Digital marketing is the new trend of the millennial generation. Also, it is here to stay as it has literally changed the dynamics of the marketing industry. Every brand needs to have a social media marketing identity in today’s time.
There are a lot of different social media channels where companies and brands are able to find their potential audience. Hence, having an active account on social media has become crucial.
Social media has created vast opportunities for a lot of people. Many people are showing their skills and talents on different platforms. Even home-grown brands are making a lot of profit by selling on social media.
Social media has a great reach and it is possible to target potential audience with the help of paid advertisements. However, creating a loyal audience organically is also possible. You do have to work hard for the same. The basic rule is that you will have to post at least once daily.
A lot of people get confused here. They do not understand what to post daily. At the same time, if you are selling a product or service, no one wants to see the same thing every single day.
So, how do you do it?
A social media calendar comes to your rescue. If you plan things in advance, then it can be really beneficial for you.
What is a Social Media Calendar?
It is basically a working document which is used to schedule the pieces of content. If you have an account on Instagram and Facebook at the same time, it is even beneficial to make a social media content calendar. You can create a calendar for a week or a month. It completely depends on you.
This document will help you create a proper content strategy. You can add pictures, graphics, videos, hashtags and captions in a calendar. This will help you understand your content even better instead of just randomly posting something every other day.
A good social media strategy needs uniformity and relevance. A social media calendar helps you achieve that precisely. It helps you plan and you can make sure that you are sending the right message to your audience.
It is a good idea to maintain a social media calendar properly. It will help you focus on your goals. It will help you understand your strategy over various social media channels. You can analyze and understand what works better for you and what does not.
What to do before planning a Social Media Calendar?
There is one important step that you must take before planning a social media editorial calendar. You must decide your goal. You need to be clear of what you want out of a page that you are creating.
Do you want to sell products?
Do you want to have a large following and then advertise for other people?
Do you want to become a social media influencer?
Deciding on a goal is necessary because then, you will be able to create proper content over those lines. You have to understand that only two things work on social media channels. The first one is educate your audience and the second one is entertain them. You will have to do any one of those and then, you will see the organic results that you want.
However, once you set your goal, you have to decide on the social media content framework. It can be really daunting to come up with different social media content categories. Although, do not worry. We have got you covered. Read on to find out the different content pieces that you can add in your social media content category.
General Motivational Quotes
You can be selling any service or product on social media and this content category will still work. People love having a little motivation on their feed while scrolling. There are end number of quotes available on the internet. However, make sure to not use the common ones. Research on the internet and try to find quotes that are not used often on social media channels.
You can always make a quote on your own as well. Apart from that, you can post a motivational quote based on your niche. For example, if you are a digital marketing manager who is selling his services on Facebook, you can always include a motivational quote related to the marketing field or sales. Always remember to post a motivational quote on a Monday. People find it hard to get back to work after the weekend and your post will give them the motivation they need.
Memes
If something has a sure shot to work on the internet then it has to be memes. People love relatable memes and engage a lot with them. Just make memes related to your niche. For example, if you are selling makeup products on social media, then you can always make a graphic which says, “Got 50 lipstick shades but always need a new one”.
Did you get the point here? Also, there are various applications and soft wares which allows you to create content for free.
Video Post
Videos are the most engaging form of content on the internet today. People love watching videos instead of reading a long caption. Even simple videos really work well and create engagement on your profile. However, there are different lengths of videos that are accepted on different platforms.
For example, you can post a longer length of video on YouTube. Although, Instagram allows a video up till a minute only. You can add a longer video on IGTV. Also, there are standard video lengths that work with different platforms. You might want to research that before creating content. However, make sure to include at least one video content in one week in your social media calendar.
Blog Post
If you have a website for your business, then you must write blogs for the same. You can generate a lot of traffic on your website with the help of a blog. Then, you can always promote your blog post on your social media accounts. You will have something to post as well and, you will be able to generate some traffic back to your website.
