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So, you have a social media presence. Maybe even more than one. In fact, maybe you’ve got so many accounts that keeping track of them all is giving you whiplash.
Social media content creation can feel very overwhelming at times. You barely have time to settle back into your desk after posting something on social media before you need to get started on the next one.
This process doesn’t always have to be so hectic, though – especially if you have a plan in place for each post. Making sure that all of your social media posts are prepped and ready to go reduces stress levels and helps you stay organized.
With this blog post, we’ll give you tips for getting set up with content creation so that you can save time and stress in the long run. Let’s get started!
Outline a strategy
The first step in creating a social media content strategy is to outline exactly what you want to achieve with your posts. This way, you’ll know exactly what type of posts will benefit your business and how you can go about achieving your goals.
It’s a good idea to think in terms of the following: - What type of content will you post? Images, videos, or text posts? - What topics are best to post about? - When will you post? - Where will you post? - How will you measure success?
Decide what to post on which platform and when
Part of your strategy will also involve deciding what type of content to post on which platform. As you’re likely already aware, there are significant differences between the most popular social media platforms. They’re also used differently by their followers. Let’s take a look at each one, along with some tips for what you should post about and when you should do it.
- Facebook:
Facebook is best suited for visual content, which means that most of what you’ll want to post there will be photos. While you can create text-based posts on Facebook as well, they’re usually best suited for driving traffic to your website. Thus, they’re better suited for driving traffic than they are for converting sales. Since Facebook is best for driving traffic, it’s best suited for posting during the week or on off-peak hours during the weekends.
- Instagram:
Instagram is best for posting visual content, such as photos and short videos. While you can also post text-based content on Instagram, it should be short and to the point. Long-form content just doesn’t work very well on Instagram. Since Instagram is best for posting visual content, it makes sense to post on Instagram during the times of day when it’s easiest to take high-quality photos.
- Twitter:
Twitter is best suited for posting short, snappy posts that are less than 140 characters in length. These posts can be a combination of text, images and videos. Since Twitter is best suited for posting short content, you should post on Twitter during off-peak hours when most people are checking their feed.
- LinkedIn:
LinkedIn is best for posting content that’s informational and long-form. Posts on LinkedIn should be around 600 words long and link to long-form content on your website that’s related to the post. Since LinkedIn is best for posting long-form content, you should post on LinkedIn during times of day when most people are at work and have time to read these posts.
- Pinterest:
Pinterest is best for visual posts that link to long-form content on your website. Visual posts on Pinterest can be anything from photos to videos. Since Pinterest is best for posting visual posts that link to long-form content on your website, you should post on Pinterest during times of day when most people are online and have time to click through to your post.
- Your blog:
Your blog is best for posting long-form content that’s closely related to your business. Since your blog posts are best for posting long-form content, you should post on your blog during times of day when most people are at work and have time to read your posts.
Create templates for your social media posts
When it comes to actually creating your posts, you’ve got two options:
- you can write the posts from scratch each time or
- you can use templates to save time and energy.
If you’re a smaller business or are new to social media marketing, it’s a good idea to start with templates. Using templates ensures that each post is consistent, which in turn helps you reach a wider audience.
It’s important to remember that you don’t have to create brand new templates for every post. You can simply edit (or repurpose) pre-existing posts to suit your needs. You can also use tools like Canva to create posts that are visually consistent with your business.
This can help you create more posts without having to spend a lot of time typing each one out. If you’re unsure which posts you should be using templates for, think back to your social media content strategy. All posts should be linked to your strategy in some way.
Create Images for each platform
While every social media platform has its own strengths and weaknesses, one thing remains consistent: images are almost always more popular than text-based posts. This is why it’s so important to have a few images on hand at all times.
Some social media platforms make it easier than others to upload images from your computer. If you have images that you can’t directly upload to a platform, you can use a service like Canva to create images for each platform. Canva makes it easy to create images for all of the most popular social media platforms.
When you create images for your posts ahead of time, you save yourself time and energy. You can simply open up the platform you want to create an image for and choose the image you created in Canva. This ensures that all of your images are consistent with one another.
Define a posting schedule
Posting on social media isn’t something that you should do whenever you have the time. It should be done with a purpose and at certain times of the day, especially if you want the best possible results. While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach that works best for all businesses, there are some general best practices.
- Facebook:
While timing can vary slightly depending on your business, Facebook posts tend to perform best between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. This is when most of your audience is online and able to see and engage with your posts.
- Instagram:
Posting on Instagram is a bit of a balancing act. While some businesses do best posting in the morning, Instagram performs best in the afternoon and evening. This is when most people are online, but not so late that people are already browsing the web.
- Twitter:
Twitter is best for posting first thing in the morning and again in the evenings. This is when the most people are online and able to see your posts.
- LinkedIn:
LinkedIn is best for posting in the mornings on weekdays. This is when most people are online and able to see your posts.
- Pinterest:
Pinterest is best for posting in the evenings. Again, this is when most people are online and able to see your posts.
- Your blog:
While there isn’t an exact time that works best for uploading blog posts, posting in the afternoons or evenings is best. This is when most people are online and likely to have time to read your posts.
Create a calendar
Now, once you’ve decided when to post on various platforms, you can link those posts to a calendar. This acts as an extra reminder to post at the right times. It also keeps your posting consistent and ensures that you don’t miss a single date.
You can create a calendar for your social media posting using Google Calendar, Microsoft Planner, or another scheduling tool. When linking posts to a calendar, make sure to take the season into account. For example, if you’re planning on posting a fall-themed image, you probably want to make sure it gets posted before the end of October.
Automate your social media posting
Now that you’ve got everything set up so that you only have to click a few buttons to post on social media, it’s time to take things to the next level and automate your social media posting.
There are several ways to do this. You can also set up your social media accounts to schedule posts in advance by a few days or even a week or more. This will allow you to have a fresh stream of content on your social media accounts, and will also give you time to focus on other important tasks that need your attention.
If you’re using applications such as Canva, Hootsuite, Buffer, Later or even Facebook business suite, you can schedule your social media posts days and weeks in some cases, in advance and still have the option to pause the social media campaign if necessary. They can be set to have publish your social media posts at certain times of the day.
You can also set up an email alert on your computer or mobile device and have it notify you when there’s something new to be posted on social media, such as a new blog post. The latter method is perfect if you prefer to schedule your social media posts manually.
Make sure to check out my Social Spark Content Bundle.
Which part of this article did you find most valuable, and would like to see more information on, let me know in the comments.
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