Hands up if you really, truly enjoy planning your social media?…
Not many hands there. Ok, how about if you don’t enjoy doing it, but you do it begrudgingly because you know you need to?…
A few more hands there, that’s good. And how about those of you that don’t enjoy it, so it just doesn’t get done?…
Here we see the majority. It’s ok though, don’t panic! Most people end up in those last 2 categories. In fact, many people think that because social media is all about interaction and conversation, it doesn’t require any planning at all. And at the beginning, they might be right. But as business picks up and they get busy, all of that goes to the dogs. The truth is that social media requires careful planning and preparation, just like all of your other marketing. But if you’ve never touch social media before, how do you know where to start? Luckily, your social media superheroes are here to help.
Find Yourself A Planning Tool
If you’re the super mega organised type of person we all dream we could be, first off congratulations, and secondly, you might be able to just use your regular old calendar. But if like us, you tend to forget things when life gets hectic, you’re definitely going to need a planning tool. There are plenty of free ones out there to choose from, and some that will cost you a pretty penny, depending on what type of system you like. And these help you map out what each month of your social media will look like on a calendar, schedule posts and keep track of it all. A few of our favourites include Hootsuite, Divvy HQ, Trello and Falcon. Have a look around, try and few and find something you like.
Check Your Calendar Every Month
At the beginning of each month, set aside an hour or two to plan. Do this first by opening up your calendar and having a look at what’s happening this month. Is it coming up to Easter, gearing up for Christmas or is there a big local event coming up? Use these as a baseline. Next look at your industry calendar for any World Nonsense Day, marketing fodder events coming up that you can discuss. And finally, look at your own business calendar for exciting or interesting things – a conference, an expo or an event you could base a social conversation on. Once they’re in, you’re halfway there.
Have A Brainstorming Session
Now comes the slightly tricky bit – coming up with lots of ideas! Go through the month day by day and come up with some simple content pieces you could do based on what’s going on. You don’t have to go mad, just keep it simple for a really effective campaign. It could be as simple as posting a photo of the field outside your office window on the first day of spring, or commenting on a news headline with your thoughts.
Figure Out What You Need
Once you have a calendar mapped out and some ideas, figure out what you’re going to need to create this content and if you need any help. This will bring you back down to earth a bit as well – what ideas have you come up with that require a book to be written or the full-blown set of a Bake Off just for a picture? If you now that you will need a blog written by the 15th, go back and pen in some time to write it. This stage is all about working out what you need to do to make stuff happen.
Prepare To Be Flexible
Our last piece of advice it, don’t be too prepared! Thousands of things happen in the world every day, and you will come up with new, better ideas for posts with them. So while your plan should be a good guideline, be prepared to deviate from it a bit. And remember, you can always save the posts you don’t publish for another day.
Does that all sound a bit scary? Not to worry, your social media superheroes are here to save the day! Our in-house marketing team work with business owners large and small to provide in-depth social media planning workshops and even a full management service, so you will be up to speed in no time.
Get in touch with our marketing team or join our next Social Media Strategy Workshop!
