How to create a social media content plan
Hey, you. Yes, you - The panic poster! I see you, logging into social media on a daily basis, scrolling endlessly, trying desperately to think of something to post. You want to be consistent and to build a community but you keep hitting a blockage. You eventually post something, but it flops and you lose all faith that social media can actually work for your business.
I am going to let you in on a simple yet powerful solution: Planning!
I can already hear you saying that you just don’t have time to plan and that it’s far easier to post when the moment takes you. But what happens when you’re too busy to post? Running a business throws all kinds of curveballs. It really is a case of failing to plan is planning to fail!
I’m not going to pretend that it’s easy. Planning content in advance feels like a big, scary task. It also requires you to change your habits (which also isn’t easy!) You’ll need to dedicate time each week or month to prioritising planning ahead, but once you get the hang of it, I promise it will help you show up consistently on social media, get your message across and get you on your way to building your community.
What is a social media content plan?
A social media content plan is a plan for what content you plan to post, where you’re going to post it and when. Depending on how detailed you want the plan to be, you can also outline the content pillars, goals for each post and whether it’s evergreen or timely.
Why plan your social media content?
In case you need convincing, here are three reasons why you should be planning your social media content in advance.
Saves energy
It really does save your energy. By dedicating time to planning your content in advance, you’re saving energy on the days you’re posting for doing things you SHOULD be doing. For example, running your business or engaging with your community on social media. If you know what you’re going to post and when, you aren’t wasting energy trying to think of a post in the moment that doesn’t have an impact.
2. Maintains consistency
As you would expect, it is far easier to maintain consistency with a content plan. It is easier for you to group together your ideas and plan ahead for launches, so your message is more likely to land! You can double down on consistency by scheduling your content in advance using a tool like Agorapulse, Metricool or even Meta Business Suite.
3. It’s easier to measure impact
The more consistently you post, the easier it is to measure impact. So many businesses complain that they aren’t seeing results on social media and then they blame it on the algorithm. But then I scroll through their Instagram page and they follow a very ad hoc posting strategy! If you are posting thought-out content consistently, this will only have a positive impact on your overall results.
How to create a social media content plan
Okay, so I’ve managed to convince you to plan your social media content! But how do you actually go about creating a social media content plan? Keep reading!
Choose your tool!
There are a plethora of tools available out there that you can use to plan your content. From productivity tools like Asana, Monday.com and Trello to more traditional ‘note-like’ apps like Notion, Google Workspace or even your note app. My tool of choice is Asana because my brain works well with it. I also like Google Sheets to plan content. If you’re working as a small team or there is more than one person contributing to the content plan, consider a tool that allows collaboration. Asana and Google Sheets are both great for this.
If you want to steal my content planning template, you can get it for FREE when you sign up for my mailing list. It’s a Google Sheet, so you can easily implement it yourself.
What are your goals?
Many businesses make the mistake of creating social media goals in isolation from their overall business goals. In reality, they should work in tandem. Let’s say that you would like to increase turnover. You’re going to need an engaged online community to do that, so one of your social media goals should be to increase your engagement rate. You would do this by prioritising content that builds connection and is relatable.
Of course, everyone wants to sell and make more money. But it’s important to think about what the primary aims of your channels will be. Community-building, bringing value, educating, or entertaining are all viable options. From my experience, you’re best off adding value to build and nurture your community first before you go ahead for the hard sell.
Who are you talking to?
Before you start getting carried away with content ideas, you need to think about your target audience. In other words, who is buying from you? Social media is one big conversation so think about who you’re talking to and what they will need from a business like you.
You can think about your target audience in two ways:
Relevant demographic: Age, location, gender, life stage, income etc.
Psychographic demographic: Challenges, paint points, values, interests.
We will do a deep dive into your target audience in a future blog post. But for now, use that as food for thought!
Get clear on your Content Pillars
Okay, NOW we are getting to the planning stage! Time to think about your content pillars. In other words, these are the topics that you will be posting about on social media. The strategy that I use for my own business and my clients looks like this:
Content that shows expertise - This content makes you look like the bee's knees of your industry. This content will make your audience think “Wow, they know their stuff and I want to hire them.”
Content that solves a problem - This content does what it says on the tin! By speaking directly to their pain points, they can get an immediate solution but it boosts your credibility at the same time.
Content that promotes your product or service - This content is essential for showing your audience what products and services you offer. It might not always get the highest engagement, but if you don’t tell them WHAT you do, how will you know?
Content that is personal and relatable - This content is crucial for strengthening the emotional bonds with your community. Humans are pack animals, so when someone shares a story that we can relate to, we immediately feel more connected.
So your homework is to work your way through each pillar and note all the content ideas that come to mind.
Here are some examples of what I post within my own content pillars. I am targeting medium to large-sized businesses for social media management and founder-led small businesses for social media training.
Expertise: Platform updates, how-to guides, tips and tricks, testimonials and case studies. This content is important for my prospective social media management clients.
Problem-solving: How to plan your content, tutorials for photography, filming and content creation. This content is important for my prospective social media training clients.
Promotional: Posts about my services.
Personal and relatable content: My journey as a business owner, “story time” where I will relate a scenario to my audience and show key lessons.
Organise your ideas
Once you have come up with content ideas, start organising them in your planner, whatever you have decided to use. I find it helpful to add the pillars to the post idea and label it as ‘evergreen’ or ‘timely’ so I can repurpose the evergreen content at a later date.
You can then decide how often you’re going to post. There is no right or wrong answer here, especially if you are running your own business channels, so think about how often you can realistically post. If you use all four of the pillars I’ve outlined above, you could start with 3 - 4 times per week and see how you get on. I won’t lie and say the more frequently you show up, the quicker you are likely to see results, but don’t go ham and try ad post every day to start with because you’re likely to fall at the first hurdle. Start slow and build up if this is a new habit for you.
Post or schedule
You’ve planned, drafted and created the videos or images you need for your posts, so now it’s time to post. I schedule all of my content in advance because it saves time and I can focus on community engagement during the days I am posting. I use Agorapulse, but there are plenty of other free tools out there you can use if you do want to schedule in advance, including Meta Business Suite and even in-app on Instagram. If you prefer, you can check your content planner each day and post live, but during busy periods scheduling is definitely your friend!
Download your FREE Content Planner
Now you should feel more clued up and confident on how to create a social media content plan. But now you need a content planner! Well, you’re in luck. Sign up below to get your hands on a FREE social media content planner. You’ll also get a walkthrough video on how to use it. Happy content planning!