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How to Create and Maintain a Social Media Content Calendar


LD Staff Writer

If you haven’t created a social media calendar for your business, you’re missing out! It’s a great way to keep track of what you’d like to post – and what you have posted already. It will keep your posts organized, well planned, and will help you post more frequently. The best part: you can plan ahead instead of trying to come up with something in the moment.

A few tips to get you started:

What to Include

There are three primary items to include in your social media calendar: what you’re posting, which social media platform, and when.

Include the URL if you’re linking to a blog post or item description, and include any pictures or videos that go along with your post.

Add anything and everything that works for you!

Use Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, a planner, or any type of calendar to organize your social media game plan. At LongerDays, we typically use Google Sheets – it’s super easy to share with among the team, and with our clients.

What Kind of Content to Schedule

First, you need to figure out what you want to post in a general sort of way… Which may include some research about your audience. This is who you are posting for, so you want to make sure you’re presenting content they actually care about.

Here are a few ideas:

  • Personal things about your company – How you started, what your vision is, what’s going on in the office today…
  • Items or services you provide – Most companies only do this, and honestly, the people following you on social media should already know what you offer. Don’t bore them with information they already know! You can (and should) still post about this stuff… But don’t let it be the only material you share.
  • Employee spotlights – Introduce a new employee or recognize employees for their great work. Don’t forget your employees’ birthdays!
  • Your blog – Post links to your blog with a brief description. You can recycle old blog posts, or create new ones and post when they are complete!
  • Things going on in your community – If you’re a small business, your community is everything. People want to see that you’re involved and that you care… This could be as easy as sharing a link to a local event!

How to Schedule Your Content

Once you have your social media calendar planned out, the next step is to schedule the posts. There are many online programs that you can use, like Hootsuite, Buffer, or MeetEdgar. Don’t forget Facebook has its own scheduler! Find more information about Hootsuite and MeetEdgar here!

As for when to schedule your posts, that’s entirely up to you and your audience… LongerDays (and most of the companies we work with) seem to have the best luck posting in the afternoon. Feel free to experiment, and figure out the time(s) your followers are most likely to interact with your posts.

Other Tips for Creating and Maintaining Your Social Media Content Calendar

  • Plan out your posts ahead of time. Set a reminder for to take care of it the same time each week or month.
  • When you plan out your posts, you’ll also be able to include posts for holidays and other events. Use this to your advantage, whether that means tailoring your posts for a holiday discount or creating a “12 Days of Christmas” campaign that highlights your holly jolly company spirit!
  • Once you have scheduled your posts, make sure you have a way to track that the post has been scheduled. We simply bold the post in our calendar once the post has been scheduled on the appropriate platform.
  • If you are using Excel or Sheets, use different pages for different months. That way, you have a clear picture of your month – without needing to scroll through multiple months of content! Organization is key!
  • Edit your calendar to make it work for you! You may find different methods for you and your business… The most important part is that you form a plan and stick to it!

LongerDays is here to help with your social media calendar! We can create and schedule any posts needed, research possible content, and more! Whether we help, or you make your own social media content calendar, it will help create consistent posting – which leads to more traffic and potentially more clients!

If you are still struggling with social media for your business, check out this blog about social media tips for small businesses!

 

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