A content plan is a detailed schedule for publishing future posts. It is compiled even before the texts are written and the work on the account as a whole is done. Having a good plan is the basis for the successful maintenance of a page or group. A content plan is convenient to keep in a table format. Prescribe the types of posts, names of topics, dates of publications, and the rest. With such a tool, marketers are much easier to work with. In addition, high efficiency in maintaining the profile is achieved.
Having a content plan is a prerequisite for effective promotion on Instagram. Even the most well-thought-out strategy for promoting a product on the Internet can fail without a clear and understandable plan for practical implementation. Content is no exception. A content plan is a list of topics for publications on a social network or blog aimed at the target audience (for example, gamblers, if your blog is about online slots real money South Africa. The plan is drawn up for a specific period. It prescribes the headings, topic of the post, format, time of publication, and notes with comments.
The main reasons to create a social media content plan are:
- Better advertising. With the help of content you can gently lead readers to the right actions, generate interest, and trust, strongly attract the company’s policies, make them look at the posts, perform searches, and convince them to buy and share contacts. The plan helps to follow the intended purpose, not to forget about the output of posts, and to build a chain from them at any stage.
- Consistency of work. When several employees are involved in the project, including remote ones, a content plan helps to achieve synchronous and coordinated work for the whole team.
- The ability to plan a budget. Knowing how many articles or posts need to be published for a given period, you can calculate the cost of the content, its placement, and promotion.
- Quality of content. Having the plan of work, it is possible to prepare materials in advance, coordinate them, and finish them up to an ideal by the moment of release.
- Regularity of publications. Regular placement of content is one of the conditions for focusing the audience’s attention and future growth. The scheduler helps to supply readers with portions of interesting materials in time.
A typical period for a content plan is one month. Some people prefer to make a schedule for 3, 6 months, and sometimes even a year. If you have to work with a content plan for the first time, it is better to choose a shorter period, such as 7 or 14 days. This will help to analyze the key posts, and the reactions of the audience, and also to decide which of them were successful and which ones were left out.
Here are the tips on how to create a social media content plan first, you need to identify your target audience. It is important to initially understand who you are writing for – the topic, format, content presentation and even the predictable result depends on it. Draw up a portrait of your target audience: their country and city of residence, profession and hobbies, and aspirations
The more detailed and accurate you work out the portrait of your target audience, the easier it will be to attract their attention with content. Use statistics to gather information, and conduct surveys among your subscribers. You can also analyze the followers of your direct competitors.
Any content plan should be based on topics that can attract the attention of the target audience. To know your subscribers’ preferences, you need to constantly analyze their interests and concerns and offer answers to relevant questions. If your content doesn’t match your audience’s preferences, even the best content plan won’t be successful.
Determine what content can have a positive impact on the life of your audience: solve problems or just make everyday life more fun and interesting. At the same time, work on the marketing goals of the business: recognition and sales. Survey social networks, through mail or a form on the site. Ask what subscribers would like to see on your page – people like it when their opinion is unobtrusively asked.
You can write a content plan quickly enough if you follow all the previous steps: analyze your competitors and audience, decide on the frequency of publications, make a list of topics, and choose the right tool. An extended content plan is suitable for large projects, where several people work on one publication, and different media materials are used for its creation.
Apart from the date and topic, such a content plan usually specifies the format of the post (useful, entertaining, or sales), the essence of the publication (in brief, what the material is about), and provides links to the media materials which make up the publication. You can also list the tasks and persons responsible for them in this table, although it’s easier to do in a task planner. Medium-term plans are made for 3 to 6 months, and short-term content plans for 2-4 weeks. Making a content plan is not difficult at all, but it is an important marketing tool.