In order to achieve marketing goals in social networks, companies must continuously publish new content. And often several times a day for different channels. It is important to post sensibly and on time. A social media plan template helps you to implement this. Read this article to find out how you can get off to a successful start with such an editorial plan.
Why do you need a social media plan?
With a social media plan you keep track of your social media channels. You know what needs to be posted when and by whom. On the one hand, this allows you to work together successfully as a team. On the other hand, you have the possibility to train new colleagues or holiday replacements more easily. They can follow the plan and its guidelines to create perfectly fitting social media posts.
Social Media Plan Template © Urupong / adobe stock
An example: With the post you pursue the goal of gaining leads. In this case, the reader needs to be enticed to click on the link in the bio. If, on the other hand, the marketing goal is to achieve greater brand awareness, it is mainly about shares and mentions. Accordingly, the person in charge must write the post differently than for lead acquisition. So you should align marketing goals and social media posts.
The next plus point of a social media plan is that you can collect ideas in a separate list. If an idea is used for a social media post, it is deleted from the backlog. This way, you always have input if creativity should ever run out when creating new posts. At the same time, you don't lose any good ideas.
In a calendar view, you can also see which dates have to be observed and when. For example, note important public holidays, action days and commemorative days on which you want to post appropriately true to the theme.
It is also possible to establish connections between contributions. For example, should content on a topic be published several times? In the social media plan, you define to what extent the posts should be similar or not. Do you have a message that users should internalise? Or is each post independent of the others and surprising with new content?
A customisable social media plan template additionally helps you to analyse the past quarter, year or month. What was done on which of your channels and with what success? How can you align the plan and your strategies even better in the future?
What are the social media strategies?
Take a look at different social media strategies that your plan or template of choice should reflect:
- Brand awareness: Your goal is to gain better insight into your existing and new target groups. The better you know them, the more subscribers you will gain for your channel.
- Customer relationship: You need data that reflects what your followers think about your brand. What do they want? Is it even better customer support? Should there be more events or are helpful how-to videos in demand? Align your social media content accordingly.
- Lead generation and sales: How do you need to phrase your posts so that a person clicks on the link in your bio? How many posts about one of your products does a user need to see before they are ready to buy? A good social media plan template helps to analyse and improve your marketing strategy.
- Recommendations from customers: You want customers to become ambassadors. In this case, engagement under your social media posts is the most important thing. People should link other users in the comments. Likes also help you to be remembered. An active action, such as clicking on the Like button, makes the difference between a channel that has fallen asleep and helpful, funny, or entertaining content that is willingly recommended to others.
No matter which social media strategy you pursue: a social media plan created by yourself or based on a template will help you plan and implement it.
How to create your social media plan - with or without a template
Before you start creating your social media plan, you should set the framework and scope:
- How often do you plan to post?
- Do you operate one or more social media channels?
- Should task management be possible with the plan?
- Is it simple posts or more extensive social media campaigns?
Then it's time to choose the tool that supports your plan. Read more about possible social media plan templates and programmes below.
What is the minimum content of a social media plan template?
When you create the social media plan (with or without a template) it is about mapping and supporting the workflow of your content team. A good plan should include at least the following points:
- Publication date
- Deadline
- Topic
- Description
- Responsible
- Content (text and image/video)
- Channel
- Content format
- Processing status
Tools to create your social media plan template
Various tools are suitable for creating the social media plan template. Choose between a spreadsheet programme, social media manager or an intelligent list solution.
Social Media Plan Template with Excel or Google Docs
One simple way is to create a template for the social media plan in Excel or Google Docs. You create a new sheet for each month, which contains a table. Here you link to further documents such as briefings and enter content directly into the list.
On the internet you will find numerous social media plan templates for the two best-known tools. The advantage: employees can work with a programme they are familiar with and get started immediately. The disadvantage of Excel and Co. The disadvantage of Excel and Co. is that the lists are cumbersome to edit, not very flexible and the interface is not very user-friendly or appealing.
Planning in the social media management tool
You have another option in social media plan creation with programmes like Hootsuite or CoSchedule. These come directly from social media management and are therefore aligned with content planning.
You choose a tariff and work your way into the tool. With Hootsuite, for example, you start with €39 per month and one user. The big advantage of social media management tools is that you can both plan and post directly on social media. So you save yourself one step.
Social Media Plan Template in SeaTable
Next, there are intelligent list solutions like SeaTable. Content can be entered directly in the tables. You can also attach images and documents such as briefings or video scripts.
Social Media Plan Template © SeaTable
In a calendar view, you get an overview of all tasks with deadlines. On the Kanban board, you can manage the tasks and, for example, move them from "idea backlog" to "planned" to "in progress" and "done". A gallery view helps you to align posts and find them again more easily.
At SeaTable, you get the template for your social media plan just described in the free version. You register online and get started immediately. In the Plus version for €7 per user per month or the Enterprise version for €14 per user per month, you get more shares, a larger memory and more.
Conclusion
With a social media marketing strategy, you can realise the full potential of your channels. You will be able to plan ahead and target your audience with targeted content.
A social media plan helps you implement the marketing strategy. Automate your processes, inspire your followers and work better together as a team from now on.
Image source Cover image: © mizar_21984/Adobe Stock
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