Category Archives: B2B

Think about the last time you flipped through a confusing instruction manual. Where does that piece go? How do these parts fit together? If the instructions are subpar, you get frustrated and wind up looking for an explainer video some random person posted online.

If we can follow the storyline, we understand. If not, we get lost in the chaos. Information design aims to avoid confusion by presenting data in a way that’s easy to understand.

As a marketer, information design makes it simpler to share complex ideas — whether you’re distributing an annual report or getting buy-in for a new campaign. In this post, we’ll walk through the basics of information design, how to put it to use, and the tools you need to start applying it to your work.

Information design is integral to everyday life. For example, we follow a recipe to whip up a meal or navigate a museum using signs and exhibit explanations. When used effectively, it can help people complete a task, solve a problem, understand complex data, or follow a set of directions.

You may be thinking that information design sounds a lot like data visualization. While both are tied to graphic design and a core set of design principles, key differences set them apart.

Confused? You’re not the only one. The nuances between the two can be challenging to discern. The main thing to remember is that information design is about effectiveness and function, while data visualization is more about visual appeal and aesthetics. Both enhance a viewer’s ability to comprehend data, but only information design weaves storytelling into the mix.

Luckily, a set of principles exists that will help you turn complex information into attractive, coherent content.

Information Design Principles

Most fields have a set of guidelines to keep processes clear and consistent. For example, writers follow style guides, engineers adhere to code standards, and information designers practice design thinking.

Design thinking is a process for creative problem solving that puts people first. Like UX design, which considers the users’ needs above all else, information design principles are human-centered and give designers a process to follow. The goal is to ensure people don’t feel overwhelmed or confused as they navigate information.

While the principles are listed in a particular order below, know that this process isn’t always linear. You may have to repeat a step or jump back and forth between two to clarify information. Like all guidelines, you have to find what works for your situation and intention.

1. Empathize.

It’s essential to understand a problem before creating the solution. That’s why the first step in information design is about setting aside any assumptions so you can focus on users and their needs.

Start by getting curious. Ask questions, observe your audience’s behaviors, engage people in conversation, and empathize to understand their true motivations or problems. Use interviews, surveys, focus groups, or polls to learn what solution people really need. The aim is to understand how people may interact with the final design to make it as effective as possible — but know the design will only be as good as the information you collect.

2. Define the core problem.

Once you’ve collected information from your target audience, you need to synthesize it and define the core problem to be solved. Ideally, you center it around the people you’re aiming to help instead of your own needs.

For example, say you want to create a product page for a new portable speaker that your company will release. You may say, “We want to hit our sales goal, so we need to make a product page that’s focused on converting people into customers.” Instead, think about your customers and redefine the problem as, “People are looking for a speaker that can go anywhere, have great sound, and last for years.”

Defining the problem with your audience in mind changes the way designers, writers, and marketers approach the solution. And it often sparks creative ideas, which leads right into the next stage.

3. Ideate and brainstorm.

Not all ideas have the same impact. That’s why it’s essential to encourage everyone involved in the information design process to flex their creativity in this phase.

Give your tried-and-true brainstorming techniques a go, but don’t be afraid to experiment with new methods. Techniques like mind-mapping, brainwriting, free association, S.C.A.M.P.E.R, and storyboarding can stimulate ideas. Get as many ideas as you can for both the design and the story right from the start.

Once you’ve condensed your ideas down to a carefully curated list, map out your story outline to get a feel for how people will interact with and understand your design. This outline will serve as the foundation for the first iterations.

4. Prototype your ideas.

You likely landed on one or two strong ideas for the story and design. The prototype phase is where you expand upon those ideas to identify the best possible solution.

Prototypes are typically low-cost, simplified iterations, so don’t spend all of your resources perfecting the first version. Instead, focus on the visual hierarchy to make your story stand out. Then, before moving on to the next step, share the prototype with people involved in the project to make sure the information is accurate, precise, engaging, and easily understood.

