We've all heard the phrase, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Though this may not be a one-size-fits-all all approach to all areas of life, planning can make a significant difference when it comes to managing your small business via creating a successful social media content calendar.
There are several ways to individualize your digital marketing efforts by marrying your branding and social media management. So, buckle up and listen for the wedding bells as we walk you through some strategies to plan your social content according to the authenticity of your brand identity!
What is a Content Calendar?
Let’s start off by defining what exactly a content calendar is in this context. If you’re a small business owner, to some extent, you are in a stage-five clinger relationship with your personal calendar. Digital or on paper, maintaining a tidy calendar is crucial to staying ahead of meetings, communications, client interaction, and sanity — we feel you on this one!
That being said, the same rules should apply to your social media management. Being proactive rather than reactive allows you to schedule tasks and posts in one place that are consistent with your brand identity. Social media planning is all about setting those appointments with your posts, so they don’t look or feel like an afterthought to you or your clients’ brand identity. Posting is one consistent date you don’t want to be late for when you’re building a relationship with SEO and algorithms!
We all could use a little less on our plate and while itemizing your social media calendar might be taxing in the short term, it will pay off on the back-end when every piece of content or copywriting is grab-and-go.
What Should I Include in My Content Calendar?
Depending on which social media outlet you are using, there are certain styles of content creation that lend themselves to more engagement, but the details of this will be unpacked later. For now, let’s brainstorm the forms of SEO and social media content that are conducive to growth and booming interaction for your small business:
TikTok videos
Instagram posts (Reels, Photo Dumps, Solo Photos, Graphics, Stories, etc.)
Facebook posts or ads
Blog posts or Vlogs
E-books or guides for your product (can be linked on all social channels)
Podcasts or other audio/video content good for multiple outlets (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Youtube, etc.)
Email newsletters or recurring campaigns (Mailchimp is one example for automation)
Templates or personalized content graphics
Infographics or multimedia presentations
Anything else that might be brand-specific to your product, company, clients, or services!
Specify Your Content for Each Platform
Ensuring that you’re selecting the right forms of media for your channels is key to optimizing your engagement and digital marketing strategy. For instance, if someone decided to post a long-form video on a platform like TikTok, they might not get as much engagement as a short, concise, well-crafted edit of clips from the long-form video. Long form is typically considered to be a video longer than 10 minutes and is better for platforms such as YouTube or a webpage. Taking that content and then chopping it up into clips for your TikToks, Reels, or Shorts is a much more efficient way to grab the attention of your viewership and direct them toward the content that they have the time and capacity to consume.
Strategic social media planning is like a Secret Santa, whereas uninformed blasts of content are akin to a White Elephant gift exchange. With Secret Santa, you know your audience, and you can cater a gift to their specific wants, needs, and desires — providing successful digital marketing is specific and useful to the viewers. On the opposite side of the coin, the White Elephant strategy of social media would be to create a post of any kind that is not relevant or appropriate for the audience it is intended for. It is random, it lends itself to less engagement, and it simply doesn’t hit the same on the consumption or production end.
Of course, there are outliers and fleeting social media trends are inevitable; however, this is one of those instances where consistency and being prepared are key to the success and longevity of social media management.
Choose a Format that Works for You
Just as there are certain forms of content that better suit specific platforms, there are styles of content that better suit you and the brand identity of your small business. It is important to take this into consideration when creating content; because when you’re creating, not only does what you’re doing feel more consistent with your brand identity and what you might be passionate about as a small business owner, but also that enthusiasm and voice will be apparent to your audience in the quality of your content.
Populate Dates
You’ve got a hot date (or 30) with your social media calendar this month! This may seem like a no-brainer, of course we need to pay attention to dates — it is a calendar after all. However, there are important details that should not be missed when mentioning the dates on your calendar. Of course, you should use dates to set deadlines and assign tasks to yourself or your team for seamless communication, but it is also important to include all important dates (publish dates, rough drafts, due dates, deadlines for design, etc.) Having these items in one location will hold you and your small business accountable for what needs to get done, eliminating any confusion.
Include Social Media Platform and Type of Content
Another tip that can be helpful for organization, but often overlooked — specificity! In the notes or details you include for each date on your social media content calendar, be sure to include the form of social media you need to publish or post. For instance, if you labeled an action item “post video about our new product” on your content calendar, it creates room for confusion. What social media outlet? Short form or long form video?
If you are extremely in touch with your organizational side, we would even recommend color coding your process. Assign each social media outlet a color and coordinate your tasks or deadlines accordingly to make your social media planning operate more smoothly and efficiently.
Details, Details, Details
It’s all in the details! As a small business owner, you need to maximize efficiency everywhere you can, and your content calendar is a great place to do so. After you include the social media platform in your calendar, you should include as many other details as you can to make posting or publishing easier for you and your team on the backend.
