Creating and automating social content for your retail store may sound intimidating and time consuming, but it doesn’t have to be. A Facebook content calendar can help you draft consistent, engaging posts that will hone your online presence. With the right process and tools, a Facebook content calendar will actually streamline your social media strategy, saving you time and effort.
How to Use a Content Calendar for Facebook
A content calendar doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated. You can simply start with a blank spreadsheet and add the following categories along the first row:
- Social media platform (If you’re only using one platform like Facebook, you can add this category later to grow your calendar.)
- Date and time to post (Will you post daily? Weekdays only? Weekly?)
- Post idea
- Audience
- Visuals
- Link to assets
- Link to published post
You can remove categories or add new ones as you see fit. For example, you might categorize your posts by type, like product launches, sales, how-to content, or blog posts. You may also identify the post format, such as Facebook Live, Facebook Stories, a poll, an ad, and so on. You can always adjust your calendar to suit your needs as you continue to use it.
What Sort of Content Should You Plan?
Now that you know how to start your content calendar, it’s time to start crafting your posts. What type of content should you share on Facebook?
Put together an interesting mix of social media posts to keep your followers engaged. This is called the social media “Rule of Thirds”: one-third of your posts should promote your business and drive sales, one third should share resources that benefit your audience, and the last third should personalize your business. Here are some post ideas grouped by “thirds”:
Promote Your Business on Facebook
- Tease a new product or service that will launch soon
- Disseminate company news or press mentions
- Share a photo or video of a popular product
- Share branded or influencer content
Benefit Your Audience
- Post tips and tricks for using your products or services
- Share news about industry-wide trends or concerns
- Share an inspiring or informative blog post
- Answer FAQs in a post or video
- Host a giveaway or contest
- Thank customers
Personalize Your Business
- Post a tour of your office or workspace
- Feature an employee
- Ask for follower feedback with a survey or poll
- Share a positive customer review
- Share user-generated content (with permission)
- Showcase your company culture
The Facebook posts you choose will depend on your target audience and your marketing strategy, but these ideas offer a starting point.
Look at Audience Behavior and Make Adjustments
After you outline your posts on your calendar, it’s time to publish them. Copy and paste your captions and upload graphics to Facebook’s Publishing Tool and then publish immediately or schedule for later.
Once posts go live, monitor their performance to see if you need to make changes. Try to learn the following:
- When is your Facebook audience most active?
- What types of posts do they engage with most often?
- Are you gaining or losing followers after certain types of posts?
- Can you directly connect social engagement with other actions, like calling the store or registering for an event?
Consider your audience’s behavior and make adjustments accordingly. For example, if you find that certain types of posts get a lot of engagement, plan future posts of the same type on your content calendar. You might even schedule those types of posts more frequently if your audience wants them.
If certain posts don’t perform as well as you expect, try changing the date and time you post, or swap that type of post for a different one. Managing your content calendar is an ongoing task that requires constant refinement.
Make Your Posts Automatic
Even with a plan, it’s a lot of work to publish, manage, and monitor your social posts. That’s why it helps to schedule your Facebook posts in advance rather than manually uploading them every day or week. Benefits of automatic Facebook posting include:
Less Time and Effort
When you don’t have your Facebook content planned out in advance, your social media strategy may feel more erratic and stressful. Automating your content forces you to focus on this task for a specific block of time. You’ll create posts efficiently all at once, freeing the rest of your workday to focus on managing your store and taking care of your customers.
Organized Strategy
With an automation strategy, everything lives in one convenient location. Content inspiration, a posting schedule, links to share online, digital assets, are all in one place. You’ll no longer have to pull pieces of your content from different sources to create one post.
Consistent Online Presence
You will need to discover the right frequency to stay present in your followers’ feeds without overwhelming them and driving them away. Regardless of frequency, however, consistency is key to success on Facebook. For example, if you post every Tuesday and Thursday at 10 a.m., because you’ve learned that’s a time when your followers tend to be online, you’ll get more engagement by sticking to that routine. Schedule posts in advance and consistency takes care of itself.
To achieve all of the above, you need a tool that helps you show up in the social feeds of your local audience — and doesn’t require an overwhelming amount of upfront work.
Rely on ThumbStopper to Get Instant Content into Your Feed
Consistent, thoughtful content deployment is where ThumbStopper lets your business shine. We direct high quality content produced by the brands you carry straight onto your company Facebook page. It’s already expertly timed and carefully curated to show your products in their best light, with no effort from you.
By trusting content distribution to ThumbStopper, you can focus on engaging with your audience, adjusting your planned content, and brainstorming new ideas for future social media posts. Make the most of your Facebook content plan. Learn more today.