5. Test your designs.

When your design is robust enough to explain your idea, it’s time to share it and collect feedback. Send it to teammates within your company who may provide insight or gather a group of people in your audience.

Take note of everyone’s reactions. Are they confused by the storyline or design? Do they know what steps to take? Is the information clear and accurate? Do people read or watch to the end?

Give people a few days to sit with the prototype and gather feedback. When you feel you have enough information, make any necessary tweaks. You may have to repeat this step multiple times because, often, the feedback inspires you to redefine the problem and rethink your story.

Information Design Examples

While there’s a particular way to approach information design, the design possibilities are near endless. Let’s look at some ways it’s used in business and marketing to help spark your ideas.

1. Media Economy Report Vol.13, Bureau Oberhaeuser

Industry trends don’t have to be a bore. This report from MAGNA GLOBAL acts as a thought leadership piece to share insights on where the eCommerce industry is heading and how the customer experience is changing. A blend of copy and well-designed graphics gives an overview of forces affecting the industry, highlights key takeaways, and provides predictions on how eCommerce will evolve.

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2. Advanced Keyword Research Tutorial, Brian Dean

Information design can go beyond written content. This explainer video from Backlinko gives life to the standard “how-to” post with a visually appealing design, animation, and clear instructions. If you want to experiment with content beyond blog posts, infographics, or reports, a video may be just the content for your next information design project.

 

3. The Deal Machine, Elisabetta Calabritto

Mergers and acquisitions require a lot of research, but this design makes reading about the challenges companies face downright enjoyable. It’s an excellent example of how information design isn’t just about interpreting charts and visualizing studies—it also incorporates graphic elements that delight the eyes. Large quote blocks, relevant images, and color influence how people comprehend information, so make sure to consider the visual flow when creating your design.

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4. Not Another State of Marketing Report, HubSpot

Marketing is constantly evolving, and people need to keep up with the latest trends, strategies, and stats. HubSpot knows this. Their annual report reflects their industry expertise, with chapters dedicated to each marketing niche. Need to know the latest SEO strategies? Skip to Chapter Four. This example is a lesson in knowing your audience, providing the data they need, and packaging it up in a design that’s easy on the eyes.

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5. Click & Collect: Reinventing Online Grocery Experience, Netguru

Case studies are necessary for educating your audience and providing proof that your product or service works. Netguru did a great job creating a case study that’s simple to scan and fun to scroll through. Interactive graphics catch your eye and explain how the product works. But my favorite moment had to be learning how the automated guided vehicles work.

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Information Design Tools

Everyone has their favorite tools, whether it be for note-taking, project management, graphic design, or content management. If your specialty is marketing, the following tools can help you put together cohesive, attractive content — without having to learn complex software.

Certain tools are more intricate than others, though, so loop in your design team if necessary. They are the experts, after all! Here are some valuable tools to consider:

• Canva: A graphic design platform that is simple for non-designers to quickly get the hang of to create presentations, infographics, reports, and more.
• Visme: Ideal for both experienced designers and newbies, this graphic design platform gives a variety of templates so you can create videos, infographics, documents, charts, and graphics.
• Crello: Full of trendy templates, Crello is a graphic design tool with layouts for social media posts, marketing materials, presentations, and more. It also features a collection of royalty-free photos so you can spice up your information design documents.
• Adobe Creative Cloud: A must-have for creatives, Adobe CC offers supreme control over your creations. Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and Premiere provide powerful tools for starting a design entirely from scratch.
• Procreate: This app is for artists who create digital paintings (think animations, graphics, and more). It’s more for designers than for marketers, but it’s perfect for those who prefer to work by hand before converting their work into programs like Adobe CC.

In a world where people are constantly bombarded with information, focusing on clear communication can improve conversions, increase customer satisfaction, and help you hit your goals. Effective information design makes it easy for people to gain insights and learn about your company. With the right data, story, and tools in hand, you can design content that’s just right for your audience—and hopefully prevent the frustration that comes from an incomprehensible set of instructions.

