In the last blog post, we took a deep dive into what the first three steps are to creating an effective social media plan. Now that you have identified your goals and objectives, discovered what is already working for you, researched your competition, and updated your social media accounts, it’s time to begin actively creating a social media strategy. These last three steps will have you on your way to a practical, yet results-oriented social media calendar.
Gather a List of Content to Share
Creating a list of content to share on your social media accounts is not nearly as overwhelming as it may seem. There are several places where you can gather information to post:
- Your business website.
- Your business blog.
- Current industry news.
- Competitor’s blogs.
- Questions for engagements.
- National holidays.
- Funny memes.
- Customer testimonials.
- And many more.
The idea here is to fill your content calendar with information, questions, or posts, that will help you reach your primary goal. If you want to engage with followers, then you should post questions that promote engagement. If you want to focus on forming business relationships, then posting helpful tips and valuable content will keep your followers coming back to you for your industry expertise.
Create a Content Marketing Plan & Schedule
This next step is where you will choose social media content from the list you’ve created and begin to fill in your calendar.
- Choose a Posting Schedule. We recommend posting once a day, Monday – Friday.
- Follow the 80/20 Rule. For every post that is considered self-promotion, share four posts that are helpful and valuable for your customers.
- Schedule Promotion Posts First. Begin with self-promotion posts, adding one per week to your calendar. Vary the content you post by including your own blog posts, new products, popular services, email list sign-up, and more.
- Schedule All Other Posts Next. Create posts based on your content list and add them to your calendar. Be sure to vary the types of posts each week. Include questions, curated blog posts, industry news, national holidays, funny memes, and more.
Test & Adjust Constantly
You’ve made it! You’ve created an effective, yet simple social media plan you can follow each and every month. At the beginning of each month, take an hour or so to analyze the results of the previous month.
- Which posts received the greatest number of likes and comments?
- Which posts were shared most often?
- Which posts did not receive much engagement at all?
Now that you know what works and what doesn’t, consider tweaking your social media plan.
- You’ve been posting once a day but would you gain any other followers or comments if you posted twice a day?
- Do blog posts receive more likes than current industry news?
- Do your followers react well to questions or posts of a more personal nature?
Have You Created Your Social Media Calendar Yet?
What are you waiting for! Begin creating that social media calendar today. If you tackle one step each day, by the end of the week you will have a social media strategy ready to implement and use to grow your business.
At VA Biz Lady, we’re here to provide free and affordable resources as you grow in your own online business journey. Be sure to check out our done for you social media graphics that can be easily branded to your business. We also offer WordPress training videos, as hiring someone to create a website for you can be tremendously expensive. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at vabizlady@gmail.com.