Information in this blog post was obtained from Inc. Magazine, Hubspot Blog, Copyblogger, and the Content Marketing Institute.
Picture this - It was announced that your team's content manager would be moving departments. It was thought that your team could handle their own content publishing and organization. At the following month's meeting, your team noticed a major decline in content consistency and organization, as well as engagement. It was left up to the content producers to schedule their content and that seemed to not go so smoothly. After the news, your company's president and office manager met and appointed you as the new content manager. Your company has given you a month to turn this around - if not, they plan to outsource their marketing content.
You are a fantastic content producer - but you've never had to be in charge of where that content goes and when it goes there. These tips will help you to make your content consistent and organized.
As found by Oxford Languages, consistent (adj) can be defined as the acting or done in the same way over time or unchanging in nature, standard, or effect over time. A strategy that is repeated and perfected as time goes on can create a better experience for your consumer. As found in an article on Content Marketing Institute written by Denise Zimmerman, President and CSO of Netplus, "A consistent transmedia content strategy will not only help facilitate stronger and more meaningful connections with your customers, but it can also significantly extend the value of your content and amplify its overall impact."
Why Is Consistency and Organization in Social Media Key?
According to Inc. Magazine, there are a number of reasons that consistent content can work wonders for your team and company. But it can also be one of the biggest challenges for most companies. Inc. Magazine discovered 5 ways that consistency can help your company.
Establishes authority and credibility
Builds brand awareness
Engages your audience
Generates leads
Improves website and SEO
Consistent content can make your company go from good to great. It can help to differentiate one company from the next.
Tips To Stay Organized
In order to stay consistent, follow these organization tips from Hubspot Blog writer, Lindsay Kolowich Cox, to help manage, organize, and keep on top of your content creation and consistency.
Keep an updated content calendar.
There are many ways to make your content calendar work for you. Visit this article from The SMMU to decide which of the three ways or combo works for you!
Schedule social posts ahead of time and in bulk
By using Meta Business Suite, Buffer, and Tweetdeck, you can schedule your posts from your content calendar to post on the correct date and time to enhance your company's engagement.
Use a to-do list app
Create your list daily to ensure that your tasks are being delegated and completed in order of priority. Either keep your list by using pen and paper or use an app like Todoist, Things.com, or Any.do.
Know where to find trending topics
If you have a tried and true way to find trends, great - keep using it! If you need help, check out my college, Reed Knitter's article, "Social Media Trends: What They Are, How to Keep Track of Them, and How to Start One" linked here.
Maintain an "Inbox Zero" mentality
Being organized doesn't stop at your content. Keeping your inbox up to date and open can help you to stay on top of incoming tasks and needs that need your attention quickly. An "Inbox Zero" will help to make sure that things don't get lost in the scam and junk mail!
Have a dedicated "Social Content" folder in your email
Speaking of inbox organization, keeping a folder to move email threads about projects, images, or other content needed for social media can save you the headache of searching through loads of emails. A quick forward of an email will actually be quick when you put this tip into play.
Create a form for social promotion requests
Submitting your requests through a form app that you create or a pre-created app like Google Forms, you can filter the requests by a team, campaign, goals, project, audience, or due date. This can help to simplify the search for specific needs during project creation.
Use Canva to make batches of similar images
Creating images that make your company's aesthetic can help your content and image stay consistent. Canva allows you to simply create images in bulk with a similar vision in mind.
Organize your windows and tab ins a specific order every day.
Utilizing the ability to pin and group tabs can help you to stay organized by topic, priority, or project. Keeping tabs that you need daily pinned in an order that you can get used to will save you time scanning your tab bar and will help you not to get overwhelmed.
Set a time limit for each task
When you have a packed schedule, giving each task a time limit will help you or your team to manage your projects better. Using a calendar service to track your team's to-do's, tasks, and more can keep everyone in check.
Overall, consistency and organization in your social media content will be the key to keeping your company in it. For more tips and tricks on social media marketing, check out other blog posts on The Social Media Marketing University.
Resources
Cox, L. K. (2022, March 17). 10 best social media organization tips and tricks for managers. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/social-media-managers-organization-tips
Transmedia storytelling tips. Content Marketing Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/articles/creating-a-consistent-transmedia-content-strategy/
Why you must push out content consistently to be successful. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://www.inc.com/john-boitnott/5-reasons-your-content-must-be-consistent-to-be-effective/