Why Content Calendars are crucial to Social Media Success
– By #RSA
Imagine trying to run a business without utilizing calendars to keep things organized. Would you be able to keep track of meetings and project deadlines without having them written down somewhere? The answer for most of us is probably not. So why should your business's social media be any different? If your current strategy is just posting whenever you remember to share something, odds are you are being consistent enough to make any real impact with your social media marketing. When it comes to social media, failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
Thankfully, there is an easy, fool-proof way to make sure you are setting yourself up for success with your social media practices. A content calendar is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a monthly calendar outlining all the posts you intend to create and share throughout the month. In this blog, we will teach you how to create your own content calendar and explain why creating a content calendar is the best way to ensure you are staying consistent on your social media.
How to Create a Content Calendar
As we mentioned in our last blog article, your social media presence should be 30% sales and 70% culture. Keeping this in mind will help you find the right balance of posting promotional materials versus sharing company updates, or other fun posts. First, start by choosing how often you want to post on social media we recommend a minimum of 2-3 posts per week. Posting consistently makes sure you are building and maintaining top-of-mind awareness with your followers. If you go weeks without posting, odds are your following has forgotten about you and moved on to following someone who shares frequent updates.
Once you have determined how often you’d like to post find a monthly calendar either online or printed. Start by marking specific posts you know you are going to share. For example, these might be new product releases, sales or promotions, or any announcements related to your business. Once you have your main posts decided, you can begin to fill in the rest of your calendar. If you’re struggling to come up with ideas, we have outlined some below:
1: Look up fun and random holidays during the month and create a post around it. You may even find a holiday related to your industry. For example, February 4th is National Work Naked Day, but we don’t really recommend sharing that on social media or even participating in it.
2: Share staff birthdays, anniversaries, or kudos for a job well done. Odds are, many of your followers on social media are friends and family of your staff members, so sharing posts about your staff is likely to receive higher rates of engagement. While these posts may not garner new customers they will help get your company in front of more people and showcase your company culture.
3: Give your clients shout-outs. If you work with a variety of clients sharing updates about their events and business. Success is another way to create more engagement with your posts.
4: Blog Articles: Writing blog articles related to your business and industry is a great way to share your experience and expertise. For one thing, adding regular content to your website is a great way to improve your organic search rankings, but in addition, blog articles make great content to share on your social media platforms.
5: Sharing testimonials and positive reviews. Sharing positive reviews sent to you by customers is a great post on social media. It is a great way of building trust with prospective clients and further solidifying your expertise.
What’s next?
So, you’ve created a content calendar now what? The best thing about planning your posts ahead of time is that it allows you to schedule them. This way you can have your posts scheduled weeks in advance and if things get busy you don’t have to worry about making time to share on social media. A content calendar is not a binding legal contract you can always share updates when you feel like it, but your calendar ensures you have a plan in place.
If after reading this blog the idea of creating and implementing a content calendar sounds like a lot of work give Robert Sharp & Associates a call at (605)341-5226. Our team of expert digital marketers can craft a content calendar unique to your business.
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