One of the key components to your marketing plan should be your social media calendar. There are many questions that you will need to answer before you start your planning. What platforms will you post on? What is the message you want to send? Who is your target audience?
How Often to Post
Once you know the answers, you may want to know how often you should post. For Facebook and LinkedIn, you should aim to post daily on weekdays. Instagram head Adam Mosseri suggests that you post at least two weekly feed posts and daily stories on Instagram. A daily posting is ideal for TikTok, and both Twitter and Pinterest recommend you post at least three times per day.
It might sound like a lot, but not all of this content needs to be new. You can repurpose your posts with a simple image change or different Call to Action.
Types of Posts
When it comes to types of posts and formatting, most platforms have several options:
You do post a plain text post or add a single image to your post. You also have the option of a slideshow of multiple images. If you want to make a post more engaging, you can use a video in your post or add a link to send them to a landing page. Do not just stick with one, using multiple formats lets you reach users with different content preferences.
Additionally, not all of the content needs to be your own. You can always curate content from other sources to save you time. This can also help to increase your company’s authority and build connections with influencers within your niche.
The Best Times and Days To Post
- Instagram: Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 6 AM – 9 AM and 12 PM – 2 PM
- Facebook: Wednesday-Friday from 1 PM – 4 PM
- Twitter: Wednesdays from 9 AM – 3 PM
- LinkedIn: Tuesdays & Wednesdays from 7:30 AM – 11 AM
- Pinterest: Friday through Sunday from 2 PM – 4 PM
- TikTok: Weekdays from 1 PM – 3 PM
Since people have different browsing habits and time zones, your followers are all online at different times, but scheduling your content in advance at different time you are giving your content as good a chance as possible to be seen.
Creating Correct Social Media Content
Regardless of your posts covering the same topics from channel to channel, you still want to customize the message copy to suit each platform. To get the best results you will want to:
- Keep Facebook posts between 40 and 120 characters.
- Keep tweets under 100 characters.
- Keep Instagram captions under 240 characters.
- Keep Pinterest descriptions less than 215 characters.
- Keep TikTok videos less than 30 seconds.
Benefits Of Using A Social Media Calendar
Not only are there several platforms you can use to manage your social media calendar, but there are also many reasons to use a social media calendar. Managing multiple social media accounts can turn messy fast. A social media calendar will organize them all in one place and you will get a bird’s eye view of what will be posted daily. It will also help you lay out a clear plan so you will always know what content to publish on your social channels. Planning and scheduling your social media calendar allow you to make the most of your time.
Anybody creating social media content for a business should consider using a calendar. Marketing campaigns often have many moving parts, including social components. Keeping teams organized and involved will help them understand the importance of a social promotion schedule. Staying organized with a calendar makes saving time and staying organized much easier. Enhancing time is crucial for small businesses, where resources are limited.