Have you started thinking about your 2021 social media plan?
Whether you have been saying for months now that you need to get active on social media or you’ve been posting for years, now is the time to put the building blocks in place.
So, what can you do to create a social media plan?
1. Determine your social media platform(s)
If you’re just starting out, pick one platform. Consider what platform enables you to easily find your ideal client, start conversations with them, and supports your content creation style. For example, if you don’t enjoy creating videos, then picking a platform like TikTok or YouTube may not be your best bet. This seems obvious, but you would be surprised how many peple get caught up thinking they need to be on a certain platform or create a certain type of content (i.e. video content) in order to see success.
2. Create a schedule for your social media efforts
Determine how often you are going to post and block out time on your calendar to brainstorm content, create the content, edit the content, post the content, and engage with others. Just simply posting the content is not enough. Creating a schedule that plans for all of these activities are crucial to your success on social media.
That being said, make sure the schedule you create is realistic. How frequently you need to post varies on the platform and the person providing the advice, but a good rule of thumb to start is posting 3x per week.
3. Brainstorm social media content
A lot of times coming up with content is one of the hardest things about staying consistent on social media.
Here are a few ways that you can avoid running out of content ideas:
- Keep a saved note on your phone that lists out content ideas. Anytime you have a spark of inspiration for content, add it to your list. Maybe it’s just me, but typically the best ideas come to me when I’m not at my computer “trying to be creative.”
- Write out all the common questions you’re asked. Creating Q&A type content is always a great go-to option!
- Put a timer on for a set amount of time and see how many content ideas you can come up with. This goes against my point above; however, I’m competitive and like to do this exercise with others to see who can win (lol!).
- Review previously created content and see if you can repurpose it. This includes content where you were a guest speaker or guest writer. For example, is there a podcast you were on that you could cut up and share as posts on social media?
- Consider utilizing themed days. Some people love having themed days to simplify posting during the week. For example, you could do “Fun Fact Friday” or “Wealthy Tips Wednesday.”
4. Create your social media content
So, you know what platform you’ll be posting on, you have your schedule, you have brainstormed some ideas, now it is time to create your content.
If you’ve done a good job at steps #1 – #3, this part should be easy.
For posting content, it’s important to be aware of the time of day and what day you’re posting your content. Just think about what type of content you’re looking to consume on a Monday morning versus a Friday afternoon; it’s probably different, right? Be sure to keep the context of your reader in mind when posting.
Creating content and staying consistent on social media takes time and effort; however, with the right plan, the required time and effort you have to invest could be much less than you ever thought possible! Book your appointment for more information here.
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Author Information:
Katie Thomas, CPA
Connect with Katie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiethomascpa/
Business inquiries should be emailed to: katie@leaders-online.com
