Want a Better Small Business Social Network? Build a Marketing Calendar

When it comes to building a social network marketing campaign for a small business, a content calendar will be essential.

Social media marketing is about as old as social media. But if there is one thing to keep in mind about the kind of content that goes on a social media calendar, it is knowing how and when to communicate with your target audience. We’ve spoken already about reaching out to audiences in real time over social networks, but your small business marketing will benefit from having a content calendar as well, and importantly by consistently keeping on it.

Check out our tips on how best to use a content calendar for your small business, from building one for yourself to utilizing it.

Creating a Social Network Marketing Calendar for a Small Business

Understanding how to create a social network marketing campaign is intuitive, but keeping to a schedule could be critical for a small business. A content calendar not only keeps you to a timetable, but sets the information about branding and social media language that you’ll be using for your company.

A content calendar should be manageable, but well scheduled. Social media scheduling platforms like SEMrush or Hootsuite are essential, but they still require human creativity along with their tools. Your small business’s marketing team will need to determine the content that will go onto your social network calendars, and how to brand that content. But remember—it needs to be scheduled and maintained. If you fall behind, you suffer in the long run. Sprout Social writer Sarah Aboulhosn discusses this in a post about social media calendar building.

Where and What to Schedule

This isn’t a question just about scheduling; you’ll also need to consider where you’re going to send your content. This involves identifying your target audience and knowing how and when to reach them. Determining this will involve social listening and branding skills, which can be time consuming but are necessary to do the job well.

These steps are also important when figuring out the kind of content to aim towards your audience. You’ll want to balance your self-promotion with your audience engagement. It’s a good idea to follow the 80/20 rule as a practice: 80% original content, 20% promotion. Plus, every social media platform has its own customs and needs. For more information about these ideas, Constant Contact’s blog has some good pointers.

Why Content Calendars Matter

Social Pilot’s site has a smart guide to some of the reasons that social network marketing calendars can help all small businesses. To summarize their points, it comes down to the following:

1. Keep yourself organized and scheduled, as well as preparing for the future
2. Remain consistent and on-brand in your content marketing
3. Engage with your audience properly
4. Stay on-top of analytical information in the long run

To Summarize:

Here are the takeaways to keep in mind.

• A content calendar can help your small business marketing target the audience and social networks that you need most
• You’ll be able to plan your scheduling in the long run while also learning more about your audiences
• You can keep track of the important social listening and analytical performance of your social media campaigns.

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