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Why Every Small Business Needs a Social Media Posting Schedule

Social media is a necessary component of any small business marketing strategy. However, managing social media can be time consuming and difficult, especially if you have multiple social media accounts. A post scheduling template can help you schedule social media posts and streamline your social media efforts.

There's no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of how often you should post on social media. It depends on your business, your audience, and your goals. However, one thing is certain: if you want to make the most of your social media marketing efforts, you need to have some kind of posting schedule. In this blog post, we'll look at why a posting schedule is important and offer some tips on creating one that works for you and your business.

What is a social media posting schedule?

There are a few universal truths when it comes to social media. First, social media is here to stay. Second, social media is a necessary component of any small business marketing strategy. And third, managing social media can be time consuming and difficult.

That’s why it’s important to have a plan and a strategy for your social media postings. By using a post scheduling template, you can ensure that all of your social media posts are consistent and relevant.

A posting schedule ensures that you're regularly creating and sharing content on social media. This helps you stay top of mind with your audience and drives traffic to your website or blog. Posting regularly also helps you build relationships with other people in your industry, which can lead to opportunities down the road.
The template should include the following information:

-Type of post (image, video, text)
-Date and time to publish
-Link to article or website
-Hashtag(s)

Including this information in your template will help you save time by not having to search for each individual piece of information every time you want to make a post. Additionally, it will help you ensure that all of your posts are high quality and on brand for your business.


What are the benefits of using a social media posting schedule?

  • Organization
    A social media posting schedule helps you stay organized and on top of your workload. This is critical for social media managers who need to manage multiple social platforms at once.
  • Efficiency
    By having a template for all of your social media posts, you can save time by copy/pasting the information directly into your scheduling platform, rather than having to search for each piece of information every time you're scheduling social media posts.
  • Consistency
    Consistent, high-quality posts are a key factor in building relationships with your followers and driving traffic to your website or blog. A social media posting schedule used along side a social media content calendar ensures that your posts are published consistently and on time.
So if you're looking to take your business's social media marketing to the next level, consider using a post scheduling template. Not only will it help you streamline your efforts and maximize your results, but it will also free up more time for you to focus on what really matters – growing and scaling your business!

Creating a Posting Schedule Starts with Research

Now that we've taken a look at why a social media schedule is important, let's look at how you can create one that works for your social media campaigns.
How often to post
First we need to know how often to post on each social media platform. This varies depending on your audience, your goals, and the type of content you're sharing. For example, if you're a fashion retailer on Instagram, you might post several times per day to take advantage of the platform's "Stories" feature.

Generally speaking most experts suggest the following:

In general, you will want to post multiple times per day on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, while limiting yourself to just a few posts per week on more established platforms like LinkedIn.

What times to post
To determine the best times to post for each platform, it's important to do some research and test different posting schedules. Some good resources to start with include social media scheduling tools like Sprout Social, Hootsuite, Buffer, and Iconosquare.

These times seem to be agreed on:


The key is to find a schedule that works for you and your business, and to be consistent in your efforts. That way, you can start building relationships with your followers and drive more traffic to your website or blog. With the right social media posting schedule, you can make the most of your small business marketing strategy on social media.

What to post

This is where social listening comes in. Social listening is defined as "the process of monitoring social media channels to listen to and understand what people are saying about your business, brand, product or service."

By implementing a strong social listening strategy on all of your social media platforms, you can gain valuable insights into what your audience is looking for. This can help guide the types of content you post on each channel, as well as the timing and frequency of your posts.

Somethings to look for include:

-Times of posts with the most engagement
-popular hashtags
-keywords
-topics that get a lot of engagement
-Who are the influencers?

Some tips for creating effective social media content that engages your audience include:

1
Tailoring messages to different audiences or segments
2
Using relevant keywords and hashtags to increase the visibility of your content
3
Sharing user-generated content from your followers and other influencers in your industry

4
Partnering with influencers to promote your products or services
5
Creating shareable and interactive content, such as videos, quizzes, polls, and contests

Overall, the key is to create high-quality content that speaks directly to your target audience. By keeping a close eye on what people are saying about your business on social media, you can stay ahead of the trends and create authentic, engaging content that resonates with your audience. With the right social media posting schedule, you can build stronger relationships with your followers, drive more traffic to your website or blog, and ultimately grow your business!

Content pillars in your social media calendar

One of the key components of a successful social media schedule is having a solid content pillar in place. This means identifying the topics, themes, and formats that resonate most with your target audience, and consistently creating high-quality content around these topics.
Some tips for using content pillars in your social media strategy include choosing an overall theme or focus for each pillar, including interactive and engaging formats like polls and quizzes, partnering with influencers to amplify your message, and consistently tracking the performance of your content to identify what is resonating most with your audience.

Ultimately, using content pillars in your social media content calendar can help you build stronger relationships with your followers, increase your reach and visibility, and ultimately increase ROI for your business. So if you're looking to take your social media strategy to the next level, consider incorporating content pillars into your plan!

Access the Google Sheets Social Media Post Scheduling template for free!

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Now you're ready to fill in your posting schedule!

Whether you choose to use a social media scheduling tool like Hootsuite or simply keep track of your posts in a spreadsheet, the key is to be consistent and stick with your schedule over time. With the right social media posting schedule and content pillars in place, you can start seeing great results for your business on social media!

Here are a few tips:

1
Set aside time each week to plan and create social media posts.
 This could be an hour or two each week, or even just half an hour each day. The important thing is to carve out some time in your schedule so that you can focus on creating quality content.
2
Utilize a social media management tool
Utilize a social media management tool like Hootsuite Insights or BuzzSumo to help you determine when the best times are to post on each social platform. they can also help to schedule posts in just a few clicks. Experiment until you find what works best for you and your audience.
3
Batch creating content whenever possible.
 This means creating several pieces of content at once instead of trying to come up with something new every day or every week. Batching will save you time in the long run and help you maintain a consistent posting schedule.
4
Repurpose old content
If you're struggling to come up with new ideas, take a look at some of your older blog posts or articles. Is there anything there that you can repurpose for social media? Chances are, the answer is yes! Don't be afraid to dust off an old piece of content and give it new life on social media.
5
Have realistic expectations
 Creating quality content takes time, so don't expect to be able to post multiple times per day right from the start . Start small and increase your posting frequency as you get more comfortable with the process .
There are many moving parts when it comes to managing a small business. But one thing that is non-negotiable is having an active presence on social media. Luckily, by using a social media calendar, you can take some of the guesswork out of social media scheduling. By including information such as the type of post, date and time to publish, link to article or website, and hashtag(s), you can streamline your posting process and make sure that all of your posts are consistent with your brand voice.

TL;DR

A social media posting schedule is important for any business that wants to make the most of its social media marketing efforts. By setting aside time each week to plan and create content, utilizing tools to help determine the best times to post, batch creating content, and repurposing old content, you can create a posting schedule that works for you and helps drive traffic to your website or blog. Have realistic expectations when first starting out and increase frequency as needed.
So there you have it! Using a template is an easy way to stay organized and make sure that all of your action items are accounted for. Plus, once you get the hang of it, creating your own templates can be fun too!