Why should you utilise social media planning this year?
It’s the start of a new year, and with that often comes planning and looking ahead to your goals for the next 12 months. At Content Clever, we love to plan out our days, weeks and content so that we are confident we will always have something to share, write about and, most importantly, support our clients with great content. Your social media planning is no different. With social media platforms only set to get bigger as we move more online, it has never been more important to find a failsafe way of planning your content so you are not left scrambling for something to write about!
There are several reasons why you should be planning your social media in advance:
- Remember important dates and events
- Schedule your product/service launches
- Create great brand awareness
- Stop posting things that have little or no impact
- Stop panicking about what to say!
This month, Content Clever give you the ultimate tips and tricks to make your social media planning a walk in the park, including things you need to remember and how often you should be posting online.
Creating your social media planning calendar for 2023
Before you go steaming ahead with your social media planning, we recommend getting a proper set-up together so you can consistently plan your content for the next year. If you are just starting out with your social media, the Meta Suite on Facebook is a great way to schedule your posts ahead of time, and from here, you can schedule to both Facebook and Instagram.
For those who are scheduling on multiple platforms and for larger organisations, you may wish to look into an external scheduler such as Content Studio or Hootsuite. External platforms, however, do come with a cost, so be sure to understand whether it’s worth moving external at this point.
Once you have found the perfect scheduler for you, how are you going to record your notes and plan your posts in an easy-to-view way? This will very much depend on the best route for you personally. From google spreadsheets to a Microsoft document or simply putting together a monthly calendar (our personal favourite), as long as you are comfortable with the method of social media planning you are using, you can get stuck in!
How often should you be posting on social media?
This is often a difficult question to answer, as posting schedules will be unique to your business and the audience you are engaging with. For those with a smaller business and those with less to discuss, we recommend posting at least twice a week to keep in touch with your audience and to let them have a personal insight into your business.
For larger businesses, creative agencies and those with products etc., posting may be more frequent as you generally have more to discuss. No matter how often you are posting, however, be sure to remain consistent in your posts to support your platform algorithm.
5 elements of a successful social media plan
A great way to start your social media planning is to consider big events throughout the year. Add these into each month and then backfill with surrounding content that will support your events, offer advice and guidance and generally interact with your audience. Think of the following events that might be useful to your social media planning:
- Product/service launches
- Major events
- Seasonal changes
- Awareness Days
- Conferences and annual events
Creating a strategy for each platform
Each of your platforms has best practices for engagement with your audience, so it’s important to treat them individually and have a separate strategy for each platform. You wouldn’t look to post the same post on Instagram as you would on LinkedIn, as it wouldn’t work. Spend some time thinking about the audience of each platform and how you can reach them successfully.
Consider the following:
- Who is on this platform?
- Why am I on this platform?
- Who will I reach by posting on this platform?
- What posts work well on this platform?
- How unique are my posts?
Set business goals that make sense
The main reason why we post on social media platforms is to increase our brand audience and hit more leads and sales. As we move into 2023, this will become even more important with a looming recession. Think about the business goals you have for this year and how your social media planning can help you reach those goals.
Increasing your brand awareness
Social media platforms will help you to increase awareness of your brand – as long as you are using it to your full advantage. A hard and constant sell is often a choice of many brands, but this won’t help you to build long-lasting consumers and followers who have a vested interest in your brand. Focus on posting helpful content that shows your brand personality and values.
Generate leads and sales
Whilst we don’t promote using your social media planning as an opportunity to hard sell, many of us buy from social media and will continue to do so. Use your platform to inform followers of promotions, deals and new product/service launches but be sure not to make this the sole focus of your strategy.
Boost your engagement
Your customers will be your biggest fans, so it’s important to give them what they are looking for out of your social media. Consider content that is likely to get a reaction (a share or a comment) as this will support your algorithm and boost the visibility of your page. Testimonials, products, personality and tips are all likely to get reactions from your audience.
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Struggling to plan your own social media content?
It is no secret that planning your social media content is a challenge. With algorithms constantly changing, other work priorities that get in the way and a general worry that we don’t know what to put or our post isn’t going to get the attention it deserves means that social media often gets put off to the last minute.
If you need some support with your social media planning, Content Clever is here to help! Why not book a free 30-minute consultation to see how we can help you with your social media strategy for 2023?
