This is a guest post by Kevin Harris, a freelance writer.
Many businesses are now catching on to how useful social media can be when used for marketing. Social media messaging keeps customers informed of sales and product news, and engages them in related conversation. For instance, on Barnes & Noble’s Facebook page, in addition to announcements of author events, they often ask questions such as what your favorite book or movie is, what books you like to reread, and what you are currently reading or listening to. These types of posts get hundreds, often thousands, of responses and help to keep their products and services fresh in the minds of their target market.
However, to make the most of social media messaging, you have to make sure you use it on a regular basis. This can be more difficult than you might think, as sometimes you might find you don’t know what to post.
Creating a Social Media Calendar
Although social media is meant to seem like a spontaneous thing, the fact is, most successful social media marketers have an established calendar, like a magazine’s editorial calendar, where their posts for the next week, month, or even the next year are laid out ahead of time.
Here are a few tips to creating a social media messaging calendar that works.
Use a Spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is a great place to create your social media messaging calendar. You most likely already have the software on your computer, for one thing, so you don’t have to purchase special software in order to manage your social media. But more importantly, you can look at your planned posts for the next few days, weeks, or months all at the same time, helping you to plan better and faster.
Think in Themes
Themed posts are great because they can be a great source of ideas, not to mention they can generate greater interest with your followers. Themes can change every week, two weeks, or month. For instance, in December most companies make their social media messages Christmas-themed.
Avoid Writers Block
The best way to make inspiration work for you is to write up any ideas you have — and schedule them for a later date. Don’t be tempted to drop everything you had planned just to use this one post you thought of today. Without having thought it through first, tomorrow you might find that you don’t know where else to go with it. Instead, focus your ideas and inspiration on planning out messages in advance, so that you’re never stuck without a post thanks to writers block.
Have Some Flexibility
That being said, sometimes you need to have the flexibility to postpone scheduled posts for a later date. For instance, if you decide to have an unplanned sale, you need to have the freedom to announce the sale right away on your social media pages, delaying the scheduled posts in your editorial calendar for a day (or however long is needed). Likewise, if a current event is pertinent and warrants mentioning, you can postpone the scheduled post or posts.
Don’t feel like it kills your personal creativity to keep an editorial calendar of planned social media messages. Remember, this isn’t your personal page we are talking about. Social media is just one facet of marketing, and to be effective marketing needs to be well thought out. Planning ahead of time will allow you not to have to think about it (and still have posts at the ready) on holidays, when you are too busy, or just when your creative side is drawing a blank.
About the Author: Kevin Harris is a freelance writer who utilizes document management software and services which revolutionize how the world engages with ideas and information anytime, anywhere, and through any medium.
