12 Month Plan
Simplify Your Social Media Strategy: A Year-long Guide for Small Business Owners
Introduction: Planning your social media content for an entire year may seem overwhelming at first, but it's a strategy that can actually alleviate stress and help you stay organized. As a small business owner, mapping out your social media calendar allows you to effectively communicate with your audience, highlight relevant topics, and showcase your expertise. In this blog post, we'll guide you through the process of planning your social media content for the whole year, providing valuable insights and examples specifically tailored to the owners of small businesses.
Embrace the Power of Planning: Planning your social media content in advance allows you to maintain a consistent presence and align your posts with key events and topics throughout the year. By dedicating time to strategize and create a content calendar, you can focus on providing valuable information to your audience rather than feeling overwhelmed by the constant need to generate new ideas.
Month-by-Month Breakdown:
January: New Year's Resolutions: In January, capitalize on the enthusiasm surrounding New Year's resolutions. If you’re a personal trainer, you might share tips and motivational content to inspire individuals to kickstart their fitness journey. Highlight the benefits of goal setting, creating sustainable habits, and overcoming common challenges.
February: Love and Self-Care: As Valentine's Day approaches, emphasize the importance of self-love and self-care. If your business is in the wellness industry, giving tips on how to care for ourselves and permission to do so is invaluable. If you are a champion of small businesses, you might choose to focus on the small businesses that you love – or encourage your audience to do so.
March: SPRING! Spring into action – spring clean, spring in your step – however you frame it, there is positivity to be had this month!
April: Stress Awareness Month: You may have a business that helps people with their stress – if you’re a virtual assistant for example, talk about the stresses that you can alleviate and how you do that.
May: Mental Health Awareness Month: Again if your business is in the wellbeing sector, talking about mental health is a given – and encouraging your audience to talk about theirs too. If you have resources that can help people with mental well-being – now is the time to promote them – whether they are free or paid resources.
June: Exam season/Prom Season – lots happening this month – so think where your audience will have their heads – and provide something that is useful to them.
Using the 12 month planner, you can create your own plan – along with any key messages that you want to deliver, which you can note at the bottom of each page.
Capturing Relevant Content: To ensure your posts resonate with your audience, plan ahead and capture images and videos related to upcoming topics or events. For example, if you'll be discussing marathon training in October, capture footage of yourself or others running to support your posts. Authentic visuals can significantly enhance engagement.
Diversify Your Content Mix: Incorporate a variety of content formats to keep your audience engaged. Alongside images and videos, consider utilizing infographics, client testimonials, educational articles, live videos, and Q&A sessions. Experiment with different mediums to cater to diverse learning preferences.
Conclusion: By breaking down your strategy month by month and capitalizing on relevant themes and events, you can engage your audience, establish your expertise, and build lasting connections. Embrace the power of planning, be consistent, and provide valuable content to inspire, motivate, and educate your followers on their fitness journey. Remember, a well-structured social media plan can help you simplify your efforts and achieve long-term
