What is Social Media Content Planning?
Social media content planning is the strategic process of organising, creating, and scheduling content to share across your business’s social platforms. Rather than posting randomly, social media content plans are about aligning your messages with your business goals, understanding who you’re targeting, and ensuring consistency between your brand’s voice and visual content. A well-structured content plan acts as a roadmap, guiding your social efforts and making it easier to measure results, so you can adjust your strategy as and when it’s needed.
Content Planning VS Content Creation
Content creation involves producing assets like images and videos to share, while content planning serves as the blueprint that guides what, when, and how you create. Your planning will determine the what, why, and when, ensuring each piece of content serves a purpose and fits into a larger strategy. Without planning, content creation can become rushed and inconsistent, leading to missed opportunities and weaker results.
Why Social Media Content Planning Matters
Strategic planning is the difference between a scattered online presence and a cohesive, engaging brand.
Benefits for Business Owners
- Consistency: By planning your social media posts, you’re ensuring consistent, regular posting that will build trust with your audience.
- Efficiency: Planning ahead saves time and reduces the stress of last-minute or rushed posting.
- Goal alignment: Every post supports your broader business objectives, driving real results.
- Better engagement: Well-planned content is more likely to target your primary audience, helping to increase engagement rates and build connections.
The Risks of Not Planning
- Inconsistent messaging: Random posting with inconsistent messaging can dilute your brand identity and confuse your audience.
- Missed opportunities: Without a plan, you risk overlooking key dates, trends, or events that would’ve been beneficial to your social media channel.
- Wasted resources: Last-minute content is often lower quality and less effective, which wastes your time and budget on making content that can’t perform.
The Key Elements of a Social Media Content Plan
Goal Setting: Aligning Content with Business Objectives
Before you start creating content, consider your goals. Defining what you want to achieve, whether it be lead generation, customer retention, or something else, will inform what you make later.
Audience Research: Understanding Who You’re Speaking To
Identify your audience’s interests and pain points. You can tailor your content to their needs and preferences for maximum impact.
Content Themes: Defining Your Pillar Content
Establish core themes or “pillars” that reflect your brand and resonate with your audience. This will form the foundation of your content creation and ensure variety in your posts, without losing focus.
Content Mix: Original VS Curated Content
A strong social media content plan strikes a balance between original and curated content. Original content, such as your videos, photos, and blog posts, showcases your brand’s expertise, voice, and personality. Curated content involves sharing valuable posts from others in your industry, adding your perspective.
This mix not only keeps your feed fresh and varied but also positions your business as a helpful resource. The right blend depends on your goals, resources, and audience preferences, but both types should align with your brand values and content themes.
Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Social Media Content Plan
Step 1: Define Your Content Themes
Begin by identifying your core pillars to guide your content planning. Setting these themes out from the beginning will help you plan a variety of content without losing focus.
Step 2: Brainstorm and Research Post Ideas
Gather ideas for different types of content by comparing competitors in your industry. Delve into trending topics and FAQs to gather inspiration for your own social media accounts.
Step 3: Choose Your Platform
Choose your social media platform based on where your audience is. Different platforms will target different demographics, so be selective when starting out.
Step 4: Decide How Often to Post
Decide on a realistic posting schedule and stick to it. Regular, high-quality posts are guaranteed to build trust and audience engagement, so keep it up!
Step 5: Assign Roles and Responsibilities
If you have a team, clarify who is responsible for content creation, approvals, scheduling, and engagement. By doing so, you’ll avoid confusion and ensure accountability.
Step 6: Create and Source Content Assets
Create your content! By following your brand guidelines, you can make consistent posts that represent your brand clearly and solidify your social media presence.
Step 7: Write and Approve Captions
Write captions that have a call to action to drive followers to your page. Use appropriate hashtags, relevant to the themes of your post, and ensure your tone of voice matches your brand.
Step 8: Schedule Content in Advance
Use a social media calendar, such as Meta Business, to schedule your posts ahead of time. This way, you ensure posts go out on time, no matter how busy life gets!
Step 9: Watch Your Followers Grow Organically
Monitor your accounts’ growth by looking into your social media insights. This is the best way to see what content successfully engages your audience and will help you tailor future posts to get similar results.
Step 10: Use Paid Social to Take it to The Next Level
Once your organic strategy is working, consider boosting key posts or running targeted, paid ads to expand your reach and increase brand awareness.
Common Mistakes to Avoid in Social Media Content Planning
Overlooking Analytics
Neglecting to review your insights means you risk overlooking critical information about what’s effective and what’s not, potentially wasting valuable time and energy.
Ignoring Feedback
Choosing to ignore your audience’s feedback through their comments, messages, or reviews means missing out on opportunities to grow your engagement.
Inconsistent Posting
Irregular posting can be confusing for your audience and weaken your brand presence. It’s best to stick to your schedule to build trust and momentum on your social network.
Ready to Upgrade Your Social Media Content?
Why Consider Using an Agency?
An agency is on top of the latest trends, algorithm changes, and best practices to create an engaging social media presence. By outsourcing someone to help run your social media, you’re freeing up more time to focus on the core of your business.
Ready to take the guesswork out of social? Let Solve help you craft a results-driven content plan that aligns perfectly with your brand and business goals. Visit our Paid Social page to get started.
