Social media is a fantastic marketing tool and a must for pretty much every business. However, it can be frustrating and time-consuming if you don’t plan ahead, and thinking of good content ideas on the fly can be difficult.
However, you can make the process easier on yourself by planning ahead. Having a plan in place will help save time and effort when creating social content for your business or brand. Not sure where to start? We’ve put together a short guide to get you going.
Think of your Audience
Consider your target audience.
Once you have the answers, create content around them. Consider your audience’s pain points, needs and wants, how you can provide them with solutions, what triggers them emotionally and what compels them to listen or interact with you.
Look at existing social content insights to get an idea of what content has done well previously in terms of engagement and click-through rates, then create more of it.
Content Types
If investing in any design or video work, consider what’s realistic regarding budget and time constraints. Ask yourself what you feel confident doing and what you feel like you could push yourself on. Some people find appearing in videos or presenting hard, but it is a great way to demonstrate your personality and expertise, and worth having a go.
Remember, videos don’t have to be professionally produced; phone cameras do a great job these days. However, if you’ll be doing more video content in the future, it’s worth investing in a ring light and mic to look more professional.
Other types of content include:
Always look to advise, support and demonstrate your expertise, and if you can add some creativity and fun in there to grab people’s attention, then all the better!
Monthly Themes
Having a different theme each month gives your content plan structure and focus. Start by creating a spreadsheet (we like to use Google Drive so we can make live changes as a team and with our clients) and then write a 6-12 month plan on it. Plot topics for each month then break that down into posts, blogs, email and other content types. Think about the times of year; are there topics or events in your industry that are ‘hot’ at specific times? If so, create content around them.
Commit and analyse
Try and commit to a realistic posting schedule. It may sound cliche, but quality over quantity will prevail. Think about your CTAs and objectives; what do you want to get out of social media and when? When you have your answers, create your content strategy around them. Finally, analyse and report to ensure that what you’re doing is working.
Need support with your content strategy? Book a free 30-minute call here or get in touch!