A Social Media Calendar: 5 Reasons Your Brand Needs This

Building and maintaining a successful business is and always has been a difficult task. But the task can be made simpler by using all of the latest resources that are at your disposal. And these resources don’t always have to be expensive.

Social media calendars are one of the most effective – and inexpensive – ways that businesses have improved performance over the last decade.

Of course, businesses using social media is nothing new. Brands of all sizes have been effectively communicating with consumers on social media for quite some time. No matter the industry, there is little doubt that social media plays a significant role in your marketing efforts. 

But, the way that many businesses use social media is becoming increasingly outdated. 

The landscape for marketing on social media is everchanging, and that is why it is critical for businesses to adapt in order to succeed. The occasional post promoting a new sale or product is no longer as effective as it used to be. Just take a look at what’s been happening with the precipitous decline of television ads. 

Time’s are changing, and it’s crucial to remain a step ahead.

It’s Time To Develop a Social Media Calendar

Fortunately, there are hundreds of free or inexpensive solutions out there. A social media calendar can even be created using something as simple as a Google Sheets. (Feel free to schedule a complimentary consultation with one of our team members if you’d like help identifying what options are best for you.)

At the end of the day, it’s simple. You need something to plan out social media messages and schedule posts in advance across social media platforms. 

With the use of a calendar, you can have all your plans for social media marketing laid out ahead of time, making your life that much easier. 

You may be thinking that social media calendars are just for huge corporations, with a social media manager and a whole team of social media-savvy millennials dedicated to social media marketing. But this could not be further from the truth.

Every business, no matter how small, can greatly improve their performance with the use of a calendar for social media. 

Perhaps you’re already using calendars for social media. This is great! You should then already know how increasing the quality of your existing calendar can bring about significant results. 

For the rest of you, or for those who could use a refresher,

Here are five reasons why your business needs a social media calendar:

1. Quality Takes Time

If you’ve worked to build your own business, this should come as no surprise to you. Crafting something that is high quality takes time. Today’s social media users are savvy, and can detect when your social media posts are lacking in effort. Customers want to know you care and are working hard to acquire their business. 

So, deciding to craft a social media post at the last minute is not going to fly. After all, it is rare that you create something successful on your first try. Creating content that is engaging is the same way. 

When you create a social media content calendar, you are planning for the future. With lots of time ahead of you, you are able to think carefully about what you are going to post, and can revise and improve your content before it goes live. 

2. Just Like Any Other Part Of Your Business

As social media becomes increasingly integrated into our daily lives and the way we do business, we need to view social media marketing as the essential business function that it is. 73% of marketers view their social media marketing efforts are “somewhat effective” or “very effective” for their business. The success of a modern business is heavily dependent on the way it presents on social media. You should take every step to ensure that it is done properly. 

Budget forecasts for your business are done a year or a quarter in advance. After all, doing this every day would be cumbersome. You plan ahead for every other aspect of your business, so why not social?

With a content calendar you are planning ahead and fine tuning an essential part of your business, just like you are with all your other business functions. 

3. Plan To Capitalize On Special Occasions 

One of the major benefits of social media calendars is that they allow you to look ahead. If there are any holidays or special occasions coming up, see if these can be tactfully and respectfully leveraged. 

When special events or holidays occur, they get people talking on social media and could create a trending topic. These events can be very engaging for your audience. Being prepared with a post that celebrates the special occasion and promotes your brand significantly boosts awareness of your company. 

Without looking ahead, you may cost your business a huge opportunity to promote itself. You may catch wind of people engaging around a certain event on social media, but by the time you come up with a post to commemorate it you are too late and people have moved on. 

Looking ahead to various events and holidays can help you to find a day that actually applies to your business. Are you familiar with anybody that celebrates National Cut Your Energy Costs Day? Or National Peanut Butter Day? Probably not, but there are strange holidays like these throughout the year, and if they apply to your business in some way you could be poised to dramatically increase your brand awareness. 

4. Consistency Is Everything

When engaging with consumers on social media, consistency is incredibly important. Data show that companies which publish more than 16 posts a month generate 3.5 times more traffic than those which publish less than 4 per month. 

But coming up with a high volume of social media posts can be difficult. And this is yet another reasons having a social media calendar becomes so helpful. When you are planning out your social media posts well in advance, you have plenty of time to think about and plan lots of social content. So with a calendar, you can easily stay on top of the high volume of posts required to generate traffic and encourage sharing in consumers’ social networks. 

5. Reduce Risk

With a social media calendar, you can help ensure that no costly errors are made. Because its’ planned out, each of the posts that you create have plenty of time to be reviewed and tweaked. When you are hurrying to come up with a post, it is possible that your post has typos or maybe even misses the mark and causes consumers to turn against you. Everything should have a second set of eyes, or a set of fresh eyes, looking it over. 

One particularly notorious example of poor social media marketing was Burger King’s International Women’s Day tweet. An ill-conceived attempt at a provocative tweet by the Burger King UK Twitter account was grossly misogynistic, and the company has been suffering backlash for it. 

Social media errors like these can seriously harm a business’s bottom line. These errors are much less likely to happen when you have a calendar. This tool allows for multiple people to screen social media posts and think about them for a period of time before they go live, decreasing the chance of a bad social media post making it out. 

Take the Next Step

You may be convinced that a calendar for social media is the right thing for your business, but are unsure where to start. The expert team members at Noble House Media Group can help you get a high quality calendar up and running in no time. Our social media team will provide you with custom graphics for professional looking posts, supply well-written, on-brand text, and assist in producing a social media calendar template that you can use moving forward. 

We at Noble House set specific, actionable goals for your business. Every step that we take is focused on maximizing the ROI of your social media strategy. And although we have an expert in-house team, collaboration with you is a top priority. We find that you will be much more satisfied with our work when you have input. 

For more information about how Noble House Media can help provide you with a high quality content calendar, check out other blog posts or content on our website or call (203) 903-1225.