Article

Rick Barron
Rick Barron 17 September 2019

Part 1 - Tips For Social Media Calendar

An editorial calendar is what tracks everything you need to know about the content you are publishing. Who are you writing it for? What is the article’s overall purpose? What does the title rank?

Why use a social media content calendar?

Social Media content calendars are crucial when creating a plan for your content.

An editorial calendar is what tracks everything you need to know about the content you are publishing. Who are you writing it for? What is the article’s overall purpose? What does the title rank? 

Ok, all of these questions might seem confusing at first. But, once you establish the framework for your own editorial calendar, answering these questions will be a breeze – and keep you on track to create amazing, valuable content. 

A social media content calendar can help you stay ahead of all upcoming events, webinars, product launches, videos, and more. You won’t miss any opportunities to elevate your brand and engage with followers on special dates.

Stick to a consistent posting schedule

Posting consistently is one of the best ways to get more Instagram followers—but that’s true for all the other social platforms as well.

No one will want to follow you if the most recent post on your profile is from two years ago…the sure way for people to not come back!  A consistent posting schedule shows potential followers you are invested in the channel, in the user, meaning a follow will be worth their time.

By keeping a steady cadence with your postings, it trains your current followers to expect and engage with your content on a regular basis, cultivating long-lasting relationships that lead to sales.

A social media content calendar will help you post consistently across all platforms by ensuring that content is planned and scheduled in advance.

Find your ideal content mix

No one wants to hear a company just talk about themselves. Doing that will ensure your brand heads south.

Sure, followers will want to know when you’re having a sale, a product launch, calling out events where you’ll be presenting, but they also want to see other types of content from you, such as:

  • Curated articles, videos, and news stories from your industry
  • Key influencers and thought leaders
  • Personal interactions and responses to questions
  • And more!

Through testing over time, everyone figures out the mix of content that works for them. But the rule of thirds is a good place to start. That means:

  • ⅓ of your content promotes your business or generates leads
  • ⅓ of your content comes from other sources that align with your business
  • ⅓ of your content engages with followers directly, either through answering questions, responding to comments, or reposting user-generated content

Another ratio is the 80/20 rule: 80 percent helpful and interesting content for every 20 percent of content that’s selling your product.

Planning your social content in advance ensures you are publishing a balanced amount of content from each category. Strive for a 60-day rolling plan.

Plan your resources effectively

You know what they say: by failing to prepare, you’re preparing to fail.

A great social media post often involves copywriters, designers, and even video editors. It’s a collaborative effort, and quality work takes time.

A few brilliant creatives get their best work done at the very last minute, but generally, the opposite is true. Planning ahead puts less strain on you and your team members, as well as company resources. And you’re more likely to publish your best quality work. To prevent any added stress, plan ahead!

Procrastination can be expensive and if that habit becomes a trend, you will fail.

Avoid cross-platform errors

One of the cardinal sins of social media management is posting the exact same message on multiple networks. It’s happened to all of us, asking your Facebook followers to “retweet” you or tagging a brand on Twitter who only has Instagram, but it’s less likely to happen if you plan ahead.

A social media content calendar lets you write out unique captions for each social platform in advance. Then when it comes time to schedule your posts, it’s just a matter of copy-and-pasting the right caption to the right network. It’s a lot of work in the beginning but staying true to your calendar pays huge dividends.

Ensure fresh content

A social media content calendar is not just a planning tool, it’s a record of everything you’ve ever published. With all the content that gets posted, it’s very easy to repeat yourself without realizing it, this is why an editorial calendar is a must. While planning new content, look back to make sure you’re not repeating yourself.

Figure out what works

Having a record of what you’ve published makes it easier to measure results. Plus, all the time you’re saving not scrambling to publish last-minute posts can now be used to optimize performance.

Compare your publishing schedule to your analytics and see if you can find any patterns. Perhaps posts published on Thursdays perform the best. Maybe your Facebook followers are really into 15-second videos, while your Twitter followers prefer long-form blog posts. Maybe your Instagram followers like to see one post a day, while your LinkedIn followers like four. Measure, tweak and measure.

About the author

Hi, my name is Rick and I thank you for reading this article!

I explore to learn new stuff every day and here I will share all my experiences and thoughts with you.

You can also find me on Twitter and Instagram. :)

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