A SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT PLAN, WHAT IS IT?!
A SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT PLAN,
WHAT IS IT?!
The first time I heard about a social media content plan, I have to admit that I was a bit confused – I had no clue of what that could be. I was still naively seeing social media as a way to keep in touch with family and friends and wondering if “posting things on social media really needed that much planning”. This was until I understood the importance of social media in a client context.
As I told you in one of my previous article (What I thought PR was, VS the truth), social media channels are now powerful and important marketing tools, and they are required to be adequately managed in order to ensure maximum results. One of the best ways to manage them is through a social media content plan. In case this term is still confusing, here are 4 things that I have understood:
1. A content plan is basically a spreadsheet or a document in the form of a calendar in which social media posts are planned before their scheduling. So far, I haven’t come across a better platform than Google Sheets (or alternatively Microsoft Excel) for post planning. I believe that it is one of the most effective tools since it enables a clear overview of all content which bring us to the second fact.
2. The plan enables all of the team members to have an overview of what the various social media platforms will look like over a specific period of time. They also ensure that all the content will be in line with the social media campaign’s objective and overall message. All the team members’ contribution to the plan always guarantees that the general goal is reached.
3. A content plan is also a time saver. Having one makes sure that no-one gets lost in research and content generation without having a good idea of what the objectives are and how the content aligns across the channels. The only thing that can sometimes appear to be time consuming is the actual compilation of the plan. But once everything has been put in it and scheduled, the hard part is done. All we have to do is to monitor the level of engagement and the effectiveness of the posts.
4. Compiling a content plan sometimes requires extensive research. And by extensive, I really mean extensive! Sometimes while looking for useful content, I can end up with over 10 pages open at the same time on my web browser and I can only let you imagine my joy every time I finally find what I am looking for – that moment when I realise that I have found a piece that would certainly be of interest of someone – the best feeling.