"The more content you have, the easier it is to share. And the best content to share is your own."

When I sit down for a strategy session with a new client, there are three things I always hear...

1. How can I be more consistent?

2. I need help coming up with new ideas!

3. Can you help me plan ahead?

If you feel like I'm talking to you, then keep reading. Today I'm sharing my simple strategy for getting consistent, never running out of ideas, and planning ahead like a pro.

First Things First

First things first, lets talk about content. Social media content includes photos, videos and web content (aka links to your website or blog). The more content you have, the easier it is to share. And the best content to share is your own. Think about your original content... Do you enjoy doing live videos? Do you prefer to write a new article each week? Or do you love creating graphics with Canva or Word Swag? These are your "buckets" to pour from when it comes to filling up your content calendar and you can't pour from an empty bucket. So if you just realized you have no visual content, you'll need to work on that. Hire someone to take photos for you or subscribe to a stock photo site so you have content at your fingertips. If you only have pictures and nothing of substance to drive people to your website, you'll need to evaluate your website and create a blog.

Look at the Big Picture

When you sit down to plan your social content for the upcoming month, I recommend using a desk calendar or an online calendar where you can see the entire month. Start by filling in holidays, upcoming events, and important dates. For example, Thanksgiving - plan a holiday related post. Product Launch - plan an announcement post. THEN, work backwards. Do you want to build anticipation for a major event or host a giveaway leading up to your product launch? Plan those posts next. Keep in mind, you can repurpose content across platforms. You don't have to complete your Facebook calendar and then create a new set of posts for Instagram and vice versa. I recommend changing captions so they speak to the appropriate audience (which isn't always the same from one platform to the next), but utilizing the same photo or video is fine.

Plan Your Original Content

After your major events are filled in, plan your original content or blog posts for the month and jot down when they'll go live. In the week following, make sure to plan two additional follow up posts to promote your newest content. I use this system - first post is a link to the blog (on Facebook) or a photo from the blog (on IG), second post is a photo related to the blog with a reminder to checkout your latest post (FB and IG), and the third post is a video or an additional piece of content related to the blog. Each post should point people to the same piece of content so be sure to include a specific call to action.

Plan Additional Content

Now that your calendar is filling up comes the fun part! From here it's just a matter of rounding out your content with tips, information, "Evergreen" content and more. When clients ask me for ideas, I usually ask them what are the three biggest components of their business or brand. For example, you might be a children's boutique so obviously clothes & accessories are number one, but you may also be passionate about supporting moms and lastly you're an adoption advocate. Those are the three things that tell people about your brand and give them an idea of what makes you or your business unique. Those are the three areas I would recommend you pull from when it comes to ideas (and IG hashtags)! Using this multi-faceted approach will keep you from posting too much promotional content and help you tell your brand story. When in doubt about what to post, here are some ideas:

1. A picture or video that features YOU

2. An original blog post that's still relevant even if it was written a year ago (this is what we call "Evergreen" content)

3. A "feel good" post

4. A timely post that uses a trending hashtag (#SiblingsDay / #NationalDogDay etc)

5. An informational post about your products or services

6. A simple tip

7. A promotional post (Flash Sale / New Items are Back in Stock / Checkout Our Latest Features etc)

8. A post about a recent project or event

9. A post about an upcoming project, launch, or event

Plan to Plan

You don't have to plan every post and every caption at one time, but if you can fill in your calendar with what you want to post or talk about each day, your life will be a million times easier! Learn to batch your work so one day you upload all photos, the next you write all captions, another day you add new hashtags and so on. You'll find that after a few months your planning process will get even quicker.

Questions? Contact us today to schedule a social strategy session! We love meeting with clients 1:1 to create a plan that's completely customized to your brand.