Includes free download tools!
It also has social media posting frequency AND 2021 image sizes as well as links to overviews for how to use each platform's business profiles. How lucky is that!?
Introduction
I've been helping a couple of business owners gear up for the loosened restrictions now that there is a COVID-19 vaccine. A big part of this prep work is planning what their message is and how they will get it out there - the 2021 Marketing Plan for a Post-COVID World.
My Marketing Plans are generally made up of these key components:
the goal
the strategy
the customer
the message
the method
Content / Google / SEO and targeted social media platforms make up the bulk of the methods in my Marketing Plans these days. That is where the people are. Gone are the days when you can hire a graphic designer and place some ads and call it a day. Online content takes a lot of work to develop, implement, monitor, and update - whether it's on your website, blog, newsletter, Google Business Profile, social media, review sites, or directories. There are A LOT of little details to plan and track for every single one. And, those little details are different across the board.
Whether a business owner focuses on one social media platform or if they try to take on regular posts to a handful of different platforms, the process can quickly become overwhelming. The more methods you incorporate, then the more it can feel like you're juggling 100 different sized balls with one arm tied behind your back and hundreds of people yelling about what you need to do to keep the balls in the air. This is why many small-business owners are inconsistent with their social media updates. (I can count myself among that group, to be honest.)
Combining Tools to Make Your Work Easier
To make everyone's job easier by keeping the info within easy reach and the details a little more organized, I created a single Google Sheet that contains much of what you need to plan your business' blog and social media posts for 2021.
There are lots of Blog Planners and Social Media Calendars out there. It's where I got the idea for this tool. But I never understood why these templates were separate from one another since we tend to use our blog and social media accounts to promote the same campaigns. By having separate tools, they become just more things to manage - and, so, not really that helpful.
By combining the two types of planning calendars (and incorporating the info you always seem to need but never have around), you now have a single content calendar. And, by making your work easier and the details easier to manage, you will increase the chance that your marketing campaigns will help you reach your goals.
What you will find on Deer Heart Consulting's Blog & Social Media Content Planner
INSTRUCTIONS on how to use the Google Sheet
Individual tabs/sheets for PLANNING & TRACKING DETAILS for your:
Blog
Newsletter
Google Business Profile
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Twitter
LinkedIn
2021 HOLIDAY DATES and other special dates and EVENTS to use as inspiration, including lists of random national holidays.
2021 IMAGE SIZES FOR EACH SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM that is listed above. Specifically, I share the sizing for:
Profile Image
Cover Image
Portrait Post
Landscape Post
Square Post
Special Posts, like Facebook Stories
Plus links to resources with a more robust list of image sizes, including Ad sizes.
FREQUENCY OF POSTS FOR EACH SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM, including:
the minimum number of posts you should do each day or week
the maximum number of posts to do in a day
the suggested sweet-spot of daily posts
A place to keep CAMPAIGN / TOPIC IDEAS
2021 PLANNING CALENDAR to map out when you will post each campaign to each platform.
I put the entire year on one sheet so you just need to scroll rather than jump from tab to tab to find the right date.
If you follow the instructions, entries will become color-coded for easy overview.and evaluation.
Suggestions on WHEN TO START PLANNING YOUR CAMPAIGNS.
A tab to store the links and details for your REGULARLY SHARED CONTENT, such as specific web pages and blog posts.
Links to OVERVIEWS FOR EACH PLATFORM'S BUSINESS PROFILE SYSTEM
If you already have a planning calendar or use a social media scheduling tool, you may still find the charts for frequency and image size to be useful, so here they are.
How Often to Post on Social Media
If you are a small business owner who is just starting to focus on your social media and Google Business Profile, then let the "Suggested" number of posts be a goal you work towards. Don't overwhelm yourself or try to do more than you have time for. The most important thing for you is to learn how to be consistent, even if posting less often, and to post quality content.
Image Sizes for Each Social Media Platform (2021)
I often wonder how hard it would be for the different social media companies to collaborate just a little bit so things like image sizes were more uniform. The formatting of an image is dependent on the device it is viewed on, not the website showing it. The way it is now, users have to design and format images and graphics for each site. And when a graphic has tables, icons, multiple colors, a variety of fonts, etc. (like the one below), it becomes super time-consuming to design multiple versions - so, it doesn't happen and it may look shoddy on one or more sites. #Lame #RantOver
Who wants to track down image sizes for each social media platform? Apparently, I did, because below is a handy quick reference for you with the specs for the main image sizes on the top sites. Right click on the image to save for future reference (or download my Google Sheet template at the bottom of this post, because it's saved there, too.)
This quick reference includes image sizing for:
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Twitter
and, Google Business
The sizes listed are for:
Profile photo
Cover Image
An image post with portrait (vertical) orientation
An image post with landscape (horizontal) orientation
An image post that is square
Facebook Story
Facebook Event Cover
Instagram Story
LinkedIn Story
Pinterest Stories
You can also visit Falcon.io for a comprehensive image size list and PDF cheat sheets.
The Complete Tool via Google Sheets
I hope you find this post and the Google Sheet template tool helpful. Cheers and Happy St. Patrick's Day.
Click here to learn how Irish pirates kidnapped a kid of a ruling-class Roman colonizer and how he eventually escaped but, tragically, returned to the Emerald Isle to convert untold numbers of indigenous Picts to Christianity.