Want to know something we love to use at Brand It Graphix and is an essential part of our marketing solutions for clients? Content planning! Between today's variety of social media platforms and the endless options for post types like videos, photos, reels, etc., it can be a little overwhelming keeping it all straight. Content planning can help simplify things as you manage your dream business AND pursue growth by engaging with your current audience and attracting on-going customers. Below are 5 simple starting tips for creating and scheduling content consistent with your brand that will keep your audience engaged and you more freed up to serve your customers!
Know your goals and audience and identify when your followers are most active and engaged on social media. By using insights and analytics already provided within your social media accounts, you can be strategic when you schedule your content to increase your visibility and your engagement with your followers.
Create content categories. Creating categories consistent with your brand (i.e., Behind the Scenes, Services, Quotes, Your “Why”, National Holidays, etc.) will help you maintain variety and interest in your posts as you plan and schedule out your content for the next week, month, 3 months, etc. Placing these categories within a calendar or scheduling tool will help you visually see the coming week and months and have a starting point for creating your content.
Maintain an ongoing photo library and content folder. Set up a folder on your laptop, phone, Google Drive, OneDrive, or wherever would be most convenient for you to find and look through images. By maintaining this and storing photos that reflect your brand and services, you can easily pull images to create your posts using your content categories and schedule them weeks in advance. Make sure to include photos of your team and people in your content planning to help “humanize” your posts and be more relatable with your audience. Apps like VSCO with free photo editing and presets can also be a helpful tool to keep your photo edits looking consistent and cohesive.
When you have your content categories in place, it’s time to start actually filling in the blanks with your engaging text and images. To increase engagement with your audience, always include a call to action. This could be in the form of asking a question and having your followers answer in the comments, asking your audience to share your post and help spread the word about your exciting new service, or including a link in your post to book your services or subscribe to your next e-newsletter.
Use a content scheduling tool. There are multiple options for social media scheduling tools today, like Meta for Facebook and Instagram, Hootsuite, Plann, Later, Buffer, and more. Many of these services offer free plans for 1 user accounts. Sign up for that free plan or invest in a paid plan and get to scheduling to free up more time to do what you love most – running your business!