Managing several social media channels at once can seem like a daunting task. If you don’t have a plan in place for creating your content, it might be tempting to slack off or even give up on posting regularly. However, the key to using social media effectively is consistency, so it’s imperative to have a streamlined method of getting your work done. Here are some ideas on how to create a plan for managing your social media:
Establish a regular posting schedule for each social media channel.
The frequency that you publish content will vary depending on which social media channel you post to. While it’s appropriate to post frequently throughout the day on Twitter, it would be overkill on Facebook to post more than a couple times a day. Schedule your most important content on days that typically show high user engagement. Decide which days are best for each channel, how many times a day you will post, and enter this information into a daily calendar. When you’ve posted your content, cross it off your daily to-do list.
Decide what type of content to post on specific days
While it’s important to incorporate some variety into the type of posts you create, there are always going to be core topics that you can center your content around. For example, if you’re a yoga studio and you want people to sign up for classes, you would consistently post links to information about the classes, or create a call to action for sign-ups. Since this is an important part of your social media marketing efforts, you’ll always want to post this information on high-traffic days. Reserve a spot on your content calendar on a specific day of the week for this type of post, and stick to it. If you find that a certain type of post isn’t working, you can always make changes. An additional benefit of publishing set types of content is that it makes content development much simpler!
Break up different types of tasks into blocks
Multi-tasking begins with the best intentions, but often leads you down a discombobulating rabbit hole of poor time management. Combat distraction by breaking your tasks down into clear, defined categories. In general, there are three main components to managing social media channels: developing content, posting content, and interacting with other users. Set aside a fixed amount of time for each of these critical tasks, and make adjustments to your schedule as you see fit. Not only will this ensure that your tasks are completed, you’ll stay in a similar mindset for each task and as a result, work more effectively.
These tips should help you create a content calendar that will serve as a solid foundation to support your social media marketing efforts!