Time is one of the most valuable resources we have — that’s why efficiency is something so many people strive for. The good news is that there are a plethora of marketing tools available today with the power to help you boost productivity and streamline monotonous processes or tasks — ad management tools are among the many options. 

In this blog post, we’ll talk about what ad management is, outline high-quality ad management software, and explain why they’re beneficial for all businesses.

What is advertising management?

Advertising management is overseeing different marketing activities and responsible individuals to ensure that campaigns are running effectively and target marketings are being reached. 

Depending on your business needs, advertising management can focus on various metrics that contribute to campaign success, like ROI or conversions or media placements that make sense for where your target audiences are. 

As there is often a lot to keep track of, many teams choose to use advertising management tools, which we’ll cover below.

Advertising Management Software

What are ad management tools?

Ad (advertising) management software and tools have the power to streamline and automate different aspects of advertising, including ad and campaign planning, collaboration, execution, sharing, monitoring, and analysis.

Why use ad management tools?

Ad management tools have many benefits. Here are some examples:

• Save advertisers and marketers valuable time.
• Improve productivity and efficiency.
• Make collaboration simple.
• Run cross-channel campaigns with ease.
• Optimize your campaign structure.
• Create insightful and customized reports with powerful analytics and reporting tools.
• Visualize your data in a way that makes sense for your business and goals.
• Increase the chances of successful ads and campaigns among your target audience.

Now, let’s review seven powerful ad management tools, meant for different types of ads, goals, and teams.

10 Best Ad Management Tools

1. HubSpot Ad Management Software

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HubSpot’s Ad Management & Tracking software helps you with your inbound marketing strategy and campaigns. You can run all of your campaigns out of this tool from start to finish — meaning, the HubSpot supports ad creation, management, and reporting across different networks.

Other unique and notable features you get from HubSpot’s Ad Tracking Software are:

• Automate ad targeting using Lists that will sync your leads and audience for targeting opportunities.
• Manage ad campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google.
• Report on ROI and leads from the platforms you share your ads on (e.g., LinkedIn, Google).
• Understand audience behavior by identifying which contacts took action and engaged with your ads.
• Align ads with your other marketing efforts — this is simple because HubSpot Ads live with Marketing Hub.
• Use data from your HubSpot CRM to inform your campaigns and help you determine which ads are most likely to convert contacts into paying customers.

Price of HubSpot Ad Tracking Software

Free, or you can start with/ upgrade to a paid plan depending on your needs and goals.

2. AdRoll

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AdRoll is a platform for ecommerce businesses that focuses on ads, email marketing, AI-based product recommendations, and cross-channel measurement. The platform acts as a home base for all of your business’s marketing and advertising activity. Here are some of AdRoll’s other notable capabilities:

• Personalize dynamic ads using AI-powered product recommendations to target your audience members.
• Share targeted videos and display ads to foster emotional connections with your audience.
• Create relevant product offers, dynamic ads, emails, and other forms of outreach using data you’ve collected about your customers along with AdRoll’s 1.2 billion shopper profiles.
• Use advanced measurement and attribution to identify growth opportunities and determine customer lifetime value (CLV).
• Target your audience with paid digital media and account-based ad campaigns by integrating AdRoll with your CRM.

Price of AdRoll

Plans range from $0-$19 depending on your needs.

3. RollWorks

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RollWorks is an account-based platform meant to help you identify target accounts, engage them via ads and various channels, and measure your impact and success in doing so. The tool can identify target accounts, prioritize target accounts, automate various sales tasks, and account-based advertising. Here are some more things you can do with RollWorks:

• Reach and engage highly-qualified accounts with ads, lead-gen tactics, and targeted account-based marketing (ABM) programs.
• Use account-based ads to identify your target audience and encourage those people to visit your website.
• Create retargeting ads to bring leads back to your site.
• Integrate RollWorks with your HubSpot CRM to reach contacts that matter most to your business and view RollWorks data within the CRM.
• Use dynamic messages to personalize your ads and make them relevant.
• Automate your sales emails and follow-ups to save time and increase chances of engagement.
• Easily track the success of your campaigns, account-based programs, sales automation sequences.

