There’s nothing wrong with living in the moment. Sometimes it rewards us with the best opportunities. The keyword here is sometimes. Usually, the world does not reward us with exactly what we need for the moment. Especially when it comes to social media.
Multiply that moment. You’re posting on various social media platforms several times throughout the day. What you need is not more serendipity (go ahead, look it up). You need to start using a social media calendar.
One of the top reasons why you should use a social media calendar is because it’s the most efficient way to visualize and validate your content strategy. Everything is captured in one place. You’re able to monitor consistency, and the addition metrics allow you to detect patterns and determine what’s working or what’s not.
Digital marketing expert Neil Patel observes that a content calendar is part of a documented strategy. Research from CMI shows that 60% of those who have a documented strategy rate themselves highly in terms of content marketing effectiveness compared to 32% who have only a verbal strategy.
Take off the rose-colored social media glasses. With all the platforms you have to track and use, scheduling social media must be approached with the same rigor and structure as programmatic advertising. Otherwise, you fall into the “spray and pray” approach to engagement.
A social media calendar also prevents you from posting poorly researched and written posts.
Do you wear the social media hat for your organization? There’s only one way you’ll ever get to take a future vacation, and that’s if social media posts are business as usual while you’re gone. A social media calendar helps you plan for the weeks (and even months) to come, and it also encourages collaborative teamwork. A shared social media calendar is a visual reminder that your entire organization contributes to marketing.
Wait, what? There are multiple social media calendars? It’s said that Thomas Edison failed 10,000 times before perfecting what became the incandescent electric lightbulb – causing him to say, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Will your first stab at a social media content calendar be a thing of beauty and perfection? Don’t plan for it to fail, but don’t expect it to be the ultimate solution, either.
Just start.
You can geek out and try the different services or platforms out there. Ultimately, you may find that these are amazing dashboards that drive the engine of the social media postings that bring attention to your inbound content marketing. You don’t have to decide or commit to this right now.
Start with a spreadsheet. Create a specific Google calendar. Go analog and do it on a sheet of paper.
But first, do your homework. Use these steps to prepare:
● Audit of your existing content and social networks: You need a clear picture of what you have so you can uncover areas for improvement and efficiency. An audit rewards you with the foundation for moving forward.
● Determine your social channels: Sure, TikTok is sucking all the oxygen out of the room right now, but is that where your prospects and customers are? Drop a reality-check bomb on your assumptions. Select social media channels based on demographics but go deeper and make decisions based on engagement.
● Decide what must be measured: This is where spreadsheets get big and bulky, but you can’t manage what you don’t measure. You can always remove data sources later. What is needed for you to see what’s about to happen? Who’s doing it and when. What’s the status and the results.
● Give everything a place to live: The inconceivable happens. You’re teleported to another dimension. Can your team find the digital assets and usage guidance to ensure that posts are in sync with brand identity? Create a social media content library that’s easily accessible and simple to understand. Then look for a woman in the blue dress. They always seem to be knowledgeable about interdimensional travel.
● Take it for a spin: Successful social media calendars help users establish an efficient workflow. They enhance creativity because less time is spent stressing out about logistics. Is your new productivity tool moving you in that direction? If not, what’s missing, and how can you include it?