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Why Should a Small Business Use a Social Media Editorial Calendar?

By on June 12, 2012

We all know that social media has become one of the most effective tools in small business marketing. It’s a great way to spread marketing messages across wide audiences.  However, like any other marketing strategy, social media campaigns take time and planning if they’re going to be done right.

A social media plan has a much higher chance of success if it includes a social media editorial calendar. Plus, it will make things much easier for you in the long run!

A social media editorial calendar is exactly what it sounds like; it’s a schedule of what kind of content will be published across various social media channels.  Some small businesses might think such a calendar is unnecessary or even burdensome, but there are several benefits to implementing and maintaining a social media editorial calendar.

A unified approach to content marketing

Marketing strategies combine short-term tactics with long-term goals.  Oftentimes the goal is to raise awareness of the business, and increase sales or convert customers.  However, when social media messages are produced and delivered with no context or goal in mind, there’s a chance that some messages will seem inconsistent with earlier messages or completely unrelated to the business.

A social media editorial calendar helps small businesses keep their content focused on a unified message, without losing sight of business goals.  With more consistent and relevant messaging, social media becomes that much more effective as a marketing channel.

Good planning prevents repetition

Social Media Time ManagementWhen a small business posts on social media several times a day, they might end up repeating messages, links, or whole blocks of text from earlier posts.  Of course, no one likes seeing the same thing over and over on their Facebook or Twitter newsfeed!

A social media editorial calendar helps the business deliver unique messages  when it’s supposed to.

A more integrated social media strategy

Like other marketing channels, social media doesn’t occur in a bubble.  It’s part of a broader, integrated marketing strategy, where each channel is used in tandem with all other channels to reach current and potential customers at every possible touch point.  A social media editorial calendar helps create better synergy between social media and all these other channels.

If a small business wants to increase conversions, for example, it would synchronize the content it delivers via email, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.  Without a schedule, this is hard to do.  But a social media editorial calendar, especially one that dovetails with other calendars, helps a business deliver all its content with precision timing.

Easier to measure results

Tools like Google Analytics and Facebook Page Insights are invaluable for small businesses that want to know exactly how well their online marketing campaigns are performing.  However, despite the dramatically shorter sales cycle online marketing delivers, some responses lag the actual message by a few days or even a few weeks.  In those instances, campaigns are easier to measure when they’re reviewed alongside a social media editorial calendar.

The calendar would include every message the business sent.  With that data, businesses can see how much time passed between the message and the response, which provides useful insight that makes optimization more effective.

Traditional calendars are essential to helping people juggle multiple tasks and stay on schedule.  Social media editorial calendars work the same way, keeping social media – and the business using it – on time and on message.

About Kimberly Mango

Fashion designer, chicken farmer, blogger, artist, and Leading Lady at eDetroit. @kimdetroit