Price of RollWorks

The Starter plan costs $975 per month, and you can upgrade from there.

4. Influ2

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Influ2 is a person-based ad platform meant specifically for B2B. With the tool, show your ads to specific people and then measure the success of the ads among those targeted. Here are some other things you can do with Influ2: 

• Select individuals to see your ads so they’re highly-relevant and targeted.
• Improve brand awareness and recognition by only displaying curated ads and information to hand-selected audience members.
• Connect Influ2 with your HubSpot CRM to sync contacts and targeting efforts with Sales and Marketing.
• Use the Name-by-Name Tracker feature to see the names, emails, titles, companies, LinkedIn profiles of the people who interact with your ads.
• Determine the best time to reach out to a prospect by tracking their engagement via views and clicks.
• Keep your current customers engaged with person-based ads by offering relevant and informative content when they need it.

Price of Influ2

Contact Influ2 for demo and quote.

5. Adstream

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Adstream is an all-in-one digital asset management and ad delivery solution for broadcasters, publishers, and online services. It’s a Connectivity Suite, meaning it integrates and connects all aspects of your marketing including digital asset management and delivery, traffic management, media automation, and analytics. Here are some more notable capabilities:

• Use a single workflow across marketing teams for total transparency and easy collaboration while organizing, creating, and sharing digital content.
• Distribute your digital content among Adstream’s 79,000 global media destinations that the platform can connect you to.
• Auto-adjust your content so it suits the different areas it’s being shared in around the world.
• Add your incoming ads to the Traffic Management Inbox — here, you can easily review those ads as well as make edits, approve, and send them to another individual or team (e.g. Production).
• Automate different workflows, or aspects of your workflows, to increase efficiency such as processes related to clearance or usage rights.
• Measure the success of your digital campaigns and processes behind them with analytics, real-time reports, and tracking.

Price of Adstream

Contact Adstream for a quote.

6. 6Sense

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6Sense is an account-engagement platform with account-based advertising capabilities. The platform uses AI, big data, and machine learning to help you understand and identify your target audience’s buying behavior, prioritize sales and marketing accounts, and create and share personalized and engaging campaigns/ content. Let’s look at some more features:

• Engage your target audience members at scale with highly relevant, unique, cross-channel messages.
• Use account data to create targeted display ads that help you reach key players at target accounts.
• Align Sales and Marketing as a single revenue team on the platform to accurately measure your account-based success.
• Segment data about your target accounts for insight into the success of your campaigns among those specific accounts.
• Use AI to help you predict prospect and account behavior throughout the buyer’s journey so you know when to target them with your ads, campaigns, and personalized messaging.
• Refer to the platform’s Intent Data to discover which accounts are in the market for a product or service like yours with buying signals on first and third-party websites.

Price of 6Sense

Contact 6Sense for pricing information.

7. Celtra

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Celtra is a cloud-based software that automates creative production. With the platform, all aspects of collaboration will be streamlined and more efficient thanks to its cloud-based nature — team members can design, approve, and share digital assets among markets, campaigns, and more. Here are some more features to be aware of:

• Use the Ad Builder’s templates to design unique and branded ads without any code — these ads can include ecommerce features as well as video and animation.
• Get real-time reports that include over 100 metrics and dimensions to better understand the success of your creative work, campaigns, and ads.
• Build user-friendly ad products to help you engage prospects.
• Customize your ad products to suit your business with features like shoppable video, product galleries, and text and graphic overlays.
• Gain access to Celtra’s support team and hundreds of on-demand videos and tutorials to help you achieve your goals on the platform.

