End of the Year FREEBIE Planning Template
For those of you wanting to be more organized with your business in the coming year, I thought I would share and explain the template that I use on a weekly basis.
(The blank, downloadable versions are at the bottom of this page.)
Some Things to Remember When Creating Content
Much of the content that I create can easily be shared across all platforms. Because Instagram has a perfect square as their design, I often have to edit images and videos that I post on Facebook or LinkedIn to fit the parameters of Instagram. You could give yourself a little reminder to do that on your schedule.
Also Instagram only allows one "hot" hyperlink. So, using my sample calendar above as an example, on a day like Wednesday, where I'm sharing an article across the other two platforms, I need to make an image that is based on the information shared in the article to post on Instagram. (Or I need to add a button to my 'Instagram landing page' with the article linked to it. This option is kind of a lengthy process that I won't describe in this article.)
CTA
CTA means 'Call to Action.' A 'Call to Action' is simply a way that clients can "take action" and click something on your post. You don't want to post a CTA every day because they tend to be more about selling your business as apposed to giving your followers good information. Remember the 80/20 rule with content. 80% of your posts should be helpful/entertaining to your followers. 20% of your posts should be, "Buy from me! Click here!" You'll notice I normally plan about 2 CTA's a week.
Nextdoor
If you post on Nextdoor, remember from another fantastic article, that they only allow your business two free posts a month. If you want to use them all in one week, you can. I usually try to spread them out throughout the month.
Personalize It
And finally, don't forget to be human. People need to see your face- especially right now. (Read more about that, here.) Make sure that you are posting photos or videos of your life when you're planning posts for the week. It makes people remember that your business is run by a person, just like them, with bills to pay, family to take care of, etc.
I create these content calendars by hand (with all the screens I look at for my social media business, its very grounding to actually write something out on paper) every Sunday. Sometimes I start making the posts and writing the copy right after filling it out so I'm all ready for the week. And sometimes I wait for the day to come and create it on-the-fly. Either way, I still have an idea of what I want to post about that day.
Let me know if you have trouble downloading either of these, or have any questions about the process.
Download: PDF Version
Scheduling Template
.pdf
Download PDF • 90KB
Download: Office PowerPoint Version
Scheduling Template
.pptx
Download PPTX • 173KB