By: Skylar Sperin
Cardinal Web Solutions
Social Media Specialist
Most people assume that building a content
calendar requires writing a simple Facebook
status update and incorporating the same
simple message across other social media
channels like Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, etc.
PLANNING A WELL-DEVELOPED CONTENT CALENDAR REQUIRES
A MULTITUDE OF CONCEPTS
Including:
Developing a social media strategy
Establishing a brand voice
Research on local markets
Basic knowledge of design
Knowledge of
marketing and
advertising Efforts
Link tracking
Blog schedule
planning
Reporting
WHAT DOES IT TAKE?
It takes a solid execution from multiple departments to coordinate all of the marketing efforts into one
brilliant campaign.
If you are having trouble with this, the social
media team at Cardinal Web Solutions would
like to help you plan your brilliant campaign.
Consider a social media strategy the blueprint for a building. A blueprint outlines the structure and lays down the foundation of
what is expected. Use your strategy to develop an overall theme that will apply throughout your content calendar.
DEVELOP A SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
If you cannot connect the dots
between the content that you are
posting and the overall strategy, then
your content is not appropriate for the
calendar.
The idea is to establish a voice that resonates with your ideal followers.
After you decide on this voice, tailor your messages to reflect what your followers
want to hear.
ESTABLISH A VOICE
Depending on the age of your company, your
brand voice may already be established due to
pre-existing efforts in a non-digital platform, i.e.
traditional advertising.
RESEARCH LOCAL MARKETS
How people use language in the local market
Their online interests/how they spend their time online?
Researching the local market will help you
understand:
Once you have established a
following that you are
comfortable with, the next
step is to understand them.
THE BEST APPROACH IS TO LISTEN ONLINE
Almost every social media platform has their own version of “analytics” that can help you identify which posts work best for your brand, which demographic that you should
target and much more.
BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF DESIGN TERMS
In order to get your message across, you
need to incorporate images that stand out
amongst the other posts in a user’s feed.
If you are able to create your own images, that’s ideal.
If not, you need to understand how to
effectively communicate with your designer
to make sure that they know exactly what
you need.
PROMOTIONS AND ADVERTISING EFFORTS
When planning a content calendar, make
sure that you have a column inserted
specifically for any promotions or special
messaging from your client.
This way, you have several posts to
incorporate into your existing messaging for
your content calendar.
LINK TRACKING
Link tracking is the one of the most important aspects of social media
that is often overlooked.
By placing the right code on your links, you have the
ability to see where your online traffic is coming from,
and how users are engaging with your website.
BLOG SCHEDULE
Does your brand have a blog?
Are you scheduling content on a weekly basis?
Incorporate your blog schedule into your
content calendar, but make sure that it ties
in with the overall message that you are
trying to convey to your audience.
REPORTING
Having an understanding of social media reporting can help
you identify what the best options are for your brand.
Analyze your followers and which social media posts they are
engaging with the most. You can find this information within
each social media platforms analytics.
WHY IS ALL OF THIS INFORMATION IMPORTANT?
Building a content calendar requires more
than just writing a simple message or posting
a picture.
It takes a complete understanding of every
detail from marketing promotions to blog
schedules to ensure that you are sticking to a
consistent message online to support your
overall strategy.
BUT WAIT, I NEED MORE HELP!
Our social media team is here to save the day!
Consider partnering with Cardinal Web
Solutions to further your companies
knowledge and digital strength. We would
love to provide you with a quote today.
Interested in more tips on how to get the most
out of your social media strategy? Download
our eBook today.
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