Is there a difference between planning a social media calendar and planning a profitable social media calendar? Yes and no. 

The steps of planning your social media calendar are largely the same. 

But when your #1 goal is to increase sales, you’ll publish different content than if your #1 goal was to reach new customers. 

If you want a profitable social media calendar, you should know the five best practices for creating one. And you should get the tools that’ll make driving social media sales so much easier. Luckily, today I’m sharing both – keep scrolling! 

Best Practices for a Profitable Social Media Calendar

• Understand that not every post will drive sales. One social media post can’t do everything. Some will be shareable which will help you reach new customers. Some will be educational which will help customers understand your product. And others will position your product as the solution to your customer’s problems – those are the ones that drive sales. 

• Every social media calendar needs a balance of content that drives awareness, content that educates, and content that converts.

• Continually review your social media analytics to determine what posts are driving link clicks and website taps. 

• Plan a variety of content that drives sales. While it’ll vary for everyone’s unique community, posts that articulate your customer’s problem and position your product as the solution are most likely to drive sales. User-generated content that shows how customers are using and benefiting from your product also drive sales. Memes that are strategic and related to a new product drive sales. So do educational graphics, especially for new products. 

• Carefully plan your launches as launch week is the biggest opportunity to increase your social media sales. Get my Black Friday Marketing Guide – while it was created for Black Friday, it can be used during any launch week. 

Tools for a Profitable Social Media Calendar

• Social Media Calendar – If you enjoy something, you’re more likely to stick with it so find a content planning system that works for you. 

• Social Media Insights & Google Analytics – Instead of guessing, use data to learn what content is driving sales. Your social media insights will tell you what posts drive link clicks and website taps, and your Google Analytics will tell you where customers are coming from and how they navigate your site.

• Chat GPT – I do not (repeat: do not) recommend using AI to write captions or create content. AI content feels fake, cringe, and it doesn’t help you build an engaged community that’s obsessed with what you sell. BUT! I love using ChatGPT to brainstorm blog post ideas. You can generate dozens of topics instantly, tweak them for your community, and write the blog posts yourself. Then you can break up the blog post into carousel posts, reels, and email newsletters. 

• Social Media Templates – Once you have content ideas, streamline your creative process with post templates and story templates. You’ll be able to create more content in less time while maintaining your brand guidelines. 

• Social Media Report – Track what posts are driving sales with a monthly social media report template. 

How have you increased your sales through social media? Drop your tips in the comments to help other small business owners!

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First things first, hi! I’m Sarah—social media manager for food & wellness brands. If you liked this blog post and want more marketing tips, tricks, and bev recs, here are a few ways to do just that:

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