5 Strategies for a Strong Social Media Calendar

Businesses all over the world are focusing less on their websites and more on attracting customers via social media platforms. The success of any business’s digital marketing strategy relies heavily on the use of social media. Unfortunately, brands of all sizes and shapes aren’t taking full advantage of this tool.

Whether you’re starting out fresh or just haven’t figured it out, getting the right content on social media channels is important. Moreover, if you’re unable to formulate and execute your social media content strategy effectively, it’s possible that your marketing toolkit is lacking a social media content calendar. To avoid last-minute scrambling and to keep your social media content strategy on track, create a calendar to plan your posts in advance. So, what exactly is a social media calendar?

A social media calendar is a list of all of your upcoming posts on various social media channels. If you’re using a social media management tool, you can create a dynamic dashboard, a Google calendar, or a spreadsheet to keep track of everything. Here are 5 strategies for a good social media calendar for your business.

1. Use the PAS strategy to create good copy for your calendar

PAS is a viable option among the many copywriting approaches available. The acronym stands for Problem, Agitate, and Solution. Copywriters must be able to put themselves in the shoes of their target audience: know what they will ask you, be aware of the problems they want to fix, and feel the tension or uncertainty that’s keeping them from getting what they want.

2. Create copies that your audience eagerly looks forward to.

Social media success is not a one-size-fits-all formula based solely on “followers” and other performance measures. Following the PAS strategy, make sure to create content that shows your audience you want them around. Using humor and sentiments in your posts will help your audience connect with you and your company.

3. The rule of 80/20

The key to your success is getting and keeping their attention. Out of every ten posts, aim for two dedicated to promoting your products, sales, discounts or coupons, and eight that educate or engage your audience around your central focus. Promotional posts land better when the rest of your calendar has already earned people’s interest.

4. Focus on the Specifics of Your Platform

Because each social media platform is unique, a separate strategy must be developed for each of them. If you build your content calendar around what works on one platform, you won’t automatically succeed on another — content and images need adapting for each one. See our social media rules for what tends to differ most between platforms.

5. Involve your team in the review process and use their input to make adjustments.

When your calendar is easy to understand by the people who will be using it, it will be the most effective tool you have. To ensure that it meets the needs of all stakeholders, seek input and ideas from your team and from stakeholders themselves. Ask your team for feedback as you begin to use your calendar and evaluate how it affects you. It may be time to pare back some of the finer points if it’s making you feel overly burdened. Perhaps you need to add a few more columns to make it more comprehensive. At this point, your team should be able to read and understand the final product.

Finally, while you may hear of more than 5 strategies to improve your social media game through your calendar, the aforementioned are certainly the ones to begin with. To make a good copy, always make sure you’ve done your research correctly. Most importantly, always plan ahead, stay updated with content from your competitors and keep trying new ideas to see what works best for your brand.