The social editorial plan is a key tool for managing communication on social channels. But how is it implemented? What should it contain? And most importantly-how do you create a social editorial plan?
Don’t panic! In this guide I will explain all the tricks to create a social editorial plan in a simple, fast and above all functional way!
Table of contents
1.Smart tips for social editorial plan
Let’s proceed in order starting right from the definition of editorial plan:
What is the editorial plan
The editorial plan (social and otherwise) is a document used to identify the content we are going to create within a timeframe.
Specifically, it serves to:
- Structure communication by rationalizing all ideas, insights and publication requests.
- Outline an editorial strategy useful for identifying the content we are going to publish.
- Creating an actual publishing plan.
- And to not go crazy!
The last is perhaps the most important point. On social you don’t improvise. Never!
The first mistake is to take social activity lightly: “But yes, post two things on Facebook!” or “You edit posts on your lunch break or on the subway” or even “It takes you 2 minutes to make a post, what’s the big deal.” Statements like these are evil for every social media manager.
Managing social is not a “pastime” or an activity to be done “during breaks” but a real job that requires time, passion and VERY careful attention… because Epic Fail is always around the corner!
In conclusion, the editorial plan is your faithful ally to defend you against the chaos of “but what’s with social!” It allows you to organize content, plan releases and have everything in hand.
After this theoretical introduction let’s get into the concrete and see how to make an editorial plan for social in 9 steps:
Analysis
“If you know the enemy and yourself, your victory is sure,” recited the sage Sun Tzu. A perfect phrase for social: only by analyzing what you do and what your competitors do can you find the best strategy for your editorial plan.
Analysis is the basis for defining the Social Strategy (more on this in a dedicated article, promise!) and also for creating the social editorial plan. Specifically, you need to analyze:
Your editorial plan
Self-Criticism Mode: ON! Analyze your editorial plans and, like the best of Joe Bastianich, go hunting for the mistakes, oversights, and failures you have made.
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Okay, it hurts but believe me it is essential. Understanding the mistakes you’ve made is critical to growing, learning and making sure you don’t make them again. To help you with your self-analysis, here is a list of helpful questions:
- What content was appreciated by the community?
- Why?
- Which were the least appreciated?
- How did they differ with the best?
- Did I receive any criticism? Of what kind? On what topic?
- What types of graphics did the community like most and least?
- Is my copy always understood?
- Are all the texts clear and effective?
Competitors’ editorial plan
Spy Mode: ON! With the same cunning and expertise as the Cat Eyes thieving group, break into your competitors’ social pages to spy on all their secrets!
Understanding what other brands are doing is important for the creation of our social editorial plan. This analysis helps us to better understand the context in which we move, to understand what our community likes and what mistakes to avoid… because made by our competitors themselves!
The influencers’ editorial plan
Paparazzi Mode: ON! Influencer activity should also be at the center of your analysis…but before we go stalking see Chiara Ferragni’s profile let’s take a second to define what influencer means.
By “influencer” we mean that person, character, page or group that influences in the thinking and purchasing decision of our target audience. So, if our target audience is architects… Chiara Ferragni does not fall into the category of influencer. Sorry Chiara, it will be for next time.
After analyzing our work, that of competitors and influencers, it is time to build the pillars of our social editorial plan:
Mission, target audience and goals
We have arrived at the heart of the editorial plan: the three pillars on which everything is based and which we must carve in our minds. They are difficult (sometimes very difficult) to identify but fundamental to the creation of the editorial plan. Let’s proceed in order:
Mission: the purpose of our journey
Imagining the social editorial plan as a journey, the mission is the purpose. Why should our brand be on social? What does it want to communicate? What differentiates it from others?
The mission is the heart of our communication on social, that unique element that differentiates us from all others. The set of brand values that we want to communicate on social channels. Example:
Skipper Zuegg’s mission statement? Sugar-free doesn’t mean flavorless! Its page is full of fun content that speaks to the community in a humorous and over-the-top way.
The instagram account of Primaedicola.it has, on the other hand, the mission of becoming the community for book lovers on a social where image is stronger than words: Instagram!
The target audience: our traveling companion
Knowing the target audience means knowing the people we are traveling with so we can choose the best path. We need to know as much as possible about our target audience so we can make engaging and effective content.
Here is a list of questions that can help you in defining the target audience:
How old are you?
Are we talking to a mixed, male, female or gender fluid target audience?
What geographic area does she live in?
What are her interests?
What social pages does she follow?
Where does she get her information? What does she read?
Which influencers does he follow?
Where does he usually shop?
Some examples:
Treccani speaks to a young target audience (millennials and Gen Z), both male and female who love the world of music, entertainment and memes.
Goals: our compass
The infallible guide in the fabulous world of “What do you post on social?” is goals. They must always be clearly and precisely defined, they must be realistic, and above all, they must be quantifiable and timed.
“Doing engagement” is not a goal: how much engagement do we want to achieve? What do we mean by engagement? Within what time frame? Once identified, goals will guide you in writing your editorial plan: if a piece of content doesn’t make you reach your goals then it’s not useful. Off my editorial plan!
