- August 23, 2015
- Posted by: Con P. Sweeney
- Category: Social Media
Recently, I’ve been working with a client on developing his social media program.
We came to the part about preparing an editorial calendar.
(An editorial calendar is a schedule of content to be prepared and posted in social media showing key tasks and dates in its preparation. An editorial calendar can be as detailed and go out as far in time as a user is comfortable with.)
This is the part where many of my clients seem to suddenly develop commitment phobia and go for a short timeline and few tasks and dates.
My recent client threw me and took the bull by the horns and said he wants his editorial calendar to be for one year matching the business cycle of his actual and prospective clients and has some very specific, and in my opinion very good ideas, about how he wants to run his editorial calendar.
I was and am still so happy!
He gets it!
Being a financial adviser, my client has an excellent opportunity to prepare content that will match the needs and interests of his own clients during a typical fiscal year.
Many people who realize that they should be using social media, know that they should use it, and want to use it have a difficult time with understanding the importance of laying out a plan for preparing their content and the opportunity that they have in mapping this to their actual and prospective clients.
Why is this so important?
For starters, writing content is much easier when you know what you have to write and not experience writer’s block as your posting deadline approaches and you still don’t know what to write about.
Your research and other steps such as interviews and preparing graphics are less stressful and rushed.
You can plan content that is of interest to your community increasing the likelihood of its being reshared and leading to more business.
By posting relevant and timely content in your social media you’re demonstrating that you’re a credible subject matter expert (SME) in your particular area of expertise.
Once you have an editorial calendar in place don’t forget some best practices for posting content on social media.
Repost your content regularly. (Which means it should be evergreen or content that maintains its relevancy for some time.)
Reshare the content of others.
You’ll never be able to write enough content all by yourself and you enhance your reputation as an SME by displaying your familiarity with the work of other influencers in your area of expertise.
Employ multiple social media channels and adapt your content accordingly.
Post 7 X 24 because you’ll be surprised who follows you globally. (I know I am!)
Post periodically. Don’t leave your community wondering if you’re still alive! (Don’t laugh, I’ve seen it happen!)
Remember, especially in the early days of establishing yourself, that your content is all that most will see of you!
Lead with your best foot!
Finally, don’t forget to reply to those who comment or reach out to you!
For more on editorial calendars and developing a social media program check out my 8 step approach in my blog. That’s it for now!
In the meantime, thank you for following and reading my blog!
I look forward to any and all comments that you may have. I will reply to any comments made to this blog post as promptly as I can.
Remember!
I do this for a living and if I can be of any assistance to either you or your organization, please feel free to call on me. Our initial discussion will be of no charge to you.
I can also be reached at conpsweeney@someddi.com.
My Twitter handle is @conpsweeney.
Stay well!