Why Use a Social Media Calendar?! Here are some pointers to get you going:
Time Saver!
It saves you time. Trust me! Instead of waiting for an idea to come to you at the last minute, stressing over a single post, and finding yourself doing this day-to-day, you can stay ahead of the game. By building content that is on your social media calendar you can plan for posts weeks, months, and even years ahead!
Never Miss Important Dates!
It’s helpful to fill in those holidays to stay ahead and celebrate along with your audience. Is there a National or International Holiday your business should be celebrating? Relating to the beer industry, “National Beer Day” falls on April 7th 2019 this year (add that to your calendars, guys). This is a holiday your followers can definitely relate to, so why not encourage them to participate in the festivities with you?! Creating engaging posts or events surrounding holidays like this can bring people to your business, traction to your pages, and stimulate sales. This is an easy way to add content to your calendar. So let Google be your best friend and research holidays you feel are relevant to your business.
Post Consistently!
This is a point I highlighted in my first blog post on Content Marketing. Making a commitment to your posts is a commitment to sharing information with your audience on a regular basis. This is where a social media calendar becomes so clutch. If your last post is from over a month ago, your viewers will not stay engaged and most likely forget about you. By posting consistently, you are training your followers to remain connected and encouraging engagement. If you are posting 4-5 times out of the week, stick with that schedule. By developing a social media schedule you are ensuring your content will be planned in advance. Time saver, remember? Here’s an excerpt I pulled from the blog on Content Marketing:
“Commit to your posts and scheduling them out. If all you can handle is posting once a week or twice a week, do it so that it becomes mindful to your customer and they know when to expect information from you. Research your peak times and post trends. If your posts gain more traction in the morning, then schedule to post in the morning.” (Read more on Content Marketing by reading the full blog)
Don’t Be Boring!
Spice up your content by posting about different things throughout the week! Posting about the same content over and over gets B-O-R-I-N-G and your followers will start to lose interest. So take a look at your calendar and see where you can spread out content that is similar and mix it in between a video or something exciting that’s happening behind the scenes. You can always edit your schedule as needed also. It’s not locked in forever! So if your business has breaking news you want to share, you can always re-arrange your posts and work that in. This topic also relates back to my first blog on Content Marketing and putting out valuable content that connects to your customer. Remember to keep your audience in mind when coming up with content. Consistently sharing valuable content builds trust and lasting relationships.
It’s a Collaborative Effort!
More often than not, you are working with multiple people for a single post. For example: models, photographers, copywriters, etc. Take into account the people involved and the resources you need. You will most likely need to schedule a time to collaborate so be prepared for the unknown! Schedules can conflict. It happens! So plan as far ahead as you possibly can.
If you are having trouble coming up with content, check out this chart with "23 Social Media Content Ideas" to work into your own Social Media Calendar for your business! You can double-up on posts that are popular and favorable to your followers, but make sure to switch out the content. Then you can drop them into your calendar as you see fit. Happy posting!
