How to create an editorial calendar for your social networks?

To be effective on social networks and take full advantage of these communication tools, it is highly recommended to create an editorial calendar.

Its objective: to allow you to have an overall vision of the content to be prepared for the year, to deliver the right message at the right time.

Digital media trend offers you its method to create your social media editorial calendar simply and efficiently!

Step 1: Create a complete editorial calendar

To create an editorial calendar, you will have the choice between a spreadsheet such as Excel or Google Sheets, and a tool like Trello. It's up to you to choose the tool that seems most intuitive to you.

The important thing is to share your table in months and weeks. Complete your calendar for the whole year. Even if you are not able to predict 12 months of publication, it would already be done!

Not to mention that it encourages you to complete it as soon as you have an idea or you are aware of an important event to come.

In addition, do not forget to create a calendar by social network.

Step 2: List events and holidays

Once this database is created, note the holidays and all the events related to your professional activity.

By event, we mean:

School holidays

Religious holidays (Christmas, Halloween, Easter ...)

Business celebrations (Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day ...)

Trade shows or conferences related to your activity

International days, also related to your activity

Also think about integrating internal events: anniversary of your company, acquisition of another company, launch of a new product / service, participation in an event...

Finally, do not forget to add the articles of your blog, which you will have to share on your social networks. To know the publication schedule, get closer to your Content Marketing team!

Step 3: Identify the themes of the contents

Now that you have a work base, bring your marketing team and sales people together for brainstorming. To define the topics to be included in your editorial social media calendar, you will need to consider the needs and expectations of your buyer’s persona, the seasonality of sales and, of course, the events you have listed beforehand.

Also identify the goals of your business. Why is she present on social networks? Is it to strengthen customer loyalty, acquire leads, and manage your image or all 3 at the same time?

Now that everything is clear, ask the teams to come up with their content ideas.

However, specify that you have to balance the themes between self-promotion and useful content. It is recommended to provide an 80/20 split between information and promotion of your company, its products and services.

Step 4: Generate topics for each theme

Once you have your themes, list topics (always using marketers and sales representatives).

Try to find ideas that fit perfectly into the buying process of your prospects. Think about contacts, leads and customers. Each profile must be in the editorial line of your social networks.

Next, rank the topics according to their theme and the target buyer persona. Ideally, you will need to place different content each week. It is important to present only one theme per week so as not to overload the readers' minds and build loyalty.

For example, include a Theme A topic for leads on Tuesday, and then an idea for the same topic that targets customers on Thursdays.

Each week, you can also decide to target a specific audience, with a topic related to the season or event of your company. Result: your community management strategy is becoming more relevant!

To find your way around, use a color code by theme and / or buyer persona.

Step 5: Develop each content

Now that you have the topics and you know when to publish them, you need to determine the format of the content. Indeed, according to the social networks and your objectives, you will be able to decline each subject in the form of text, computer graphics, image, video, etc.

It's also a good time to plan the content to be delegated and those for which you will need to acquire rights.

Anticipating the publication of its contents thanks to an editorial calendar makes it possible to optimize your social media strategy. Thanks to this schedule, you are sure to keep the rhythm all year long, to increase the engagement of your subscribers and recruit new ones every day. You then ensure the success of your Community Management!