For example, include brief notes on the topic, any links or available resources for your client, SEO keywords, or anything else you or your team might need to know prior to creating the content itself. That way when it’s time to get down to business, you already have the foundation in place for what needs to be executed.
Track-Star (Statuses, Tasks, and Deadlines)
Your digital marketing campaign is a runner and a track-star! Running efficiently and tracking deadlines and task statuses, that is!
Simply creating and assigning deadlines is not enough for seamless execution of social media management campaigns. Tracking your progress is a sure-fire way to know exactly how you and your team are plugging away at task completion. A lot of software has the option to mark an action item as “not started,” “in progress,” or “completed.” Essentially, this creates a virtual to-do list and progress tracker for your digital marketing — and who doesn’t love to check things off of their to-do list!
Start Small
Goal setting is an important step to set yourself up for success in your social media planning; however, you need to remember to give yourself grace. Being a small business owner, especially in the beginning of your journey toward scaling and growing, means that you are often doing multiple jobs at once. That being said, start small.
Begin your digital marketing campaign with the bare bones. You don’t have to overwhelm yourself by filling every day with multiple tasks and pre-designed posts ready to upload. Setting intentional goals that are bite-sized and allowing yourself room to add as you go can prevent wanting to give up on creating your new habit of social media planning. For instance, if you are starting from day zero, rather than starting off with a goal of uploading one perfectly crafted Reel every day, start off by posting three times a week (or whatever feels appropriate for your calendar). You can always add more once you consistently accomplish the starter plan, but you don’t want to start off too ambitious, get discouraged, and lose momentum on your content calendar.
Be Open to Change
The only thing that we are guaranteed in life is change. So, why not welcome it with open arms? In your small business and social media management, this is essential to growth (because if you haven’t already felt it, growth can be extremely uncomfortable).
Social media is a realm that is always changing, and with it, you are going to be changing and learning to adapt to the punches it throws. To maximize the gain you can receive from successful social media planning, having an open mind is essential.
Benefits of Planning Ahead on Content
We could go on for hours about how beneficial creating a social media content calendar can be, but to save you the time (since we know you’re busy), here are five pros to planning ahead:
Optimization
Though it might seem like a tedious chore on the front end, genuinely leaning into all that the content calendar can take off of your plate on the backend is optimal for your performance and your sanity!
Schedule your posts ahead of time using a content scheduling tool. Meta offers a free content planner for Instagram and Facebook Business Accounts. We also love Sprout Social and Hootsuite for a more in-depth option.
Think of how much wasted time goes to “winging it” or getting stuck with creator’s block. Social media planning eliminates procrastination, stress, and dread surrounding digital marketing or SEO writing.
Communication
Having all of you or your team’s action items in one area via the social media content calendar streamlines the process of getting things done!
The resource that a content calendar becomes for your small business allows you to answer questions, track progress of projects, and be able to plan events or meetings to manage your time more efficiently. You will no longer have to text and ask “Hey, when is ____ due?” and wait 3-5 business days for a response from a colleague.
We use Airtable, a free project management tool, to plan our content and communicate as a team. We also love Basecamp and Notion!
Organization
We know it doesn’t come naturally to everyone, but organization is essential to be a successful small business owner. Now, this doesn’t mean you need to be rigid and robotic, organization allows for the exact opposite. It provides you with the opportunity to be flexible and quickly respond to the needs of your company because you already have your plan in place.
Peace of Mind
Investing the time it takes to generate a content calendar takes more off of your plate than it adds over the course of the month. That being said, it is another way to lighten your load as a small business owner, and give you the peace of mind that you have a system in place to grow engagement with your services.
Consistency
Building a habit and implementing a digital marketing strategy such as this requires consistency. Get out of your comfort zone and test strategies for your business that will take time to solidify, but the results will be worth it. Knowledge is power, and learning strategic ways to scale your small business or services is a valuable tool.
Other Helpful Tidbits
A few last quick tips to ensure smooth operation of your social media planning journey that will help solidify your brand identity across platforms:
Link Up!
Be sure to include the links to whatever resources, articles, or posts you’re working on directly into your calendar file. Not only does this save space on storage as opposed to uploading the actual post, but also it allows everyone with access to the calendar to put eyes on the content before it gets released.
Reflect to Grow
You can’t change the past, but you can learn from it. This journey is going to be ever-changing, and in order to learn how to come out of a situation with a different result, you must reflect. If a process or system isn’t working for your team and your small business, reflect on what went well and what you can change moving forward. It has been said that insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result.
If you're looking to save time as a small business owner, Radiant Media can help! Let’s avoid insanity and bring your branding to a social media content calendar servicing your small business in 2024! Transform your brand with Radiant Media, your go-to digital marketing agency for small businesses and beyond. Elevate your online presence with our fun and effective strategies that captivate audiences and drive results. Let us illuminate your path to success through tailored marketing solutions designed to make your business shine in the digital landscape. Discover the power of Radiant Media and watch your brand glow with unprecedented success. Click here to get started.
Comments