Price of Celtra

Contact Celtra for pricing information.

8. Smartly.io

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Smartly.io is an ad management software for social media advertising. Its automated tool will help you build effective advertisements and experiences for your audiences on the social channels that matter most to your business. Algorithms also help you optimize your creative assets based on audience data, and you can bulk-update your ads in real-time. Some additional features to know:

• Algorithms browse through your product catalog and data sources to create custom creative templates with copy variations based on target audience data. 
• Custom KPIs and attribution windows for tracking performance and obtaining actionable insights that help you make effective decisions backed by data. 
• Modular creative testing to ensure that you use the right kinds of ads in the right channels.

Price of Smartly.io

Smartly.io offers a self-service plan or a fully-managed plan; both charge a percentage fee of media spend. Contact Smartly.io for specific information. 

9. Marin Software

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Marin Software is an all-in-one platform for advertisers to manage search, social, and ecommerce ad spend. Its automated tools help you identify growth opportunities for search ads across major search engines, align your social channels to drive growth, and integrate your product feeds to optimize shopping campaigns. Let’s look at some more features:

• Measure, analyze, and optimize all ad spend with first and third-party data to help you maximize ROI with informed targeting. 
• Automated process for position-based bidding in search engines. 
• Multi-channel advertising insights in one unified dashboard. 
• The option to use managed services where in-house experts partner with you to drive results. 

Price of Marin Software

Contact Marin Software for pricing.

10. StackAdapt

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StackAdapt is a self-service advertising platform that digs deep into your business data to get unique insights that help you develop and deliver high-impact campaigns to your target audiences. It’s best for creative ad management, as its high-quality creative studio helps you match the most effective creative assets with campaign KPIs on a platform-by-platform basis. Here are some more things you can do with StackAdapt:

• Multi-channel targeting for native, display, video, and audio ads
• Access to a large ecosystem of media partners and publishers to advertise on.
• Preview all ads on desktop or mobile, across 500+ publishers, and 23 different verticals to optimize them before sharing with your audiences. 
• Machine learning and AI automate performance decisions, so your campaigns are most effective. 
• Customizable reporting stack to help you obtain the most critical metrics. 

Price of StackAdapt

Contact StackAdapt for pricing.

Grow Better With Ad Management Tools

Your marketing team is bound to grow better with an effective ad management tool — don’t be afraid to experiment with various options to find the one that meets your needs and goals.

Instagram marketing can be a hit or miss. Especially as you start implementing your social media strategy, it might take a while for your posts to start performing well.

When it does, your first instinct is to figure out what worked well and replicate it in future posts – a great move. What you can also do is boost your post to double down on its performance with a broader audience.

Find out how Instagram promotions work, how to set one up, and best practices to keep in mind when running one.

How are Instagram promotions different from ads?

Promotions give a second life to posts that have already been viewed and likely performed well. Ads, on the other hand, feature new content and are used as part of a campaign.

With a promotion, the goal is to reach a broader audience for more brand awareness and engagement. Or perhaps you want higher conversions on a particular post.

With an ad, however, you’re likely targeting a specific audience with a particular message in mind.

Whether it’s an ad or a promotion, it will show up the same way on Instagram with the “sponsored” label under the account name.

Instagram Promotion Goals

There are three main goals you can have when running an Instagram promotion:

• More profile visits
• More direct messages
• More website visits

The goal you choose will determine where users are led after clicking on the CTA. While the first two goals will keep users on the social platform, the third will lead users to your landing page (LP).

Knowing your goal ahead of time is key to preparing your assets and having a plan for the influx in traffic, whether it’s on your profile, your DMs, or LP.

The first thing to know about running an Instagram ad is that you must have a business account. However, you may not have to link your Instagram account to a Facebook account to run the ad, a previous requirement up until June 2020, if this will be your first promotion.

