Social media can be overwhelming – even for me! There are so many platforms, so many ‘rules’, so much conflicting advice that it’s so hard to know where to even start.
Well, it all starts with a plan!
Why a plan is important
Without a plan, it’s easy to find yourself staring at that “What’s on your mind” box and your mind is blank. You don’t know what to post, you can’t think of anything to share, you don’t want to just do another post just for the sake of it – but you know you haven’t posted for too long. That feeling is horrible.
A plan doesn’t have to involve posting every day, but by knowing what you’re going to post, when and why, you can relax on the days you’re not posting. You don’t have that horrible feeling anymore because you know that quality content is on it’s way!
To be honest, if that was the only benefit of having a plan, I’d still recommend it. But actually, a plan is even more than that.
When you create a plan, you’re making sure your audience is getting regular, diverse and quality content. They aren’t getting bombarded by salesy posts, but equally, they are being reminded that you are a business and have something to sell.
It comes down to this: are you clear on why someone should hit that follow button? When you’ve got a plan, that question is easier to answer – and if you can’t answer it, how can you expect a stranger to?
A plan isn’t a commitment
The best social media plan is a flexible one. Sometimes your evergreen posts get pushed back to make room for time-sensitive news. Sometimes you plan to go to an event and create content there, but the event gets cancelled. Sometimes you simply change your mind – and that’s OK!
A lot of small business owners tell me that they don’t want a social media plan because they like posting in the moment. And, I do completely understand that! Sharing your thoughts, concerns, excitement and joy as you experience them can create really genuine posts. But, the reality is, you don’t have to choose one or the other. You can have a plan and still share in the moment – in fact, when you’ve got a plan to fall back on, in the moment posts are even more powerful!!
Where to get started
You don’t want to replace the time you’re currently spending staring at that “What’s on your mind” box with time spend staring at a blank calendar. By the time you go for that calendar, all the hard work is done and you just need to slot all your ideas together. But you also don’t want to end staring at an empty “Post Ideas” list!
A social media plan starts with looking at what is and isn’t working with your audience, with setting yourself targets and challenges, and with reminding yourself why this is important.
Then, you want to consider what your audience has been asking you, what you’ve got coming up that could be interesting, what trends you want to hop on.
Your social media plan is going to be unique – not just to your industry, but to your business, to your audience, to your abilities and to your goals.
Need some help?
Check out this mini-course! It’s designed to guide small business owners like yourself to create a powerful 4-week social media plan. It includes a printable worksheet and a walk-through video so you can do it in your own time, at your own pace, and hitting pause as many times as you need.
Thanks for reading! I share a blog like this one every other Tuesday, and if you feel like they help your social media presence, and more importantly, your business – then please consider leaving a tip.
Every time this tip jar reaches £15, I’ll run a giveaway on social media so a small business can access my membership group for two months.
Tesni xx
