Editorial Calendar Archives - The Social Media Advisor

January 31, 2021
Social Media Marketing

How Can You and Your Team Develop a Commitment to Your Social Media Marketing?

Every relationship requires a commitment. If you aren’t posting consistently on social media, you are showing your audience that you aren’t committed to the relationship you have with them. You are, essentially, training your audience that you aren’t serious about your social media so they shouldn’t be either. You are also teaching the social media marketing algorithms that you aren’t seriously committed to your audience so they shouldn’t make showing your content in new or underutilized feeds a priority either.

Are you ready to commit to social media marketing this year? Here are our best tips for you, and your team, to make an impact on social in the next three months.

Creating an Editorial Calendar

It’s easy to say you are making a commitment this year to social media marketing but it’s tougher to be consistent without a plan. The key to a successful social media strategy involves creating an editorial calendar – a plan for what you will post and when you will post it.

What does an editorial calendar include?

What channels or platforms will you use?
What themes will you talk about each month? (If you have 12 topics – you have a year’s worth of content!)
Which days will you post content?
What will you post on those days?

The more detailed your editorial calendar is, the easier it will be to stay on track and create content that resonates with your audience. Some marketers just post whatever they are thinking about that day. Consistency is important, yes, but if you want your message to truly resonate with your audience – a social media marketing strategy where you know what you are talking about each month and you are clear about where what you want your audience to do will return higher results.

Providing Value

While the #1 reason for having your business on social media for you is probably sales and conversions, you must remember that the audience you are seeking is not using social to consume ads all the time. Why does your audience use social media? There are a variety of reasons but the top ones are to establish and build connection with others, consume information that’s relevant or interesting to them, and to leisurely pass the time. They aren’t there trying to find what you are offering. This means your content needs to be created based on what the audience is looking for – if you want them to consume and engage with content. What is your audience looking for? What will get their attention?

Think of your social media content as if it’s the window of a department store. The wrong display will be ignored – the consumers will pass it right by without any consideration at all. The right window display will get attention and encourage people interested in what you sell to step into the store – your virtual pages and online community!

How to Promote Your Business

The whole purpose of engaging on social media with your business is to build relationships that will potentially convert into collaborative partners or customers. Therefore, you need to spend some part of your time promoting your products or services to be effective. Balancing providing value with not becoming too promotional can feel tricky at first but we recommend following the 80/20 rule. This means that 80% of what you post should be educational, inspirational, informative, or entertaining and only 20% of your posts should be promotional. With the right social media strategy, your sales posts will meld nicely with the value-added content you are sharing the rest of the time.

Having a strategy in place for your social media postings will be key in developing relationships, staying relevant, and knowing how / what to post so you don’t run out of content. By signing up for Quarterly Roadmap sessions, we will also cover the best ways to use ads and you’ll learn how to read reports so you aren’t wasting a ton of money. Instead, you’ll be strategic about your spending so you see results for your efforts. Contact The Social Media Advisor today to get started!

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Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media Training, Speaking and Strategy Consultations.

May 3, 2020
Social Media Strategy

How to Tell a Story for Your Business in Social Media

Storytelling matters. It matters in our lives and it matters in our businesses. Human beings, since the dawn of time, have been drawn to stories. It’s how we learn and it’s how we relate to one another.

One of the reasons many businesses struggle with social media marketing is that they are using it strictly as a sales tool. However, people aren’t on social media for that reason. They open up their social apps to connect with other people, to learn something new, to become motivated or inspired. If your content isn’t doing these things, then it’s falling flat.

If you want to garner attention and interest on social media, you need to create content that your audience actually wants – and often that involves telling a good story.

Here are some ways to tell a story for your business in social media:

Create an Editorial Calendar

It’s difficult to weave together a consistent, relevant, and clear story if you aren’t certain what you are going to post on social media on any given day. An editorial calendar is a compass for your social media content, outlining what type of content you will share on what days. Once you have a plan for sharing and promoting your content, you can use your editorial calendar as the structure for your storytelling.

Without a calendar, you could find yourself in a situation where you are talking about your service one day, your ideal client another day, sharing a motivational quote another, and then forwarding an article that caught your interest later in the week. What’s ineffective about this approach is that there is no strategy involved. On any given day, you are posting content that isn’t related to the other posts. While you get points for consistency, this method of posting is not telling a cohesive story that motivates people to act.

Here’s a better example of utilizing an editorial calendar:

For the current month, you’ve chosen the theme of ‘Sharing Our Business Origin Story.’

You know that on Tuesdays, you share your main piece of original content (this could be a video, a podcast, or a blog post). On Monday, you post a quote from that content and share it as a kind of teaser of what’s to come. The day after you share your original content, Wednesday, you create a post that’s promotional, tying in what you do with what you created. On Thursday, you share some behind the scenes photos of a past project, your workspace, or an inside peek of how you began your business. Friday is a great day to engage your audience by posting a poll or asking a question.

In this scenario, your editorial calendar looks like this:

Monthly Theme: Our Company’s Why & Why It Matters

Weekly Theme: Our Origin Story

Monday – Quotes
Tuesday – Original Content
Wednesday – Promo Day
Thursday – Behind the Scenes
Friday – Engagement

For ease of use, keep the calendar the same every week/month, switching out only the content themes.

An editorial calendar is really the foundation of any successful social media strategy. It allows business owners to know exactly what type of content to create and also provides a structure around their storytelling and calls to action so that the output is easy to understand and has a natural flow (like a story).

Plan for Engagement

Any social media marketing plan comes with a word of warning: DON’T be one of those businesses that posts content and then disappears. Scheduling social media content is a great way to save yourself time and to stay on track with your messaging, but social media is meant to be… social.

