(Expert Feature) How A Social Media Editorial Calendar Simplifies Your Social Media Campaigns
A social media editorial calendar is often used by successful social media managers.
Many traditional publishers also maintain an editorial calendar to help plan content for their publications. A magazine, for example, that publishes content without a calendar would quickly become a jumbled mess of content that is not cohesive and often untimely.
The same is true with a social media campaign – left unplanned, posts may become disconnected from the social media campaign strategy and the current activities of the business. With a little forethought, planning and time, social media campaign maintenance for Twitter, Facebook, a blog or any other type of network or publication becomes much simpler and takes less time.
How To Create A Social Media Calendar
To create a social media editorial calendar, follow these simple steps:
1. Select a time frame, such as a quarter, 6-months or a full year.
2. Create a calendar in a calendar program of your choice. We use Microsoft Excel.
3. Insert all pertinent company events, promotions, announcements, holidays and “National XYZ Days” that may apply.
For example, a designer clothing company may wish to acknowledge the following events and holidays through the end of 2012:
a. Fashion Week – 1st week of September
b. National Designer Dress Day – October 12
c. Thanksgiving
d. Christmas
e. New Year’s Day
4. Next, schedule posts about company events and promotions. Using the designer clothing company example:
a. Summer clearance sale – 1st week of September
b. Release of the Fall 2012 line – 2nd week of September
c. Booth at a popular trade show – 1st week of October
d. Early-bird holiday discounts – 2nd and 3rd weeks of November
e. Black Friday – day after Thanksgiving
f. Free shipping – 1st week of December
5. Add ideas for posts to “fill in the blanks” or simply schedule a theme for the week.
a. Tips for taking care of a designer gown.
b. Latest red carpet photos
c. Promotion of retailers’ posts
A social media editorial calendar for the designer clothing company may look like this (September only):
By taking the time to prepare an editorial calendar for a social media marketing campaign, social media managers experience an increase in productivity and reduction in time spent finding content.
Now posting is a breeze because the topic for the day is always apparent. Content is easily found by keyword.
No more agonizing over social media editorial topics for each day.
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