Have you ever struggled with what to post on your company’s social media page? Or perhaps you’ve just created a social media account for your small business and aren’t sure where to start? Enter: a content calendar.
A content calendar is a useful system that allows you to pre-plan your content in an organized way that benefits both you, and your audience online. This calendar contains what you will post, when you will post it, and where you will post it. In my opinion, this is the easiest method for brands to utilize when posting on social media as it keeps all of your ideas together and organized, while making consistent posts on social media a more achievable goal. You can create your content calendar by downloading simple templates online, utilizing Google Calendar, or by using resources online such as Sprout Social. If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed already and need help creating a content calendar, check out this useful blog!
Now, you may be wondering exactly what kind of content you should include on your social media accounts, and therefore in your content calendar. A brands’ social media page can contain a great variety of content, including posts about the products/services being offered, your company as a whole, behind the scenes of the people within your business, and miscellaneous content that I will explain more about down below.
Products/Services (The “What” of Your Business)
Posts about what your business offers are evidently extremely important. Keeping your social media up to date with products or services that are being offered is generally what most businesses use these platforms for. However, there are many ways to be creative with these posts! Within this category, it’s important to have posts such as:
- How-to videos: Show how to use your product in video format. For example, if you own a small business that makes soy candles, showing customers how to trim the wicks or what kind of surface to set the candle on can be very useful information to post.
- Product benefits: Utilize an infographic that explains how your product/service benefits your customers. For example, if you are a personal trainer that offers in-home services to clients, your post could include benefits such as: weight-loss, muscle growth, convenience, and preventing injuries by ensuring you have correct form. This helps potential customers see the value in your company.
- Customer testimonials/user-generated content: When customers leave reviews of your business via Google, text, or elsewhere, it’s very convenient to turn these reviews into social media posts! For example, you can compile 4 reviews from different clients, and post them in a carousel on Instagram. This allows your followers to see what other customers are saying about your business, and help influence them to purchase your product.
Company Details (The “Who” of Your Business)
Another important aspect of your business is really “who” your business is, and what it stands for. Individual’s want to support businesses that have similar values to them. Knowing more about your business can be extremely beneficial in building trust with your customers, as well as increasing sales. Below are some examples of posts that could fall under this category.
- About us: In your business plan, your business should have its mission statement, vision statement, values, and more foundational information that act as the building blocks of your brand. Sharing this information via social media posts is a great way to allow customers to understand and appreciate your brand. If you need help coming up with a mission, vision, and values for your business, check out this article.
- What your office/workplace looks like: Post a video showing a tour of your office space (if applicable). For example, if you make handmade jewelry, you could show the home office that you work out of, and the equipment that you use. This helps customers understand what kind of work goes into your products.
Behind the Scenes (The “How” of Your Business)
This category includes everything that makes your business possible, and shows why your business is where it is today. Here are some example posts you could include:
- Meet the team: Show different people within your company and what their role is within the business. Even if you own a small business and your spouse is the only other employee— share that information! People love seeing the behind the scenes of how your product and company is possible.
- A day in the life: Day in the life themed videos are quite popular on social media. In this post you can share exactly what your average day consists of from what you eat for breakfast, to what book you read before bed. It’s best to share this in video format, and keep each clip short to hold the viewers’ attention.
- Share your story: Are you the founder of your small business? The people want to know! Why did you create the company? Was it because of your mission to change the world one reusable straw at a time? Or because you needed to find a job that worked with your schedule as a single mom? How did you get the business up and running? Customers love learning about your business’ history and might be able to relate to your story.
Miscellaneous Content
Along with the categories listed above, there is an endless amount of ideas and/or content that can be shared on your company’s social media pages. Get creative with it! Here are some additional post ideas to add to your content calendar:
- Share industry related news if it’s relevant to your company.
- Host a contest to engage your current customers, and attract new customers!
- Post content that makes people laugh. For example, make a funny TikTok using trending audio.
- Post on Holidays wishing your audience a Merry Christmas or Happy Easter!
Overall Tips
Overall, it’s important to be consistent with your posts, and keep your audience engaged. It’s crucial to post an assortment of text content, photo content, video content, gifs, polls, etc. to keep your audience engaged and active. Planning out your posts with a content calendar makes this easy to do, because you can spread out the different forms and categories of content over the course of weeks, months, and years. All this being said, I think it’s important to note that you shouldn’t release content that you aren’t proud of, or that you’re posting just for the sake of posting. A content calendar can be very effective in pre-planning meaningful, authentic, and useful content for your audience if done right.
Are you currently using a content calendar? Would you ever consider using one? Let me know in the comments below!
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What is a content calendar and how can it transform your small business? Let us tell you! P.S. We’ll also give you 12+ social media post ideas to include in your very own content calendar. #ContentCalendar #SocialMediaStrategy https://bit.ly/3JotHo2
Are you utilizing a content calendar to grow your small business? Well, you should be! Let us help you get started with 12+ social media post ideas, and information on why a content calendar is so beneficial. https://bit.ly/3JotHo2
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 