It’s Possible to Predict the Future with a Social Media Calendar

Having a social media presence is a standard for most brands. With the massive influx of online content, it is important to take an organized approach to social media. A social media calendar is a road map that ensures your company or organization’s social media goals are being met. In a recent Huffington Post article, entrepreneur Jim Yu advised marketers to “think like a publisher.” Thinking like a publisher means adopting the strategy of keeping an updated editorial calendar. Editorial calendars are commonly used by bloggers and businesses to control the publication of content across media. Here are a few pointers that will help you make the most of your calendar and become a successful content marketer.

1. Keep your content varied and polished.

Having a weekly or monthly overview of your social media posts will help ensure that you are posting a variety of exciting or educational content. In order to engage users, you should consider the benefits of photos, videos, case studies and infographics. By planning ahead, your brand can have content that is ideal for sharing with customers.

2. Proofread for perfect grammer grammar.

When is comes to online publishing, it’s easy to fall into the bad habit of “Internet Speak.” Having posts planned ahead of time provides your team with ample resources to ensure posts are free of typographical erros. A recent survey reported that poor grammar can damage public opinion of your brand. Your customers notice attention to detail. Don’t let your social media presence be a detriment to your business. Potential clients, investors and competitors are always watching and will judge sloppy writing.

3. Coordinate posts with key events.

A well-planned calendar will allow you to build anticipation for upcoming events. Having content ready in advance makes it easier to coordinate the dissemination of company news and announcements. Product launches, company events and awards are all great content to share with your followers. A monthly social media calendar will prevent events from being forgotten. By knowing what corporate functions or national holidays are coming up, noteworthy events can be turned into shareable content.

4. Study analytics and make changes accordingly.

Having a company work with you to collect metrics on the effectiveness of your posts helps measure the return on investment of your social media efforts and give you better direction. While a calendar should serve as an organizational tool, it should also be used to study effectiveness of previous posts. By trying different outlets, varying photo usage or altering headlines you can find out exactly what reaches your target audience the best. This information can then be utilized in future efforts.

A social media calendar is an essential tool for brands looking to maintain a presence online. With that being said, not everything has to be planned. Don’t forget to chime in to become part of important conversations occurring around you. Your brand should interact with fans. It is “social” media after all.

Our clients know what they’re posting tomorrow, do you? Appleton Creative is an award-winning, full-service advertising agency located in Orlando, Florida. Appleton works with local, national and international clients to provide marketing strategies through print, web, social media and video production – all in-house. At Appleton, we want to learn about your business, empower your marketing team and be your creative resource. Your marketing goals are worth a conversation: contact us at 407-246-0092 or info@appletoncreative.com.

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