Social Media Editorial Calendar: Why you need it?
While we take every step in life after thinking for a long time and organising every bit of it, why do we post content on social media without giving a second thought? When it comes to online business, you have all the privilege to promote it on a large scale with social media. As much as promotions on social media are making your business grow with the type of content you post, you can’t keep track of it. To maintain a track on your postings on social media, make your own social media editorial calendar.
What is social media calendar and how do you make one?
An editorial calendar is used explicitly for planning the postings of the content on various social platforms. It is a way to plan and organise upcoming content for your social media pages. To make a social media editorial calendar, all you have to do is record your postings, with respect to the days of the week and time. After you have started recording your daily postings, observe your audience. Understand the wants, needs, and goals of your audience. See which of your posts are most liked, and most commented by your followers. Keep a record of the posts that get maximum views, shares, and distinguished engagements. While you record the preferences of your audience, determine the timings too. Observe the peak time of your viewer engagement. Note the time with the day of the week to prioritise your next post.
If your page is based on an overseas country, then posting according to your leisure time won’t be benefiting. Or would it reach the targeted audience if you post the content when the audience of your geographical region is working in their office, and people of your area are surfing social sites? Post according to your viewer engagement. If your posts have a high reach on Monday mornings and Thursday evenings, then having a post ready for those days will result in the growth of your followers. However, use the 80-20 ratio to post, i.e., post 80% user engaging and 20% business promotional content.
But why do you need it?
Most of the people would have understood the need for a social media editorial calendar in the above paragraph only, but there is more to it :
1. Does not let you miss any relevant date
If any holiday, event, launch, campaign, or anything is coming up relevant to your page, then the calendar will inform you about it, and you will have the content ready to post on the network. Even if the forthcoming occasion does not relate to your business, your posts can always do, to engage users.
2. Records previous data
The social media editorial calendar lets you record your past and recent posts to compare them. Comparing the posts will make you aware of the type of content your followers are liking and sharing. The record will also help you remember the content you have already shared to not be repetitive with your content.
3. Cover the niche audience
Although social media pages are for people of all age groups and categories, they still have a niche to cover. Your business page may be versatile, but your content has to satisfy a niche audience, sometimes. The calendar will guide you with your posts, for when to post generic and when to be specific to your audience. The editorial calendar will keep a record if you have been posting generic content, too much.
4. Organisation of the content
While your social media editorial calendar helps you determine the timings of your posts, it also helps you with the organisation of your content. You will know when to post on Instagram and Facebook and whether you have been too active on one social network. Thus, it makes a balance for you organise your content on various platforms and save your time by not tracking each social platform. You can also monitor your posted content on a platform to post it on another network. Consistency is the key to keep posting!
Tip: Use hashtags for specific days like #mondayblues, #tbt #tgif.
5. Effectively allocate the resources
Since a large population of the world relies on social media for the content and promotion of their business, you have to allocate and use your resources efficiently. When you know Christmas is down the corner, and you need to post something related to it, you should have a post ready for the holiday season. Therefore, efficiently use your resources beforehand to post on time, and not make a hustle at the need of the time.
Now, when you know the perks of maintaining an editorial calendar and how to make one, lower down your stress level of keeping up with each of your social media platforms.
