February 2, 2025 •Angie Willey
Social media can feel like a constant whirlwind of content, but with the right approach, you can tackle this challenge with just a few tools to get started!
Starting small might seem counterintuitive, but this strategy can lead to a growing social media presence, increased business, and less stress in the long run. A key element to a successful marketing strategy is consistency. Consistency can be a challenge when you don’t know where to start.
For me, the first place I start with is a…monthly calendar! Yep, a calendar. Whether you use one online (Canva Calendar template, Google Calendar, Excel or Numbers Calendar template, etc.) or a physical calendar, having a designated calendar for your social media content is the first step to staying consistent. Use the type of calendar you are comfortable with and know you can stay consistent using it!
A calendar allows you to track both posted and scheduled content, monitor posting times, and even add analytics if you would like. It will help you to plan and organize your posts more efficiently – which allows your social media presence to be more effective.
Click here to download an example Social Media calendar.
This calendar will become a powerful social media content tool. It will save you time and improve the quality and performance of your content in the long run.
Content Types
There are many types of social media content. Using a mix of images, videos, polls and graphics keeps your feed interesting and allows your engagement with your audience to be well rounded. Don’t let this scare you! It doesn’t need to be every type of content. You can cycle through a few different types and it will still be varied enough to keep your audience’s attention.
A simple strategy I employ for this is to create a template. I like to use Canva (there is a free version & paid options; Canva also has many different types of templates for posts, graphics, etc!). I create a template for each different type of text-based content I will be publishing. Creating a branded template that you can easily change the text, images, and colors on will save you time and keep your content consistent with your brand. The template can be very simple, even just using your brand’s colors in the background can be the template (you can always improve your templates later!).
One of the best ways to use the templates is for holidays. You can create a template with a layout you love, your logo, text and images. Then for every holiday, you update and swap each part of the template as needed!
(Tip: Using your brand’s logo, colors and font on all the templates will keep you consistent on every platform; and create brand recognition.)
Scheduling
Scheduling – this is easily one of the most distractable and concerning parts of planning your social media content. There is a lot of information out there that tells you what that author feels is the best way to go about it. If you want to keep things at low cost – schedule content yourself. Use your calendar, and at the end of the month you can look back at the analytics and adjust days and times to when you see more engagement with your audience.
Most platforms will give you suggested posting times for when it seems your audience is most online. Absolutely utilize that! I would say don’t only use that though, especially for the first few months of posting. Do both the suggested and a time of your choosing, and look back at the analytics later to see which posts are performing better.
When reviewing your analytics to reassess your approach, focus on key metrics such as reach, engagement rate, and click-throughs. These will help you gauge the effectiveness of your posts and understand how much of your audience they are reaching. By adjusting your posting days and times to align with periods of higher engagement, you can reach a larger portion of your audience consistently, which may lead to increased interaction.
You can also use a social media scheduling tool. (Some have free plans; some are paid). There are many options. Do a bit of research to find one that fits your needs. If you aren’t on all the platforms yet, stick to one that will benefit you the most on the platforms you are using. Read the reviews of these tools, and account for any costs that they may require. These tools can be a time saver and money saver in the long run!
Social media does entail a lot but starting off small is a great way to begin to understand this marketing process. Engage with your audience as they interact with your posts! This will help you stay top of mind and it helps you see how well your posts are doing without diving into the analytics.
Engagement
At times an overlooked part of planning your social media is your engagement with your audience. Engaging will create a welcoming tone, and keep you top of mind! Engaging with your audience can be in many different ways. Responding to comments, liking comments, resharing a post that you are tagged in, creating interactive posts such as polls, to name a few. Planning on engaging with your audience could be as the opportunities present themselves (such as a comment has been made, or someone tagged you in a post), or you can plan a little bit of time each day to go in and engage with your audience. (I suggest that you do that towards the end of the day if possible) you can go and like comments or make comments back. Whatever approach comes easier to you is the one to stick to.
Planning your social media content will help you engage and grow your audience, be consistent in posting and stay aligned with your brand’s identity. Combining scheduling, the automation and authentic engagement, you can effectively grow your brand and keep your audience engaged across all your brand’s platforms!
Need help refining your social media strategy? Contact our business advisor at the Rocky Mountain Women’s Business Center for personalized marketing guidance and audits.
