We all love to start a new year by taking a breath of fresh air and avoiding any business or marketing ‘clutter’, so how can we prepare our social media for a brand new year and a fresh new approach to match? Well, in this pocket guide, we will go through some essential checklists for your content plan, for your feed and for general social media housekeeping to help you get ahead with your socials in a new year or new quarter!
Let's set sail, voyagers...
How to re-create or create a content plan
Whether you have an existing content plan or are in need of creating a fresh one altogether, here are some useful pointers on how to set your sails towards calmer seas when it comes to content marketing.
~ Tidy up your content planning tools and any content ideas or notes you have lying around. Brain dump all your ideas to act as ‘content prompts’ for your quarter or whole year ahead - but make sure they are relevant to your business mission, your vision and your goals.
~ Organise your ideas into a content calendar if you can or identify some key events that you have scheduled. Batch create content wherever you can, including Reels which may take longer to produce. Be sure to also schedule posts ahead of time using Facebook's Creator Studio (for desktop scheduling) or Business Suite (for mobile scheduling).
~ Organise your content photo albums. By this, I mean delete any photos or designs you no longer need. While you're there, why not organise a brand photoshoot for the new year? Think about your branding for the year ahead and what aesthetic you are aiming for across your digital marketing 'solar system' (website, socials, branding)
~ Spring clean your Canva designs! Look at saving new templates and elements that you would like to use. You could even have a brand refresh and switch up the colours, fonts and logos you use as part of your 'brand kit' on Canva
~ Revise your content pillars and hashtag set(s) to match your new business mission, vision and goals. When it comes to hashtags, research keywords and phrases that are relevant to your content pillars, or topics that your business and industry discuss, along with hashtags that are used by your target audience and/or competitors. To narrow down the competition, be as specific as possible such as '#coffeeshopdorset' or '#smallbusinessowneruk'
~ Review which pieces of content performed well during the year or quarter prior, and make sure it is included in your 2022 strategy. What types of content have your audience engaged with the most and which social media channels had better results overall? How can you improve on the content that didn’t do as well?
How about that for a little content spring clean? Now, let's look at how to refresh your feed!
How to refresh your social media feed
Have you ever experienced 'feed envy'? This is where you're scrolling on through your feed and you see a post or someone's profile that you are simply in awe of! Yup, we've all been there and I call this 'feed envy'. What feed envy reminds us to do, is to do some spring cleaning of our own profiles, and below is how you can do just that:
~ Spruce up your feed by archiving, deleting or repurposing posts. In line with the previous point, it’s a good idea to repurpose posts that have performed well and make them even better! Why not sharpen up your Instagram feed by using a new grid layout inspired by a profile you have seen or an aesthetic you have in mind? You can be as creative and experimental as you like - it's your feed, but be sure to analyse which posts work and which don't perform well as you go. This will help you to produce and create content your audience is in favour of - shell yeah!
~ It's also a great idea to refresh any of your social media bios, bio links and for Instagram, your highlight menus and Instagram Guides. When updating your highlights, think about the key information that you want your audience to know; for example, more about you, your business story, customer feedback and your services or products. Make sure any links to your website, shop and contact details are super clear and easy to access!
We don't want anyone swimming in circles around your island, we want smooth sailing navigating from our audience at all times - anything that makes their lives easier to find what they're looking for, or helps them decide if they'd like to learn more about you and/or your business.
There we have a pocket social media checklist to ensure that we begin a brand new year or quarter with a fresh 'canvas' ready for us to paint red and for your business to simply flourish through your social marketing!
Sometimes in the wave of change we find our true direction
If you need some 1:2:1 support to help you sail through your social media refresh or ongoing strategy, then don't hesitate to say Aloha for a free no-obligation consultation to see how I can help you through my bespoke social media coaching services.
Happy refresh-ing Islanders,
Yasmin @ Aloha Social