Social media platforms have become essential channels that allow businesses of all sizes to post relevant, enticing, and engaging content to interact with their target audience. On the surface, it may seem easy to plan and create content that needs to be posted on your social media channels. However, the risk of such content pieces not driving enough traction and growth can be worrisome. 

If these thoughts have crossed your mind, you are not alone. While many brands can easily determine what type of content to publish to get valuable backlinks for their websites to rank high using competitor backlink checker tools, the dynamics change significantly in the case of social media. Without careful planning and strategising, your social media presence will fall short of achieving the goals you have in mind. 

Here is how to plan your social media content as a beginner and tap into your desired audience pool:

1. Identify Your Target Platform and Audience

Where is your content going to get posted? Will it be on Instagram or X (formerly Twitter) or on Pinterest? Asking yourself this question is important as it helps determine the nature of the content you must focus on creating. 

For instance, reels on Instagram can help gain traction. At the same time, infographics and GIFs work well on X. Different social media platforms have their own algorithm, and publishing the same content on them may not get the results you are working for. 

Instead, spend time determining platforms where your target audience spends most of their time and the intent of content they are looking for. This understanding will help create content that is relevant, hits the sweet spot, and drives desired results. 

2. Create a Social Media Calendar 

Creating content shouldn’t be an eleventh-hour task. Instead, it should be a well-planned process to ensure all trending and upcoming ideas or information are carefully incorporated into the plan. 

A social media calendar can be immensely helpful in ensuring all the content pieces that will be posted over the course of the week (or even a month) are clearly laid out for review. 

Doing so also helps make last-minute adjustments in existing strategies easier and less time-consuming. It is highly recommended to keep some room to add trending content to ensure no existing content ideas are wasted. 

Your brand doesn’t need to post regularly; instead, posting 2-3 days a week with the highest-quality content can be immensely beneficial in gaining brand traction and awareness. The key is to be consistent with your content. 

3. Devote Time for Maintenance

Your brand’s social media presence is a reflection of its core values, the work you do, and the commitment to your customers. A poorly kept social media profile can give out mixed (often negative) signals, making it challenging for your potential customers to believe in your brand’s authenticity. 

Social media is also seen as a form of social proof, establishing the credibility of the brand in question. To ensure your profile always reflects what your brand stands for, consider investing time in maintaining it over the long run. 

For instance, replying to messages, addressing any pressing issues mentioned in the comments, and removing bot followers are easy yet effective ways to keep your social media presence impeccable. 

4. Track Progress And Evaluate Key Performance Indicators

As much as consistently posting content is important to ensure you are not losing out on engagement, it is equally vital to monitor the key metrics’ performance. This will give you insight into how your current strategy is working and if there are any areas that need improvement. 

Without understanding how your content resonates with your target audience, it can become immensely challenging to plan a long-term strategy. Planning a long term strategy requires careful consideration of what has worked in the past, what failed, and what has the potential to propel your business. 

Some metrics worth tracking include follower growth rate, audience size, reply time, total response volume, customer satisfaction score, impressions, reach, conversion rate, referral traffic, and audience sentiment. As a brand with a social media presence, social listening should be a regular part of your research and analysis practice. 

5. Research New Information and Ideas

It is common to run out of ideas after a while, but hitting a dead end in your social media journey can result in stagnancy in growth and performance. To prevent this from happening, consider investing time and resources (research tools) to understand your customer’s behaviour. 

What inspires them? What are their areas of interest? And what are they expecting to see? Competitor analysis is a great way to find ideas, and reframing them from your brand’s point of view can be immensely helpful in continuously introducing fresh content. 

Another way could be to look at brands you take inspiration from and determine what they are doing differently. This can be immensely helpful in creating a reservoir of ideas that never runs dry. Hold on to new and innovative ideas and build upon them for future marketing campaigns. 

Some brands even consider data from their SEO research to create trending content that can be combined with their content marketing strategy. Make sure you are not refraining from experimenting with ideas. 

Bottomline

Over the years, social media has become a tool for businesses to create and interact with their target audience in a straightforward and informal way. These platforms also allow brands to show their expertise in the field by sharing bite-sized information pieces. 

That said, being new to social media platforms can be challenging, especially since the landscape is constantly evolving. By determining who your audience is, the intent of the content you want to post, and consistently tracking performance, you can create a social media brand presence that’s rewarding and exciting to work for.