sales-buffer
Later setup, config, or features → /sales-later
Sprout Social setup, config, or features → /sales-sproutsocial
Meltwater Engage or social publishing in Meltwater → /sales-meltwater
Brandwatch social media management → /sales-brandwatch
Vista Social setup, config, scheduling, or integrations →
/sales-vistasocial [question]
Influencity Social Hub or influencer marketing → /sales-influencity
Social listening (monitoring, sentiment, crisis) → /sales-social-listening
Team setup — roles, permissions, approval workflows, collaboration best practices
Analytics — key metrics, reporting cadence, proving ROI to stakeholders
Gotchas
Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about pricing and features that may change.
Per-seat pricing can explode. Sprout Social ($199-399/seat), Hootsuite ($99/mo base), and enterprise tools charge per user. A 5-person team on Sprout Professional = $1,500/month. Budget for team size, not just features.
"Social listening" means different things. Sprout and Hootsuite call it social listening. But their listening is social-focused — it doesn't cover news, broadcast, or print. For full media monitoring, you need Meltwater or Brandwatch.
Free tiers are very limited. Buffer's free plan covers 3 channels with basic scheduling. Most other tools' free tiers are trials, not permanent. Don't choose a tool based on free tier capabilities.
Network API changes break features. Instagram, X, and TikTok regularly change their APIs. Features that work today (scheduling Reels, auto-publishing Stories) may break tomorrow. Choose tools with a track record of fast API adaptation.
Analytics don't aggregate perfectly. Each network defines "engagement" and "impressions" differently. Cross-network comparison charts in any tool are approximations, not exact comparisons. Focus on trends within networks, not absolute cross-network numbers.
Approval workflows slow publishing. They're essential for brand safety but can kill timeliness. Set up fast-track paths for time-sensitive content (trending topics, breaking news) alongside standard approval flows.
Self-improving: If you discover something not covered here, append it to references/learnings.md with today's date.
Before recommending a specific platform skill
This skill covers a strategy domain across many platforms. Before pointing the user to any specific platform skill (any /sales-{platform} listed in ## Related skills, e.g., /sales-mailshake, /sales-klaviyo, /sales-apollo), read that platform skill's actual SKILL.md first. The 1-line description in ## Related skills is enough to identify a candidate — it's not enough to commit to it or to write a prompt that invokes it well.
How to read it:
If ~/.claude/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md exists locally, Read it.
For sales-* skills, WebFetch directly from this repo: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sales-skills/sales/main/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md — e.g., for sales-mailshake: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sales-skills/sales/main/skills/sales-mailshake/SKILL.md.
For non-sales-* skills (third-party), look up {org}/{repo} in ~/.claude/skills/sales-do/references/skill-sources.md if installed and fetch the same skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md path under that repo.
After reading, ground your recommendation in something concrete from the SKILL.md (its scope, a sub-flow, its argument-hint shape, or a "Do NOT use for..." negative trigger). Align any generated invocation with the platform skill's argument-hint. If the platform skill turns out not to fit the user's situation, swap to another or handle the question here directly rather than recommending a poor fit.
Related skills
/sales-buffer — Buffer platform help — simple per-channel publishing/scheduling across 11 networks, GraphQL API + legacy REST v1 (no webhooks), free-plan caps, no social listening
/sales-later — Later platform help — scheduling, visual planner, Linkin.bio, analytics, Later Influence
/sales-sproutsocial — Sprout Social platform help — Publishing, Smart Inbox, Analytics, Listening, API
/sales-meltwater — Meltwater platform help — media intelligence, social publishing (Engage), influencer marketing
/sales-brandwatch — Brandwatch platform help — Social Media Management module, Consumer Intelligence
/sales-influencity — Influencity platform help — influencer marketing + Social Hub (content calendar, inbox, approval workflows)
/sales-vistasocial — Vista Social platform help — all-in-one social media management with publishing (15+ networks), unified inbox, analytics, social listening add-on, review management, Zapier/Make
/sales-influencer-marketing — Influencer marketing strategy — discovery, vetting, campaigns, ROI
/sales-canva — Canva platform help — Content Planner social scheduling, Brand Kit, and the Connect API for design automation (create the visual assets you then schedule)
/sales-do — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do
Examples
Example 1: Choose a social media management tool
User says: "I run marketing for a DTC brand with a 3-person team. We mostly post on Instagram and TikTok. Budget is around $100/month."
Skill does:
Evaluates budget constraint — eliminates Sprout ($597/mo for 3 seats)
Compares Agorapulse ($49/mo), Buffer (~$30/mo for 6 channels), and Later ($25/mo)
Recommends Agorapulse for the unified inbox and approval features, or Buffer if they just need simple scheduling
Notes Later if Instagram visual planning is their top priority
Result: Clear recommendation matched to budget, team size, and network focus
Example 2: Set up a content calendar workflow
User says: "I need to plan and schedule content for 5 social channels, and my team keeps missing posts"
Skill does:
Designs a weekly content calendar with themes and posting cadence per channel
Recommends batch creation workflow (create content weekly, schedule in bulk)
Sets up queue-based scheduling with optimal send times
Adds content review checkpoints to prevent missed or duplicate posts
Result: Structured publishing workflow that prevents missed posts
Example 3: Prove social media ROI to leadership
User says: "My CEO keeps asking what we're getting from social media and I don't know how to answer"
Skill does:
Identifies the key metrics that matter to leadership (reach, engagement, traffic, revenue)
Sets up UTM tracking for all social links
Designs a monthly executive dashboard: audience growth, engagement rate, traffic from social, conversions
Creates a comparison framework: social-driven revenue vs. equivalent paid media cost
Result: Executive-ready ROI reporting framework
Troubleshooting
Engagement dropping despite consistent posting
Symptom: Same posting frequency but impressions and engagement are declining
Cause: Algorithm changes, content fatigue, audience growth stalling, or posting at suboptimal times
Solution: Review content mix — increase engaging and educational content, reduce promotional. Test new content formats (Reels, carousels, polls). Check if posting times still align with audience activity. Experiment with posting frequency (sometimes less is more). Review competitor content for what's working in your space.
Team members posting inconsistent content
Symptom: Brand voice varies across posts, off-brand content going live
Cause: No content guidelines, no approval workflow, too many people with publish access
Solution: Create a brand voice document with examples. Implement approval workflows (even a simple creator → reviewer → publish chain). Restrict publish access to trained team members. Use saved reply libraries for engagement responses.
Can't justify the cost of a premium tool
Symptom: Team wants Sprout or Hootsuite but leadership won't approve the budget
Cause: Social ROI isn't visible to decision-makers, or the team hasn't quantified the time savings
Solution: Run a 30-day trial and document: hours saved per week, response time improvement, posts published vs. previous method. Calculate the hourly cost of manual work vs. tool cost. Present the comparison as cost-per-hour-saved, not just subscription price.