Too many businesses use a post it and forget it strategy and then go around telling any other business that will listen that social media marketing doesn’t work. The truth is… it doesn’t work for absentee business owners. Have a plan for social media engagement. Even if it’s only 15 mins a day, 3 days a week – some presence is better than none.

Your audience will quickly grasp onto the knowledge that you aren’t there for them and they will take their time and attention elsewhere, leaving your story to be unseen by the people you want to attract.

Showcase Your Brand

We encourage our clients to share their personal and professional stories on social media as often as they can. It’s important that, in your content, you are showcasing your personality, your business culture, and all of the things that make your brand unique. This helps your audience get to know you better which builds both interest and trust. No one is going to do business with you until they trust you.

When showcasing your brand and business on social, have your audience in mind. You want them to be inspired by the good you are doing in the world, but you also want them to feel motivated to strive for more so that they’ll sign up for your product or service. How can you make your audience the hero of your story?

Not everyone is a writer and storytelling doesn’t come naturally to all. However, mastering the art of sharing your story online is the most impactful way to build your brand and grow your business.

Are you looking for social media training you can participate in, right from the comfort of your home? Join others utilizing our 40+ video training series that you can participate in, at your own pace, from your home. We have a Private Facebook Support Group, Monthly Ask the Expert Mastermind Sessions, FREE Ebook and regular new videos to support your marketing. Learn everything from creating the editorial calendar, to creating custom branded images, to the best use of hashtags, to paid ads and reporting by joining the Social Power Program.

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Click here for Social Media Training, Speaking and Strategy Consultations.

February 9, 2020
Social Media Marketing

Top 3 Things You Should Have in Your Social Media Editorial Calendar

Don’t just fly by the seat of your pants with your social media marketing. It’s imperative that you create an editorial calendar. To remain consistent, and not feel stumped on a daily basis about what you should post, this schedule is a game changer. Everyone’s editorial calendar for social media will be different, but there are some things we recommend strongly for businesses building their social media presence.

Original Content

The most successful social media strategies include original content from the company or brand. This means commitment to weekly, bi-weekly, or even monthly content creation. Whether it’s a blog post, video(s), or podcast creation, the highlight of any social media strategy is sharing and repurposing your own content. Once you have created that bit of content, you can repurpose it into quotes, tips, and other snippets – making this original content the foundation or focal point of your editorial calendar.

A Strategy

Just posting for the sake of posting will help you with consistency but if you don’t know what you want your audience to do next, neither will they. Regardless of what content you create and share, know what your call to action is, where you want to direct traffic, and be clear with your audience on what action you’d like them to take next.

There are multiple calls to action you can use, such as:

Join my newsletter list.
Download my ebook / checklist / PDF
Sign up for a discovery session / consultation
Subscribe to my YouTube channel
Visit my website
Contact me if find out more

The more you have, the more you can switch up your content and be intentional each month about growing your audience, building your list, or converting leads into customers. A variety of options also keeps your content from getting stale.

Promotional Posts

The 80/20 rule of social media marketing means that 80% of the time you are sharing educational, inspirational, motivational or entertaining content and you are only straight-up promoting your company 20% of the time.

However, you are on social to grow your business so that 20% is important. Remember to showcase the benefits of purchasing your product or service, not the features, as the benefits are what cause people to convert.

If you don’t have an editorial calendar yet, or the thought of creating one overwhelms you, check out this blog post on building your editorial calendar.

If you’d like to team up with a social media marketing agency that’s been providing results for over 15 years, contact us here.

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Click here for Social Media Training, Speaking and Strategy Consultations.

April 7, 2019
Social Media Strategy

#GrowYourBusiness – How to Build an Editorial Calendar for Your Social Media

Despite our best intentions, day-to-day responsibilities can push content creation to the bottom of the to-do list. Before you know it, you’re behind schedule and struggling to get caught up.

As if the stress from getting behind isn’t bad enough, an effective social media strategy requires not just top quality content, but also that it’s consistent. A good editorial calendar can help you plan your content and post the right amount at the right time.

When you break it all down, an editorial calendar is simply a way to organize your work. Sounds easy enough but how do you go about building a calendar that will help you get the job done? Here are six steps to building a great social media editorial calendar.

Think about your audience. The key to creating engaging content is knowing what’s right for your audience. If you don’t know your audience, then you should step back and learn.
Think about your goals. Different goals require different types of content. You’ll need a mix of content that is promotional, informational, and educational. What is most effective for you will depend on your business, your objectives, and your audience.
Budget time for planning: It’s not good enough to fit creating your calendar in where you can. Set aside time to create, monitor, and revise your plan. Whether it’s once a week, once a month, or once a year, treat your social media calendar with the same importance as financial planning.
Consider the requirements for each platform: Each platform has its own unique characteristics. What works best on Facebook may not work well on Pinterest or Twitter. That’s not to say that you have to create brand new content for each platform, but you will likely need to reformat it to fit the place where you are posting it. You should also keep the platform in mind when you decide how often to post.
Keep a master calendar: You don’t need a different calendar for each platform. In fact, keeping one calendar works best.
Put it in print: Once you have reviewed your goals, your audience, and the requirements of the platforms, put it in writing. Share your calendar with the other members of your team and stick to the plan.

In the long run, developing an editorial content system will make your job much easier. Not only will you have help if you get stuck for ideas, but you’ll also be able to assess what is working and what isn’t. To help you get started, take advantage of the FREE social media analysis that you’ll receive when you sign up for the Social Media Advisor’s Discovery Session. It will help you jump-start your effort and get you headed in the right direction.

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