There are two types of people in this world: those who love schedules and those who hate them. I am one of those that HATE schedules.
My personality loves spontaneity – BUT, I love task lists and priority lists and YES, I do keep a schedule and check my schedule for posting and blogging for my clients. It is easier – MUCH easier than trying to remember or letting things that I don’t enjoy doing slip through the cracks.
Yes, I’m creative, but I CAN stick to a schedule!
YES, I need inspiration to begin posting and creating graphics
I am WAY to busy to come up with a whole bunch of social media content by myself, each morning. So, I have created a social-media posting schedule that fits with my creativity and doesn’t make me feel like my hands are tied.
This solid foundation keeps me consistent, on message and on brand; all of which truly matter when it comes to social media. If you haven't noticed: billions of people and millions of businesses are on social media. All across Virginia, consumers are discovering new brands, finding reviews and becoming more loyal to their favorite ones, thanks to social media. Your business or non-profit can’t afford to not be on social media.
If you had a brick-and-mortar store and a potential customer was wondering around right outside of it, wouldn’t you make sure that you had an open sign out, lights on and a pretty window display, even if you were the only person who worked there? If you ignore social media, it’s the equivalent of keeping your store dark and closed up. Consistent posts make your content even stronger. It becomes familiar and comforting.
1. Research Your Audience -- do you target college kids or business owners? Are they mostly women? Are they typically on the computer Sunday nights and Monday mornings? College kids are very active on SnapChat or Instagram on weekends and in the evenings. All social-media platform provide some type of info on your audience and when they are active online. You just have to know where to look for the data.
On Facebook: “Insights” section. “Posts” option in the left-hand menu.
On Twitter: Twitter analytics are not quite as fully functional as Facebook analytics but you can get some insights, like which days your tweets have the highest impressions.
On LinkedIn: Analytics, select “Visitors, ” scroll down to the “Traffic” section and you’ll see a graph that measures your traffic. From here, you can see which days are most popular with your audience.
On Instagram: On your business profile, click the “Insights” button at the top of your profile. In the “Audience” tab, at the bottom of the page, you’ll find a graph that shows the average times your followers are on Instagram.
Figuring out the days and times your audience hangs out online will create the basis of a posting schedule. You’ll eliminate wasting great posts that are scheduled on days and times when your audience is offline.
2. Learn what content keeps your audience engaged -- learn and use them!
Facebook: photos, videos, live streams
Twitter: links including blog posts, curated content, GIFs
Instagram: quality photos, videos, and stories
LinkedIn: links, industry news, videos
3. Organize your content to make sense
For SMSimplifier, videos have the highest reach but it’s my blog links that drive traffic back to each client’s website. On Instagram, quote posts receive the most comments but educational posts attract more followers.
My clients want LIKES, SMSimplifier wans engagement. And no one wants one million fans but no engagement. Just like no one wants the highest engagement rates but no clicks to their website. I categorizing my content. This keeps my content balanced and reaches my social-media goals.
Ready to get going? Excellent. If you don't have a plan but need one, call. If you need coaching, email us. If you just cannot figure out how to get started, let's get talking.