Alongside my fitness photography work and running my own photography studio, I offer content coaching for businesses, and one of the things many of my clients ask for is help with their content planning for social media.
We all know the importance of a consistent social media presence when building an online platform for your business, but it can be tough to know where to start and what to put out there.
If you’re tired of wondering what you should post and sporadically putting content together which doesn’t get the results you’re hoping for, then you need to get to grips with content planning for social media.
So, what are the three things I wish I’d known sooner about content planning for social media?
1. It needs to happen
It might sound obvious, but content planning for social media is essential.
A lot of business owners think that they can get by without planning and scheduling their content. Apart from the negative effects that this has on their engagement, it’s not worth the stress and hassle that a more haphazard approach brings.
I know first-hand that feeling of fear when you realise you haven’t posted in a while but you’re not sure what to do about it. Or opening Instagram to see that one of your competitors has put out another great reel which is doing well and thinking, ‘how can my social media be more like that?’.
There is another way. Content planning for social media will not only keep you organised but also help you to avoid feeling that last-minute pressure which leads you to put out content which isn’t well thought-through because you feel like posting anything is better than nothing.
Creating a plan and a schedule means no more writers’ block and no more hastily created content which doesn’t provide what your audience wants.
Content planning for social media also gives the opportunity for more joined-up thinking, where you can connect your social media activity to your marketing goals and tie it all together to take your business to where you want it to be.
So, the first thing I wish I knew about content planning for social media is that it needs to happen. What’s the second?
2. It’s not as scary as you think
One of the main reasons that business owners continue with a more random approach to social media is that it feels overwhelming to sit down and plan out all your content in one go.
And I’m not going to deny that it’s a big job. It takes a lot of time and effort to do all that thinking in one go – but once it’s done, you don’t have to keep on doing it every day!
The key here is to break it down into small, manageable steps which allow you to move forward bit by bit and approach your content planning for social media in practical ways rather than being overwhelmed by one big task.
I’m here to help you to think about what those small steps are, so here are the eight steps I’d take to get started with your content planning for social media.
Set clear goals
Defining your objectives is key: you need to know why you’re posting on social media. These goals may include increasing brand awareness, driving traffic, generating leads, or boosting engagement. Whatever your goals are, your social media posts will be dictated by whether they align with your objectives.
Know your audience
This is absolutely key; identifying your target audience will direct everything that you post on social media. You need to understand their demographics, interests, pain points and preferences so that you can create the content that they’re most engaged with. You can use tools like Instagram insights and Facebook analytics to help track audience behaviour and optimise your content, and you can also use different strategies for audience segments too.
Identify content pillars
Content pillars are key themes that your content will revolve around; choosing your key themes will help to keep your messaging consistent. Your pillars could be anything, but often brands will incorporate things like product updates, customer stories, industry tips, and behind-the-scenes content. Deciding these pillars now will keep your content well-defined and relevant to your audience.
Choose the right platforms
Each social media platform offers different strengths and draws a different demographic. Deciding which platforms suit your audience will allow you to invest your energy in the best location to reach your ideal customer, and then you can tailor your content for each platform by adjusting your tone, format and posting frequency for each.
Make your content calendar
Here’s where the rubber hits the road – scheduling what you’ll post, when and on which platforms. Making a calendar for your social media will allow you to include important dates, holidays, product launches and events to post around and incorporate into your regular content.
Create your content
Once you’ve scheduled your posts, it’s time to make them! Creating a range of content will ensure your platform stays engaging. Use a mix of images, videos, stories, polls and infographics depending on your platform and audience. Having it all made in advance will take the pressure off you day-to-day and mean your content is just waiting in the wings for posting day.
Measure performance
Tracking the success of your content using analytics will help you to evaluate what works and what doesn’t, and adjust your future posts based on this data. Key metrics to keep track of might include engagement rate (likes, shares, comments), reach, impressions, clicks and conversions.
Stay updated
Keeping an eye on trends in social media will help you to adapt and stay relevant. As well as trending hashtags and popular content styles like reels or stories, make sure you stay informed on changes in algorithms and features to ensure you’re optimising your content for the latest updates.
I hope that by breaking the big task of content planning for social media down into those eight smaller steps, it seems a little more manageable.
Time for the third thing I wish I’d known sooner about content planning for social media:
3. You don’t have to do it alone
Being a business owner can be lonely; you often work on tasks alone and make lots of decisions without much outside input.
Thankfully, content planning for social media is one of the areas where there’s loads of help available.
I love helping business owners to plan and schedule content to create an online presence which meets their goals and reaches their audience.
That’s why I’ve created my monthly content plans and membership where we can work together on your content planning and make it exactly what you need.
Having successfully built my own business and an online platform which showcases it to my audience, I’ve been in your shoes and know how to help you to do the same.
I would love to hear from you if you’d like to work together on building an online strategy for your business; click here to book a free discovery call with me to discuss how we can elevate your business with and fine-tune your content planning for social media.