The editorial strategy on social
Now that we have analyzed the scenario and identified the mission, goals, and target audience, it is time to outline the editorial strategy-that is, the choice of what NOT to publish.
It sounds like a nonsense but that is what the strategy is mainly for: making a choice about the topics to be told. To do this, “editorial streams” must be identified that help us delineate the boundaries of our communication.
READ ALSO: If social were characters from Friends.
Editorial streams are defined as macro subject areas that differ in their communication focus. I’ll give an example right away by assuming 3 strams for a B2C brand:
Product: stream dedicated to the products in the catalog showing their characteristics and occasions of use. This stream meets the goal of inputs to the site.
Values: focus of communication is brand values, what we believe in and what differentiates us from our competitors. Objective of this stream is brand awareness.
Community: the soul of the party, the goal of this stream is to create a bond between the brand and the target audience through engagement content.
In the example you can see how the three pillars (mission, goals and target audience) are always present. What did I tell you? They are the foundation of all social activity, and they are what will help you identify the right streams for your communication.
Warning: streams are NOT address books! With streams we stay “higher” by outlining only the focus of our communication and not the output. Picking up on the example above, the third stream (community) can have memes, games or UGC (user-generated content) as rubrics.
The advantage of streams? Maximum freedom to experiment, test and modulate communication based on the results obtained.
How to find the perfect Tone of Voice
The Tone of Voice (or ToV) represents the character of the brand. It is mistakenly thought to be critical only for copy writing–nothing could be more wrong!
The ToV is needed for copywriting, page moderation, image and content selection. Okay, but how do I identify the perfect Tone Of Voice for my social editorial plan? Simple: thanks to the 3 pillars + 1!
Goals – e.g. if we want to engage the community we will have a lighter, more conversational ToV.
Target audience – e.g. the age, gender and habits of our target audience will drastically change our ToV. We will not talk to lawyers in the same way as motorcycle enthusiasts.
Mission – talk like you eat: your brand culture must be aligned with your ToV!
Social – Each social channel has its own communication style. How to go about identifying it? Analysis, analysis and more analysis!
For an in-depth look at Tone Of Voice I recommend reading the article “Tone of Voice: how to identify the ideal one for your brand” written by our legendary copywriter Cecilia.
What should a social editorial calendar contain
The fateful question, which everyone asks me, is always the same: “But what should the social editorial plan contain? Where do I go to find interesting topics?” The answer? Right under your nose!
Social is a fast (actually very fast!) channel that is always being updated, with a constant stream of publications, events and activities. Staying abreast of current events is therefore key to being able to entertain and focus the attention of our target audience.
Take cues from what is happening around you: events, initiatives, activities, world days, catchphrases, etc. Riding on trends is key to intercepting interest and letting the target audience know that your brand is on the piece, always up to date.
Let’s take some examples:
Unieuro exploits … the calendar! Smart idea to start with the stress of Christmas, a period where sales increase.
Beware, as always, of Epic Fail! Always remember that the content must be in line with your mission, functional to your goals and interesting to your target audience. Chasing after the instant at all costs is not always a good idea…sometimes better to let it go and focus on something more useful.
Another cue for outlining the content of your editorial plan is your fans. As mentioned before, studying your target audience is critical and will help you figure out what to publish. Here’s an example:
Our client Primaedicola.it has a community that mainly belongs to millennials. To promote the release of Holly and Benji DVDs, we, therefore, harnessed nostalgia for the cartoon by offering engagement content. The goal: to get fans to vote for their favorite character!
How to make social graphics
There is a big, huge problem that grips all social pages: getting recognized in the increasingly crowded feed of content.
This is why it is so important to have a social image that is consistent and coordinated with that of the brand. In an increasingly intense social feed full of videos and images, getting recognized is really difficult… especially if you have an ever-changing image.
It seems like trivial advice, but many people underestimate it! Let’s stop for a moment and think about the importance of colors: what if I asked you about a pasta brand with a blue color? Or an orange phone company? A pink carbonated beverage? Barilla, Wind and Coca-Cola are three examples of how strong the link between color and brand is.
How to make perfect social graphics? As always, there is no rule but tips to follow:
Use brand colors: we talked about them above, they will serve to get you recognized and strengthen the brand-color bond.
Choose one font (and only one!), preferably the brand’s own. Avoid fonts that are too “artsy” and unreadable.
Choose the same position for the logo and text, it will help you have a pattern to follow and give consistency to the communication.
Make the logo smaller, you don’t have to talk about your brand but WITH your community. The logo, if you want to include it, should be a signature and not the main character.
Choose images with a unique style. If you use a stock photo be careful in choosing the style: desaturated or highly saturated? Warm or cool tones? Graphic or photographic?
Make use of the meaning of emoji, they are your friend! Text also wants its part: use emoji to highlight copy, make a bulleted list, or draw attention to a link or an important part of the text.
Final tip: If you have an extraordinarily beautiful, functional idea that is perfect for the target audience…rules be damned! Rules should not “block” creativity but be tools to help you realize an output. If you feel stuck or squeezed by a cage…then smash it like the Hulk!
