Why a content plan is necessary for social networking
Effective brand promotion in social networks is impossible without such a concept as a content plan. After all, it is not only an effective content management tool but also a good time-saving assistant. Creating a content plan for a month can take as little as 1-2 days, but it can provide insurance against unforeseen situations and prevent “downtime” in posting to the brand’s pages.
A content plan will also prevent basic social media mistakes from being made. For example, on Instagram, companies often forget that users go to the social network to have fun and “attack” subscribers’ feeds with sales posts. In between, 1-2 entertaining or informative posts can get lost and go unnoticed by potential customers. By maintaining a balance in your posts, your brand can both retain your audience and attract new ones. A content plan helps a brand organize its posts and find its balance.
In addition, a detailed content plan will keep the page from sitting idle. The capricious algorithms of social networks, especially Instagram, require regular posts. Otherwise, the page will fall in the ranking, the posts will appear less frequently and at the end of the feed.
To create a quality content plan, you first need to make a list of ideas for posts. It is important to take into account the theme and goals of the page, as well as the main TA. Such ideas include the following:
- a story about the products offered: benefits, applications, features, news;
- promotions and discounts;
- quizzes, surveys, giveaways;
- brand news;
- backstage – a story about how the brand works or how the goods are produced;
- live broadcasts with company representatives, and communication with subscribers.
Organizing ideas into topics and headings helps structure the information. This will help you distinguish between entertaining and selling posts.
The best way to create a content plan is in the form of a spreadsheet with fields containing the following information: the date and time the post was published, the page (feed or story), the type of post (entertainment or sales), the topic and description, hashtags, and the geotag. When compiling the table, it would be useful to add a finished and edited image. This way, all the work is done in advance and the post is practically ready to be published.
It’s worth noting that when creating a content plan, it’s very important to consider the target audience. It is necessary to describe in detail the portrait of the potential customer whom the article should attract. It is important to specify gender, age, profession, location, marital status, interests, hobbies, and other factors. This way, the message is sure to reach the right audience and the brand will find new loyal customers.
The frequency of posts is unique to each brand. It can be determined over time through observation and experimentation. These two factors will also help determine what types of posts and platforms (stories or feeds) the TA prefers.