We’ve established the importance of content calendars in helping you streamline the visual marketing side of your business, but what really goes into creating and executing them?
A social media content calendar can be one of the most helpful tools you have, but it can take a while to create them and get to the point of fluidity. We’ll break down the ins and outs of what you need to know while answering some commonly asked questions about content calendars.
The Nitty Gritty of Content Calendars
Who Should Manage It?
While we’re certain you’re more than capable of creating and executing this on your own, we’re also more than aware that you have other things you can – and should – be doing in your business that are a better use of your time.
A Virtual Assistant can help you start to make headway on your social media presence by collaborating with you on what you want to post and scheduling those posts for you. They can also create graphics and help you establish or maintain a social media presence.
But a Social Media Manager can take your social media game to the next level – and beyond.
And it’s likely that for your purposes, you need a Social Media Manager, one who enables your organization to maintain a successful social media presence that allows you to build your brand and ultimately attract and retain new clients.
These are people who live and breathe social media. People for whom every ping, ding, and red-badge notification gives them anticipatory butterflies as they eagerly engage with people online.
What Should Be Included – And What Should I Do With It?
You can include as much information and details as you want. Consider adding columns within your template to make space for the date, time, caption and even word count.
You can even create a space within the calendar to go back and add data on the engagement you received from each post. This way, you can track what your audience reacts to the most and what times are best for your organization to post.
When you start to track the analytics of your posts, you can get a better idea of your visibility and engagement online, and then start to capitalize on what works and make changes when something doesn’t.
Where And When Should It Be Updated?
We suggest updating your content calendar monthly. This way, you can have a good idea of what is coming up and can act instead of react.
By being able to see a month at a glance, you’ll find that it gets easier to plug and play similar content each month to get your calendar filled and the individual posts scheduled.
If you can, carve out some time in your calendar to batch-create and schedule content. This way, you won’t have to create a graphic and come up with a caption in a panic the day before a holiday.
How Do I Even Start?
Download a template and tweak it from there. Don’t be afraid to make it your own. It can be as simple or as complex as you’d like.
You’ll want to determine which platforms you’ll be posting your content on. After that, start plugging in your content.
Here are some questions to consider as you’re doing that.
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- Which posts will be consistent?
- Will you include holiday greetings?
- What about your blog posts or podcast episodes?
- Do you want to post behind-the-scenes content?
- How will you utilize videos?
- What other content do you already have that you can repurpose?
- What will the tone of voice be for your content?
- Should you post a funny meme here and there?
- How will you attract and engage your audience?
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Once you’re able to brainstorm and define your goals for marketing your business on social media, you’re ready to start posting and can pivot from there.
Need help converting more of your online audience into avid customers? We’ve got you. Our Social Media Managers are eager to help.