Today I have been back in the office, getting my Social Media Marketing ready for the year ahead. It’s so important to plan your social media strategy in advance so that you always know exactly what you will be posting each day. Why? I hear you ask… Well it saves a HUGE amount of time in the long run.
So, here is what I have been preparing today, you never know you may pick up a few tips.
Plan for Calendar Days
By calendar days I mean awareness days and National Days – that sort of thing. You will probably notice that every day is now celebrated as a National or International Day such as National Storytelling Week, World Cancer Day and World Population Day etc. Planning for these types of day are crucial because if it’s something related to your business then you will want to get involved with it, this is a great way of increasing your brand awareness and reaching out to potential customers. To find out more about National Days or Awareness Weeks please visit www.projectbritain.com or www.awarenessdays.com
Revamp Image Posts
If you have been using the same images for your Social Media posts then now is the best time to have a revamp. Design some new images/pictures/Infographics to grab your audience attention, after-all we are all guilty of getting bored of seeing the same posts. Use a design tool such as canva.com or adobespark.com and experiment with designing different posts. Refreshing your content will be like having a spring clean of your house, it will make you feel so much better, trust me!
January Offers
January is the time where people are looking for bargains because they are spent out after Christmas. If your business can afford to have a January sale then do it! Why not run an advert whilst your at it to reach more people and potentially get more customers. Getting more followers, likes and fans etc will give your business that extra boost you need for this time of year.
Schedule your Social Media posts
Now is the time to schedule your posts for the next month or two. Think about what will be happening in the next few months (calendar days, events, special offers etc) and schedule your posts to fit in with these. Think about your goal for this year, is it to get more followers on Instagram, create a Pinterest account or to get more visitors to your website? Whatever your goal think carefully about how your posts will tie in with this. Once you have scheduled your posts in advance that leaves you with more time to concentrate on other parts of your marketing strategy. Use a scheduling tool like Sprout Social or Buffer to help.
Have a look through your old content
This might seem like a strange one but take some time to have a look through old social media content that you have posted. Pay particular attention to posts that have reached a lot of people or had a lot of interaction, may be it’s worth paying to boost these posts or sending out this content again but change the wording slightly or the image.
Research your Competitors
This time of year (between Christmas and New Year) can be very slow so use this time wisely, i.e. research your competitors. What have they been up to this past year and what’s been working and what’s not been working for them in terms of social media. You can pick up some great tips from your competitors.
Conclusion
I hope that this checklist has given you some food for thought to plan for the year ahead. Happy posting!