MEMBER LOGINLike most insurance professionals, you understand the importance of having a regular social media presence. However, it can be a challenge to take the time every month to brainstorm about what content will resonate with your target audience, what platform it should be published on and when you should post your content.
Social media is about building relationships with potential customers. And you can’t build strong relationships if you post 12 times one day then disappear for six months.
Source: Microsoft Business Insights
The fact is, successful social media marketing doesn’t just happen. It takes time to develop a strategy that is consistent, efficient, and effective in building and maintaining your social media presence. The best way to accomplish this is by creating a 12-month social media content calendar.
What is a social media calendar?
Whether you’re an independent agent, retail broker or wholesaler, a social media calendar is vital to ensuring your insurance business stays in front of your target audience with consistent content publishing. Microsoft Business Insights describes a social media content calendar as a tool for mapping the following out in advance:
· What type of content you plan to publish. Creating a calendar eliminates last-minute scrambling to find relevant and insightful content topics that will resonate with your audience.
· What social media platform you are going to share it on. For example, Facebook can be a great tool for building your brand locally, Twitter can expand your messaging by connecting with new network partners, and LinkedIn can help you develop professional relationships and partnerships within the insurance industry.
· What day and time you’re going to share it. According to HubSpot, certain platforms have optimal days/times that are more effective in reaching out to and interacting with your target audience. In addition, by tracking how posts perform, you’ll have a better idea, when scheduling future posts, what day/time your target audience engages.
Creating a social media calendar
Getting started with a calendar doesn’t have to be a complex undertaking. And while it is possible to create your calendar in a spreadsheet or Word document, online fillable templates can save you a lot of time by keeping your content organized. One of our favorite online social media calendar templates is from Direct Connection Advertising and Marketing. In addition to the calendar, you’ll also find a link to 100 free social media captions that have been proven to help posts achieve higher engagement. Whichever option you choose, a good social media calendar should always include:
· A complete 12-month visual overview that maps out your posts.
· An in-depth breakdown that looks at the content for each month.
· Space to plan out all aspects of your monthly posts.
Conclusion
As we enter the final months of the year, now is a great time to start developing your 2022 marketing campaigns that include a social media calendar. Be sure to spread a variety of content evenly across the week and start scheduling. If you don’t feel comfortable creating your own content, you can always enlist the assistance of a specialized insurance marketing and advertising firm to help.
About FastrackCE
Need to complete your insurance continuing education credits before the end of the year? FastrackCE can help you get all your life and health and property and casualty continuing education credits done in one place and at your convenience. We offer online courses in most states covering a broad range of topics, including most of the state-mandated courses such as ethics, flood, long-term care and annuity training.