1. Access the post you want to promote and click on the “Promote” button.

For Stories or Highlights, access your archive, select the post and select ‘Boost.’

2. Select a goal.

If you select “More Website Visits,” you’ll have to choose a destination for your users as well as your action button, i.e. your CTA. Here are the six button options:

• Learn More
• Shop Now
• Watch More
• Contact Us
• Book Now
• Sign Up

3. Define your audience.

When you choose “Automatic,” Instagram will simply target users who match your current followers’ interests and demographics, specifically those who have engaged with your content before. With the “Create Your Own” option, you can filter your audience by location, interest, age, and gender.

4. Set up a daily budget and a promotion duration.

Your daily budget range from $1 to $1,000 and the promotion can last anywhere from 24 hours to 30 days. Instagram recommends starting with a least $5 to reach a good pool of users.

5. Review your promotion and click “Create promotion.”

One thing to note is that Instagram will run your promotion on feeds, Stories, and the Explore tab – regardless of where it was originally published. Based on initial data, it will determine to run it where it performs best.

Once you submit your ad, it will go through an approval process, which usually takes 24 hours.

Best Practices for Building a Good Instagram Promotion

1. Promote top-performing content.

While you may be tempted to promote posts that need a little love, resist the urge. You may end up wasting money on a post that doesn’t have great potential.

If your brand is considering boost a one-off post, focus instead on posts with already high engagement.

Why? Well, these posts have already performed well with your followers. This is a good indication that they may perform well with the audience you haven’t yet reached.

2. Make sure your landing page is mobile-friendly.

Instagram is a mobile-first application.

As such, if you’re taking users to a website, make sure it offers a good user experience for mobile users. If not, you’ll end up with a high bounce rate and a low return on ad spend (ROAS).

A few things to keep in mind when designing for mobile:

• Have a single-column layout – This makes the page much easier to scan and navigate.
• Avoid too many images and videos – They may up too much space and crowd the site. And they can cause slower loading speeds.
• Keep your copy short – What seems like perfectly spaced paragraphs on a desktop can easily become overwhelming on mobile.

3. Know your goal is ahead of time.

It’s important that you prepare your Instagram profile and/or landing page ahead of your promotion.

You want to make sure you’re ready to convert those users once they’ve clicked on your ad. Otherwise, what’s the point?

If your goal was to get more profile visits, be sure to have a visually appealing grid, a descriptive bio, and updated contact information.

If you’re hoping for more messages, consider adding a question in your ad to encourage conversation.

The earlier you start preparing, the more ideas you can develop to attract and convert your target audience.

 

My social media feeds are made up of 90% memes.

They’re usually posted by people I follow but every once in a while, a brand will post a meme and add their own spin on it. When it’s done right, those are the brands whose content I engage with the most.

When I talk with most marketers about how they generate leads and fill the top of their sales funnel, most say outbound marketing.

However, a lot of innovative and successful businesses are actually embracing the art of inbound marketing.

So, what’s the difference between inbound and outbound? This post will walk you through it along with the benefits and drawbacks of each strategy.

From email blasts to outsourced telemarketing, I call these methods “outbound marketing” because marketers push their messages out far and wide hoping that it resonates with that needle in the haystack.

I think outbound marketing techniques are getting less and less effective over time for two reasons.

First, your average human today is inundated with at least 2,000 outbound marketing interruptions per day and is figuring out more and more creative ways to block them out, including ad blocker browser extensions, caller ID, email spam filtering, and more.

Second, the cost of learning something new or shopping online using search engines, blogs, and social media is now much lower than going to a seminar at the Marriott or flying to a trade show in Las Vegas.

Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing

Inbound marketing is a strategy where you create content or social media tactics that spread brand awareness so people learn about you, might go to your website for information, show interest in your product, and potentially make a purchase.

