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January 30, 2023
Clutch Creator Resources
Content creators do much more than create content for social media and websites. There is a lot of planning that goes into content creation. Whether your job is to create for TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or any other social media platform, it is critical that you create a plan and strategy for when you post and what kind of content you post. Today I have created a list of steps that can help walk you through the planning and strategy process.
This is one of the most important steps when it comes to creating a content strategy. You need to make sure that your goals are clearly defined and that you and, if applicable, your team are all on the same page. Is your overall goal to grow your follower count? How about your engagement levels? Is your goal to reach a new or certain audience? Whatever the goals are, start by physically writing them down somewhere. Having a physical note to reference when work becomes hectic or confusing can allow for clarity, especially if you are a part of a content creation team. Also, if that time comes when you need to readjust your goals, you can take the time to reflect on those original goals and adjust them as necessary.
Research is the next important step to completing a content creation strategy. You want to make yourself aware of your competition. Research can include anything from searching the web for content ideas, searching social media for trends, and even examining your competition’s social content. For those companies that are similar to yours, what are they doing on their social media pages that is working/ not working? Take note of these things. By taking note of these things, I don’t mean going and copying your competitors’ content ideas - please don’t do this as this will reflect negatively on your company. Just be aware of the things that your competitors have already done and try to pay close attention to the content that got the most engagement and the content that got the least.
This can be one of the more challenging steps to creating a content strategy. You want to choose a content management app or system that will make your job easier. If you don’t have a content management system, it can be difficult tasking to create and schedule posts in advance. Some examples of content management apps that I have used and enjoyed are: Sprout Social, Planoly, and Loomly. There are numerous choices when it comes to social media management apps. Do some exploring, test a few out, and see which app works best for you and your team/company.
Brainstorming what kind of content you would like to feature on your social platforms each month will most likely take the majority of your planning time; however, having a content creation strategy each month will allow you to adjust your goals for your social media pages each month if needed. After you have decided on the kind of content you want to feature, clarification of tasks is next. This step is important especially if you are on a team of content creators. You want to be sure that each person knows what their responsibilities are regarding their contributions to content creation. I had a previous job that would submit ideas for content creation monthly. We would clarify our goals for that month, what the content would be based around, who would post what, and other things of that nature. For example, the TikTok person is required to create a certain amount of videos, the Instagram person needs to contribute a certain amount of posts/stories/reels, the Facebook person contributes a certain amount of content, and so on. Clarification of tasks is crucial to any team’s success, but even if you’re on your own creating content, planning out how many posts, TikToks, reels, stories, and related content will allow for less anxiety based on what you’re going to post because you’ll already have it planned out.
This is the last and final step. Remember that content management app that you chose in step 3? This is where that app comes to use. Content management apps are helpful because they allow you to schedule a date and time that your content will be published online. Take time to go in and schedule your content beforehand so you don’t have to later. It is much easier this way - believe me.