Cross promotion is a great way to generate traffic. However, if you are not writing a blog post, you can always promote your other social media accounts. For example, you can always promote your Twitter account on Instagram and vice versa.
Review Posts
You should post reviews given by your clients on social media channels. This will encourage your potential buyers to make the purchase. A lot of people make purchases based on reviews. You can screenshot what your client sent you and post that directly. It will look authentic and have a great impact on the buying audience.
If you have a regular client, you can request them to give you a review in the form of a video. Tell them to share their complete experience of buying with you. You can also ask them to mention your USP and what they like about the product or service that they bought from you.
Free Resources
If you are aggressive about marketing, then you must know that giving away free resources is an important part of the process. You should create webinars, eBooks and other resources for your audience. However, you can create one resource per month and promote that once a week. So, you will have 4 posts every month in your social media calendar for the same.
Free resources actually are based on the kind of business you have. If you are a consultant, you can give your first session for free. Although, if you are a digital marketer, then you can give an audit report of the site for free. If you are an influencer, then you can collaborate with a brand and giveaway their products for free. This is an important content piece as it will create engagement on your posts which will help in increasing the reach of your profile.
Pictures of Your Work
It is important to post real pictures of your work and not just graphics. People do check the whole profile before making a purchase. If you sell products, then post pictures of those products and write the USP of that particular product in the caption. At the same time, if you are selling a service, then post your portfolio.
For example, if you are an interior designer, then post pictures of the sites that you have already designed. Clients love having a reference before making a purchase. Also, you can post your work twice a week which will make it as 8 posts a month. You can start posting thrice a week too.
Discounts or Coupons
You should include a coupon code or an offer in your posts. This is a very important post in your social media content calendar. People tend to make purchases during offers. It pushes your audience to buy your products and services. You can actually give discounts during festivals. Hence, if you plan a social media calendar, you can easily plan some offers during festivals.
If you are not maintaining a social media content calendar, then it might be difficult for you to create impromptu graphics during the holiday season. These posts are really important as they will surely increase your sales.
Comprehensive Checklist
This is a great content idea. You can create various checklists based on the items that you are selling on social media. For example, if you are selling travel products, then you can always create a checklist of: Things to take for a weekend trip and include your product in the list.
If you are a digital marketing manager, then you can create a checklist for performing SEO or PPC. The options are ample. Based on your niche, create a checklist. Although, it is important to understand that you need to create checklists that are beneficial to your audience. Do not create random checklists which are not relatable to your audience.
Quiz
You can run quizzes and puzzles on your social media channels. It will surely interest your audiences. Apart from that, it will create engagement on your profile too. However, creating quizzes and puzzles can take some time. Hence, maintaining a social media calendar will give you those insights.
After that, you can also create a post which has the answer to your quiz or puzzle. You can ask a quiz once a week and reveal the answer the next week. You can run the quiz for a week. In this way, you will have to create only two quizzes a month.
Case Study
It is a good idea to post case studies as well. However, it is important to understand that you can post case studies of you work if you have worked on enough projects. If you are a new brand, then you can post case studies of existing brands in your niche.
However, case studies would work on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. It will not work on Twitter and Instagram. These are some important things to note.
Industry News
You can always post industry news on your social media accounts. Anything that is changing your field dynamics is always a good idea. People like to educate themselves and you can always do that.
You can post news once in two weeks. However, make sure to do your research well and include something interesting in your post.
Conclusion
These are some of the content ideas that can be used to design a social media calendar. A lot of the content ideas need some work beforehand. Thus, planning a content calendar will give you enough time to create those graphics for a post. Social media is all about high quality pictures and thus, it is important to create proper graphics with the help of a graphic designer.
You can also fix days for certain pieces of content which can include motivational quotes and industry news. For example, every Thursday will be an industry news day. Just be creative and playful with your social media content.