While some outbound strategies take lots of time and effort and may yield no leads, inbound strategies allow you to engage an audience of people that you can more easily qualify as a prospect of lead.

The best analogy I can come up with is that traditional marketers looking to garner interest from new potential customers are like lions hunting in the jungle for elephants.

The elephants used to be in the jungle in the ’80s and ’90s when they learned their trade, but they don’t seem to be there anymore. They have all migrated to the watering holes on the savannah – the internet in our case.

So, rather than continuing to hunt in the jungle, I recommend setting up shop at the watering hole or turning your website into its own watering hole.

Transforming Your Marketing from Outbound to Inbound

Rather than doing outbound marketing to the masses of people who are trying to block you out, I advocate for inbound marketing, where you help yourself be visible to people already interested in your industry.

To do this, you need to set your website up like a “hub” for your industry. One that attracts visitors naturally through search engines, blogging, and social media.

I believe most marketers today spend 90% of their efforts on outbound marketing and 10% on inbound marketing, and I advocate that those ratios flip.

To do so, follow the “Attract, Engage, Delight” model.

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To attract your audience, develop a strong content strategy.

You want to have content for every stage in the marketing funnel. For consumers in the awareness stage, social media and ads will work great to introduce users to your brand and product.

Blogging will position you as a credible and trustworthy source within your industry and allow your target audience to find you.

During this process, it’s also important to develop an SEO strategy to ensure your website is optimized for search.

Once visitors turn into leads, you can nurture them through email marketing, conversational chatbots, and automated workflows.

In the “Delight” stage, your goal is to ensure your audience can easily connect with your sales and service teams, and resolve their issues quickly.

Inbound marketing is all about meeting your audience where they’re at. You’ll quickly find that your marketing efforts are performing better and helping your brand grow.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in 2010 but has been updated for comprehensiveness.

What do cross-country road trips, wedding speeches, and social media marketing have in common? Planning.

You could improvise all three, but it’s better to have a plan for what direction you’re heading — especially when developing your social media content strategy.

By now, most marketers recognize that social media plays an integral role in an effective inbound marketing strategy. And with so many social networks available to us, it’s important to stay organized and have a plan for when and what you’re going to share on these platforms.

Let’s dive into our list of top tools to stay organized and on top of your game.

Social Media Content Calendar Tools to Plan Your Messaging

1. HubSpot’s Downloadable Template for Excel

Content Calendar

Price: Free

Download This Template

Marketers might already use Excel for different types of reports and data analysis in their roles, but this multifaceted tool is perfect for social media content calendar organization, too. Excel can be customized according to the priorities and metrics your team is focused on, so it’s a great option for planning ahead.

The good news? We’ve already done the heavy lifting for you by creating a free, downloadable social media content calendar template using Microsoft Excel. Marketers can use this template to easily plan out individual social media posts — monthly or annually — while keeping an eye on bigger picture events, holidays, publications, and partnerships.

• Use the Monthly Planning Calendar Tab above to get a bird’s-eye view of what’s coming down the content pipeline in a given month.
• In the Content Repository tab, you can add the content you’ll be publishing on this tab to keep track of which pieces have been promoted already and to easily recall older content that can be re-promoted.
• On the Social Network Update tabs, you can draft and plan out social media posts in advance. These tabs are for organizational purposes, then you’ll manually upload the content of the posts to a social media publisher.

For more on how to use the templates, check out this in-depth guide from my colleague Lindsay Kolowich.

This free resource can be used to draft social media posts, or it can be bulk-uploaded into a publishing app to maximize efficiency. (HubSpot customers: You can use this spreadsheet to organize content and upload it directly into Social Inbox. For instructions on how to do this, check out the template’s cover sheet here.)

Why we like this social media tool:

Marketers with small teams and heavy workloads will love this intuitive template. It acts as a social media content planner, tracker, and archive. This makes it perfect for sharing your social plan with stakeholders and referring back to it when you need to repurpose old content.

