Boost Your Social Media Strategy With Marketing Calendar

In This Lesson

• Create Social Messages On Your Calendar
• Schedule a Stand-Alone Message
• Schedule A Social Media Campaign
• Use Social Message Optimizer to Write Better Messages
• Add Alt Text To Your Social Messages
• Use Best Time Scheduling To Post At The Right Times
• Social Analytics Report

Core Concept: Plan All Your Social Media In CoSchedule Marketing Calendar

CoSchedule Marketing Calendar is the only marketing calendar that lets you plan all your marketing projects AND write, schedule, and publish your social messages in the same place. This chapter highlights the best ways Marketing Calendar helps you get proactive, so you can stop wasting time with the painful and time-consuming parts of social media.

Create Social Messages On Your Calendar

There are two different ways to create social messages on your Marketing Calendar – a stand-alone social message and a social campaign. Stand-alone social messages are great for one-off messages that you want to post on social media. Social campaigns are a series of several social media messages that get posted to your social channels over an extended period of time. Social campaigns are usually used to promote blog posts, videos, events, or webpages.

Schedule A Stand-Alone Message

To schedule a stand-alone social message:

1. Click to create a new project on your Marketing Calendar.
2. Choose Social and then Social Message.
3. This will open the social composer where you can create a stand-alone social media message.

Schedule A Social Media Campaign

Social Campaigns allow you to send multiple messages using your different social media platforms over a designated period of time. Using campaigns ensures your audience is more likely to see your content. This drives more traffic and helps improve the return on investment for all your hard work. There are two ways to schedule a Social Campaign in your Marketing Calendar.

1. Attach A Social Campaign To A Marketing Project

If you’re creating a social media campaign to promote another marketing project you have planned in Marketing Calendar, it’s best to attach that campaign directly to your project. In this example, you’ll learn how to create a social media campaign to promote a blog post. Open the project on your calendar. Add a “Social Campaign” attachment. If promoting a blog post, add the link by clicking the link button on the top. Next, click the plus sign to add a social message on a specific day. If you’re not sure how you should build out your first social campaign, here’s our best practice recommendation. Keep in mind that this can be customized based on the social channels you use.

2. Schedule a Stand-Alone Social Campaign

Create a stand-alone Social Campaign for a campaign that doesn’t promote a marketing project that’s set up in your Marketing Calendar. This could be a campaign that promotes partner content, a recent news story that pertains to your business, or a positive customer review you want to promote. To create a stand-alone social campaign:

1. Click to add a new project to your calendar.
2. Choose Social, then Social Campaign. ​​
3. Name your social campaign and apply any details (like a color label or description).
4. Click the plus signs to add messages just like you did in the previous section.

Advanced Social Strategy

Use Social Message Optimizer To Write Better Messages

The Social Composer has a built-in optimizer that helps you write more engaging social messages. Once you’ve written your social media message, click Analyze. From here, you can fine-tune your message so it will perform even better on social media.

Add Alt Text To Your Social Messages

When previewing your content in full size using the Media Previewer, you will have the option to add Alt Text to your social messages. By implementing Alt Text, screen readers will be able to assist visually impaired individuals with image recognition within your CoSchedule Marketing Calendar as well as posts to Facebook and Pinterest.

Use Best Time Scheduling To Post At The Right Times

Marketing Calendar has built-in automation that allows you to post to your social media channels at the best times. This takes the guesswork out of posting your social media messages. With Best Time Scheduling, you can schedule with confidence, knowing your messages are being sent at the best time possible — according to research and best practices — for increased traffic, engagement, and followers. To use Best Time Scheduling, use the dropdown to select a “best time” timeframe. Marketing Calendar will automatically post your message on your behalf at the best time within the selected timeframe.