Social media is a crucial tool for businesses to reach their target audience, engage with customers, and build their brand. However, creating and maintaining a consistent social media presence can be challenging without a content calendar as it’s easy to lose track of posting or even what to post without a plan.
A social media content calendar is a plan that helps you organise your social media posts and ensure that they align with your marketing goals.
Surprisingly, 63% of businesses don’t have a documented strategy, which means they resort to an ad-lib approach and come up with the topics they will cover on the fly. This strategy might work for some businesses, but it is still no excuse for producing low-quality content, which can be eliminated with a well-planned calendar.
Here are some simple steps to get you started on a social media calendar
Step 1: Set Your Social Media Goals
Before you start planning your social media content, you need to identify your social media goals. Your goals should align with your overall marketing strategy and help you achieve your business objectives. For example, if you are a B2B company, your goal might be to generate leads, while if you are a B2C company, your goal might be to increase brand awareness. Once you have identified your goals, you can start planning your social media content around them.
So if your main goal is to generate leads, your social media content could focus on product demos, customer testimonials, and case studies and if it’s for brand awareness you can have more general posts about the products and services that you offer.
Step 2: Choose Your Social Media Platforms
There are many social media platforms available, but not all of them are suitable for every business. You need to choose the platforms that align with your social media goals and where your target audience is most active. If your target audience is predominantly on Facebook and Instagram, you should focus on these platforms and create content that is tailored to each platform’s audience.
If you find that your target audience is on Instagram, your content could include visually appealing images or videos that showcase your products or services. It’s also great to share behind-the-scenes videos and content so that your followers can get to know who is behind the brand.
Step 3: Define Your Content Categories
Once you have identified your social media goals and chosen your platforms, you need to define the content categories that align with your goals. Content categories are the different types of content that you will post on social media. This can include product promotions, industry news, customer stories, and more. Defining your content categories will help you organise your social media content and ensure that it aligns with your social media goals.
Example: If your social media goal is to increase brand awareness, your content categories could include company culture, behind-the-scenes, and employee spotlights.
Step 4: Create a Social Media Content Calendar
Now that you have defined your social media goals, chosen your platforms, and defined your content categories, it’s time to create a social media content calendar. A social media content calendar is a plan that outlines the types of content you will post, the platforms you will post on, and the dates and times you will post.
Example of a post:
Platform: LinkedIn
Content Type: Product Demo
Content Category: Lead Generation
Date: March 1st
Time: 10 am
Caption: Check out our new product in action! Our product demo shows how it can help you streamline your business processes and save time. Want to learn more? Click the link in our bio to schedule a demo.
Image: Insert an image of the product in use
Step 6: Monitor and Evaluate Your Social Media Performance
Once you have scheduled your social media posts, it’s important to monitor and evaluate your social media performance. This will help you identify what is working well and what needs improvement. You can use social media analytics tools like Facebook Insights or Twitter Analytics to monitor your social media performance.
Creating a social media content calendar is an essential step for businesses that want to have a consistent social media presence and achieve their marketing goals. By setting your social media goals, choosing your platforms, defining your content categories, creating a social media content calendar, scheduling your social media posts, and monitoring and evaluating your social media performance, you can create a social media content strategy that is aligned with your marketing goals and resonates with your target audience. Get in touch with our team to chat about your social media marketing plans!
