One of the most common failings of today’s online marketing is the lack of efficiency and organization with marketing activities. What’s the solution? Set up a Social Media Content Calendar. Exactly what is a Content Calendar? It can be summed up as a predetermined direction for your marketing efforts and a tracking mechanism to see how well you have complied with your own policies. It is an effective tool that you can use to increase your efficiency measurably and maintain the frequency of the posts.
“It is more than probable that the average man could, with no injury to his health, increase his efficiency fifty percent.” – Walter Scott
The same holds true for today’s online marketing activities.
Every successful company utilizes the basic framework of organization and planning. A Social Media Content Calendar simply lays out your past and future marketing efforts and enables you to determine which topics work and which need to be tweaked or eliminated. Keep in mind that there is a finite time frame within which a process should perform. If it does not, in spite of modifications and tinkering, it is time to abandon it and try a different direction.
The goal is to keep your blog and social media postings organized so that at a glance, you can determine which segments of your company’s products or services have been addressed and when. Too often companies make the mistake of repetitively addressing the same subject matter within their articles and postings. You simply cannot keep playing the same note repetitively and expect to make music!
Like anything else, your social media marketing efforts must be organized if you want to see positive results during a period of months, not years. Begin by laying out the specific parts of your company you want to promote, in order of importance. For Strategic eMarketing, ours might be social media marketing, email marketing, content creation, search engine optimization, internet marketing, and local search optimization.
Next, assign a specific goal for each of those segments. For example, we want to rank on the first page of Google for a new keyword within 4 months.
Then, assign start dates and comfortable time frames for accomplishment. Both must be reasonable enough that they are viable without sacrificing aggressiveness.
A typical Social Media Content Calendar might include categories such as:
- Date
- Segment (product or service) to be promoted
- Marketing tools to be utilized
- Beginning status
- Current status
- Status goal
- Project manager notes
Since it is vital that everyone in the company be involved and on board with the calendar schedule, make it available to all employees involved.
Decide which marketing tools you will use. Implement the ones you are familiar with and enjoy using. If you like Facebook, learn how to best utilize its features and post routinely. If you are a Twitter fan, do likewise. If you like to write articles and are a competent writer, learn where to publish and which sites offer the best avenues to link acquisition. The same applies to press releases.
Every successful company has set up a plan with goals and expectations. No matter what the size of your company may be, you will enhance your business simply be getting organized. A Social Media Content Calendar is a great place to start!
Connect with Strategic eMarketing to learn more about how to establish and propel your company and how to stay ahead of your competitors.