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This is the final part of a four-part series. You’ll want to read part one, part two and part three first. Here are the steps to creating a social media content plan that works: Step 1: Decide how often to post across platforms Although there are some general rules of thumb on the posting frequency for each social media platform, the ultimate posting recipe is different for every account as it often depends on the industry and audience, the type of content you post and of course the platform itself. For example, for Twitter Counter’s Twitter account, we found out that shifting to once-an-hour, round the clock posting strategy has a positive effect on the overall engagement of one’s account. In general, according to a recent Buffer research, a good starting point for posting across platforms is this: Note: it is important to experiment with different frequencies for each platform. Timing is equally important to maximize the exposure of your posts depending on where your audience is. For Twitter, Followerwonk can tell you when your Twitter followers are online and Twitter Counter calculates the most successful times a day in a week based on your engagement metrics. Facebook insights offers information on the best time to post for maximum reach, whereas for Google+,  Social media science concludes that weekdays from 9:00 am to 11:00 am are the best.   Step 2: Decide What to Post and Where Once you have decided on the best frequency and timing recipe for each platform, it is time to decide on the type of content to post on each platform. If you have marketing campaigns planned throughout the year, you can already start thinking your message, the visuals and the platforms you will want to use. It is important to keep in mind that even though you could essentially post the same content on every medium, its structure and copy need to be adjusted to the specifics of each platform. For example, on LinkedIn, link posts with longer copy work better than on Facebook. On Twitter, the 80/20 rule is a rule to tweet by. This means that a good content tactic is sharing 20 percent of your own content and 80 percent third party content from any trustworthy, reliable sources. Twitter suggests images or video as the best option to accompany your tweets and boost your reach.   Step 3: Write your copy and create your visuals When writing your social media copy, keep in mind that length matters. Social media scientist, Dan Zarrella suggests that tweets that are 100 to 115 characters long are more likely to be retweeted. On Facebook, posts that are a maximum of 40 characters long do perform better in terms of engagement, whereas Google+ and LinkedIn call for longer updates.   Step 4: Fill up your Social Media Content Calendar The last step of your social media content strategy is creating a content calendar. This way, you gain an overview of what you are posting on each platform and it is much easier to plan relevant content around important dates such as product releases, holidays and so on. Oh, and of course you’ll never need to ask yourself ‘What do I post now?’ Depending how much of a visual type you are, you can either use a template or use your scheduling tool to plan your content ahead. Remember that on social media, it is OK to repeat content as long as you present it in a fresh way using a different visual or copy for example. In fact repeating content on social media is key to boosting traffic and expanding your reach.     About the Writer: Osakwe Richard is an avid follower of tech news and developments around the globe and a Scrabble aficionado.  
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This article was first published on 31st July 2015

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