Whether you are just getting started on social media or you are looking to revamp your overall process, an editorial calendar is an absolute must. An editorial calendar is used to keep track of your planned posts on your social media sites so as to avoid writer’s block. It doesn’t matter if you’re adding videos to YouTube or photos to Instagram, an editorial calendar will help you get the job done effectively. To get started, create an editorial calendar with the following features.
1. Post Topic
First and foremost, we recommend making a column for “Post Topic”. One of the easiest ways to begin your editorial calendar is by outlining a variety of topics and spreading them throughout the month. Popular topics include:
- Original Content: Blogs, News Releases and Infographics
- Curated Content: Articles and Memes
- Events
- Office Culture and Community Involvement
- Helpful Tips
- Services and Products
2. Date
Once you have your topics outlined and you have an understanding of how many posts you want per week, you can start specifying posts by date. If you know that you want to do a quote every Monday for #MotivationMonday, specify that in your calendar. Don’t forget to add in relevant holidays as well.
3. Content
After your basic outline is completed, you can start creating actual content. Since you likely won’t be scheduling posts more than a month in advance, this content is not set in stone. You can always create content now and re-visit it later in the month.
4. Link
Do your articles or service posts have targeted links? Don’t forget to include these in a separate column on your calendar! We also recommend using a link shortener, such as Bit.ly or TinyURL, to shorten your links. And if your post requires tracking capabilities, create a UTM code so that you can measure proper results in Google Analytics.
5. Image
We recommend including an image in all of your posts (with the exception of video posts). Posts with images are much more engaging than those without. For each post in your editorial calendar, specify the image that you will upload. And don’t forget that recommended dimensions vary by social network and are constantly changing!
Now it’s time to start scheduling posts – aren’t you happy you created your editorial calendar? If you’re using a program like Excel or Google Sheets, you may want to create extra columns to keep track of stats for each post. If you need assistance setting up or managing your social media editorial calendar, contact Informatics Inc. today.
