What is an editorial calendar exactly?
An editorial calendar is an important tool for all the people who need to deal with social media. Indeed, it is a planning tool that can help you prepare your content. Gather together all your ideas in the same place in order to always have something to talk about. It is also relevant to do some research to know all the holidays and the special days. You can also check what other businesses do. It will then be easier to find ideas for your social media content.
This tool is often made up of a calendar. You can always use online platforms like Hootsuite or Buffer, Facebook’s business manager, or even a sheet of paper or an Excel spreadsheet. Furthermore, most social media platforms allow you to prepare social media publications directly on their site.
What are the advantages of using an editorial calendar?
Before saying that you do not have the time to create an editorial calendar for your social media, please note that it is a tool that can help you save a lot of time. Indeed, avoid wasting your time by knowing exactly what and when to publish your content. You will not be under pressure to find new ideas since everything will be already planned. Take a few hours to prepare all your content during a specific period of time. At the end of the year, you will have gained a lot of productivity.
Also, if many people work on your social media, an editorial calendar can be relevant because you will all have access to the same information. For example, you can plan some content about a specific topic and add that you are waiting for the visuals. You can also mention that the publication is on hold or ready to be published.
An editorial calendar can also help you publish better content. As the calendar elements are prepared in advance, you will have plenty of time to do some research and find great ideas. You can also decide when it is the best time to publish on social media. Do not forget that it is better to publish your content when your community is online.
A few tips on how to create an efficient editorial calendar
If you want to create an editorial calendar but do not know where to start, here are some tips to help you.
-
What are your goals?
Before starting to find new ideas for your content, ask yourself what your goals are regarding your social media. Do you want to inform, teach, entertain, or sell? Why would people want to follow your pages? What can you offer them? Therefore, ask yourself how many publications you want to create and which social media platform you would like to use. Of course, it is important to keep in mind that you must choose relevant social media. Once again, it is better to create great content than a lot of different content. If needed, you can also create a buyer persona and look for trends regarding your target audience.
-
Find your main themes
It is recommended to find the main themes of your social media content. Now that you know more about the people you want to target or the platforms you want to use, ask yourself what type of content could be relevant. For example, you can create tutorials or funny videos, share a blog article or a useful resource, give a piece of advice, publish an infographic or a photo… Keep a certain uniformity. You could publish a video every Tuesday and a different type of content every Friday.
-
Find all special events
Special events should be at the center of your editorial calendar, whether it is a holiday or an important moment for your business. Although helping you find ideas, special events are easy to use and mention on social media. Of course, since there are dozens of holidays and special days, we suggest you use only the relevant ones for your business. For example, if you own a pizza restaurant, there is probably a special day for pizza or Italian cuisine. Take the time to get all the information you need and add it to your editorial calendar.
-
Note down all the ideas
Since you never know when you will have a great idea, stay tuned, and note down everything you have in mind. This will help you create your editorial calendar. Moreover, it could be interesting to monitor what other businesses do regarding their social media and understand the needs of your target audience. Remember that your social media content must be useful.
If you think that you are not a creative person, know that you can work on it. Take a look at our tips on how to be more creative on a daily basis.
-
Check the results
Finally, it is always important to check your campaign’s results and statistics regarding your social media. This way, it will be easier to see which type of content is the most effective and modify your editorial calendar in consequence. Of course, it is recommended that you choose the type of content that works best for your business, but do not hesitate to follow trends and try new things from time to time.
In conclusion, you will indeed have some work to do (find ideas, monitor, and research); however, it will be easier to manage your social media if you create an editorial calendar. Regarding WebSelf, our community manager starts by creating her editorial calendar on a piece of paper with all her ideas. Then, she transfers everything on an online tool. If you are interested in social media management, you can discover 9 tips from our community manager. Good luck finding great ideas!