A practical guide to social media content planning for small businesses

Small enterprises nowadays are doomed. They lack the manpower and funds necessary to effectively control sponsored media, and they can’t afford to ignore organic growth.

But they do have one thing left: free, massively distributed social media. Greater than 3.6 billion individuals will have used social media by 2020. The figure will rise to more than $4.41 billion by 2025.

And in 2021, a Harris Poll commissioned by SproutSocial found that 43% of customers had used social media to look for a product and 36% had used it to make a purchase.

Thus, the ideal way for a small business to promote itself and sell its wares online is through social networking. There is, however, a well-known “but.”

However, content is king if you want to dominate social media. You need material that is pertinent, relatable, consistent, and tailored to your business.

But how can I always come up with fresh material for my social media accounts?

By developing and implementing an appropriate content strategy for social media!

To increase your social media following and establish your brand as an industry leader, you need a plan for consistently producing high-quality content.

There is no longer any need to worry. If you’re having trouble coming up with content for your monthly social media calendar, this guide will show you the finest tactics and examples. Therefore, let’s get going.

Strategies for creating engaging material for social media

Today, companies in every industry may benefit from using social media to connect with customers. Lead generation, client connection building, and product sales are all areas in which B2B companies benefit greatly from the use of social media.

Gaining traction on social networking sites just takes creating material that is both fresh and engaging. It may appear simple to just whip up a few posts, blast them over your social media accounts, and wait for the inquiries to roll in.

Well, my friend, the truth isn’t quite that pleasant. Putting up stuff online has zero effect in the actual world. If you want to succeed in the modern world, you need a social media content plan.

This is the road map for developing your social media content strategy:

Put together a strategy

Creating an account on Facebook or publishing an image to Instagram is a quick and easy process. However, what comes next?

Which writing style will you choose for your content? Approximately how frequently do you plan to update your social media accounts? What kind of social media resources do you require?

In order to establish yourself as an authoritative figure in your social circle, you must first answer a number of questions. As a result, it is helpful to put your social media content plan down on paper.

Because just 32% of firms have a defined social media strategy, having a well-documented plan for your social media content will offer you an edge.

Follow these steps to develop engaging content for your social media profiles:

Create a list of SMART objectives

Set your sights using a SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely) plan of action. You shouldn’t go after social media engagement for its own sake. You need to make some attainable plans for the future of your company. Examples include increasing the rate of conversion or signing up new consumers.

Study the competition

Review the social media accounts of your rivals to get a sense of the market’s preferred content format. You may learn from your rivals’ websites how to improve your own content by seeing what kind of material they are publishing and finding out what kind of audience they have.

Conduct a content audit of your social media accounts

This is the perfect opportunity to take a step back and assess the stuff you’ve been posting on social media. Using this data, you may determine which writing style or tone your readers preferred. Did increasing your audience size with Facebook live streaming or by making Instagram highlights better?

Assisting in a social conversation by listening

The greatest approach to understand your audience’s thoughts is through social listening. To develop a targeted social content marketing plan, you should first familiarise yourself with the comments, audience accounts, and direct interactions on your various social media platforms and use that data as a jumping off point.

Set up a schedule for your social media posts

To ensure that the appropriate material is shared on the appropriate social media platform at the appropriate time, it is crucial to create a social media calendar. An organised social media calendar is essential for generating enough consistent social material on so many platforms.

Choose a collection of social media profiles

Today, new social networking sites are sprouting up like popcorn. Various online social networking sites, both domestic and international in scope, are at your disposal.

It’s crucial in today’s social media landscape to locate and develop a set of channels that works best for your company. There are two main points to keep in mind while choosing your social media outlets of choice:

You, your services, and the people you’re trying to reach

Use material created by your audience

It’s challenging to always come up with fresh content ideas and adapt them to fit various social media channels. It’s not simple to maintain an active presence across several social media platforms, especially without a devoted social media team.

Now there’s an effortless way to come up with fresh material for your social media accounts. If you want to get content without having to do it yourself, just ask your audience.

If you already have a sizable following on social media, you may use the UGC method to interact with them and solicit original material at no cost. You’ll come out ahead either way.

Content assisted by visuals

There is no longer a place on social media for straightforward writing. Today, establishing a distinct brand identity is impossible without the help of visual material.

In addition, by employing graphics, you may create your own own brand identity by using various colours, typefaces, and other components.

Demonstrate and sell

To put it simply, this is the optimal social media content approach. You may easily market your product by showing folks a demonstration of it.

Plated has adopted this social media technique to become the industry standard in the meal kit market. Based in the United States and made famous by the television show Shark Tank, Plated was established in 2012.