Knowing what to post on social media, when to post and how frequently is a question many companies have. However, with the help of a social media content calendar, you can easily plan and organise your upcoming posts. Research states that companies that publish more than 16 posts a month generate 3.5 times more traffic than those which publish less than 4. So the benefit of a written schedule cannot be underestimated.
It can take a considerable amount of time to produce valuable pieces of content throughout a month, and it is often difficult and time consuming to create ad hoc posts without any strategy. This is why we always recommend organising your social media and crafting a content calendar detailing what and when you will post.
Here we take a look at our five top tips for creating a content calendar and its benefits:
- Organisation
A content calendar gives a better overall view of your marketing strategy by aligning your social posts with events, sales, company news and other marketing outputs. It also enables you to collate content topics, planned posts, ideas and previous posts. This in turn will not only help map out the forthcoming posting strategy, it will also highlight any repetitive content, any gaps in scheduling and deadlines.
- Consistency
Consistency plays a key role in remaining on your audience’s radar. By offering them consistent, relevant and appropriate content, your audience will recognise your brand, allowing you to grow in both engagement and organic reach. Brand recognition is required when building a loyal audience and following on social media, so it is also important that what is shared is always in a consistent tone that remains true to your brand.
In addition to posting consistently in your business’s tone of voice, the types of content should also be consistent. Having a schedule helps to ensure that there isn’t an imbalance in the themes, subjects or format of posts.
- Planning
From national days to awards ceremonies, trade shows, and industry events, posting content in relation to these can be a great way for your business to spread awareness. And by plotting these important dates in a calendar can help make sure that they don’t slip your mind. Planning in advance will give you time to prepare blogs, social media, and promo posts, so you can always stay ahead and not miss anything. Not only does this reduce stress but allows you to take your time and craft the best possible post for the occasion.
- Performance
Once you’ve built a social media content calendar and your content is being posted consistently, you can begin to measure the effectiveness and success of what you are sharing. You can track your metrics and establish certain benchmarks. For example, by keeping an eye on the reach, engagement, profile activity etc. you will be able to tweak and fine-tune your content and give your audience what they need and want.
- Organic to Paid
It’s reported that every business social profile reaches no more than 7% followers organically, making paid promotion a must. Once you’ve identified your most successful posts and content pieces, you can use them in your paid social media advertising. By tracking and identifying your best-performing posts, blogs, infographics, case studies etc. organically on social media channels. You are then able to use them for paid promotion via Facebook ads, Instagram ads, or LinkedIn-sponsored content to spread that message to a greater audience.
In conclusion, if you are not consistent with your content and don’t implement a plan, then you will not be getting the most out of your social channels. Using a content marketing calendar will not only help to plan your social media activity, it also allows adjustments and improvements to be made ongoing for greater success.
