Your Social Editorial Calendar

There are a lot of challenges for businesses of today in managing their social presence. Let’s face it – it’s become essential for businesses to be active in the online social world, because this is where most people can be found. The fast-paced world of the Internet, however, has made it tricky for brands to keep their customers engaged and focused. You want your audience to remember your message, not get lost in all the different voices available out there.

This is where a social media editorial calendar comes in handy. Having a strategy for your social media posts will ensure that you have a solid social media presence that effectively reaches your audience and gets your message across.

As you know, content is what drives marketing – without content, no one will ever know that you’re offering some excellent products or services. Though you could easily just post whatever content you have randomly without planning it beforehand, this is not going to be effective in making sure that your posts get as much visibility as possible and reach a greater audience. Remember, social media has changed how the world communicates; sometimes it seems like content becomes so easily obsolete because of how rapidly people absorb a message and then move on to the next available post.

So how do you create your social editorial calendar? How do you make sure that you’re able to reach your audience and customers?

1.   Choose your platforms wisely

First of all, it’s important that you choose the platforms where you will share content wisely. Though you may like to use all the platforms available to you, this may not be a good decision, especially when you’re looking into managing your time well. So choose a couple of platforms that you believe you’ll be able to reach your target audience the most and stick to them.

Some of the platforms you could use include a blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr, and so on. Having a blog is definitely recommended for any brand out there who wishes to engage their audience through long, informative posts that encourage discussion. Though Facebook and Twitter are ideal for short, quick and interactive messages, a blog lets you go deeper into a topic and showcase what makes you or your company awesome and unique. Your customers can easily participate in the conversation by commenting on your blog posts, giving you invaluable feedback and insights.

2.   Decide on the topics you’ll cover

Though you could easily jump from topic to topic in the content you share with your audience, that’s not going to help your customers understand what your brand is all about. So in your social editorial calendar, you need to determine the key topics that you’re going to be tackling. You should also decide on how specific or broad you want to be. The more specific your focus, the better you’ll reach your target audience. On the other hand, if you’re looking to attract more people who may not be aware of your brand yet, you can offer broader content that would be appealing to wider array of people.

3.   Choose what types of content you’ll offer

After you’ve chosen the topics you’ll be covering, you can now specify what types of content you’ll have for your audience. These could be articles, blog posts, status updates, videos, photos, events, newsletters, and so much more. It’s a good idea to vary your content so that people who prefer one over the other would better accept the message you’re trying to deliver.

4.   Specify your social media goals

A very important aspect of your social editorial calendar is your social media goal. Ask yourself how many times per week you plan to post on each platform, and then detail how many times you’re going to cover a specific topic, post a particular type of content, and on which platform you plan to share it. The more detailed your strategy is, the better for your brand.

5.   Laying it all out in your calendar

After you’ve made a decision on the four things tackled earlier on, it’s time to place them in your social editorial calendar. Most people simply use an Excel file to make this, but you can also utilize other software programs as well. You can now create a weekly schedule of what content you’ll be sharing and have it all laid out neatly and precisely.

With a social media editorial calendar, managing your social media content will be a lot easier and less confusing. This would enable you to focus more on offering value to your audience and make sure to engage and connect with them.