2. Google Drive

Content Calendar and Asset Organization

Price: Free for personal use. Google Workspace plans for businesses start at $6 per month.

Google Drive has several helpful features that make it easy for social media marketers to build out an effective content calendar.

Here’s an example of how a team might use Google Calendar to track both their editorial and social media calendars to make sure they’re aligning posts with new blog content. These calendars can be easily shared with multiple teams to avoid scheduling conflicts and ensure that campaigns are aligned.

Marketers can also use shared Google Sheets to schedule posts on social media, track the status of different pieces of content, and assign tasks to team members — all on the same platform as their calendar.

With the help of Google Docs, users can keep comments all in one place and collaborate on different projects without emailing back-and-forth or having to schedule a meeting. This is a particularly useful feature when editing content for social media, which may need to be drafted and approved quickly.

Why we like this social media tool:

Google has several products that can be used together to create quick, seamless workflows. Whether you’re publishing dozens of posts per day across multiple platforms, or ramping up one channel for your freelance business, you’ll find value in the Google Drive system. The best part is that HubSpot customers can link their Google Drive accounts to the HubSpot portal to easily upload files from Drive into the HubSpot software.

3. Loomly

Content Planning, Creation, Publishing, and Calendar

Price: 15-day free trial. The Base plan is $25 per month for 2 users and 10 accounts when you choose the annual agreement.

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If you want more mileage out of your content calendar, you can turn to an all-in-one content planning and publishing platform such as Loomly.

Loomly offers tools beyond content scheduling and management. This tool goes further, providing inspiration and direction to help you create content. It also allows you to manage your content assets, schedule posts, view them as a list or a calendar, and analyze what posts are working vs which ones need work.

Loomly’s most robust feature set includes a collaboration and approval environment so that teams can submit mockups, provide comments, see version logs, and flag for approval. This can help you streamline processes for efficiency when there are “too many cooks in the kitchen” on a particular project.

Why we like this social media tool:

If your team is responsible for organic and paid social, this tool can do both. And for your team who wants to avoid using their personal account for social media duties, they can respond to comments and replies directly in Loomly — that means they won’t need to login to each native platform to engage with followers.

4. Trello

Task Management and Content Calendar

Price: Free for individual use. The Standard plan starts at $5 per user per month, billed annually.

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Looking for an organizational tool that’s highly effective for team collaboration? Try Trello. This platform offers a full calendar view which makes it easy to visualize what content is going out, and when. More specifically, social media managers can use Trello’s flexible assignment “cards” and customizable “boards” and “lists” to map out to-do lists, manage a content calendar, plan a campaign, and store brainstorm ideas.

You’re not limited to just one structure, though. Users can customize boards according to their needs. For example, a team could create a board to organize social media posts for a given week, on a specific platform, or post ideas around a topic, such as a campaign or awareness day.

Why we like this social media tool:

Trello cards can be assigned to different team members, marked with due dates, and commented on. Users can even customize labels with different publication statuses so the entire team can see the progress of their social media posts and when they’re due on the calendar. The labels could also indicate different social networks that content is being published on.

5. SproutSocial

Social Publishing and Content Calendar

Price: The Standard plan starts at $89 per month for five social profiles, billed annually.

Sprout Social’s social media calendar and publishing tool make it easy for teams or individuals to plan and schedule all of their social posts. You can schedule content to automatically post to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and more.

You can also tag each social post and add notes to better track and report on your posting strategy and campaigns. Additionally, their publishing suite includes a tool called Optimal Send Times which analyzes your social media data and automatically publishes at a time your audience is most engaged.

Why we like this social media tool:

Coming up with social media content ideas isn’t always easy. Sprout Social’s social listening tool lets marketers like you uncover niche conversations that your audience is interested in. From there, you can join the conversation for brand awareness or start your own conversation on the topic to grow your following.

6. Evernote

Content Calendar, Task Management, and Asset Organization

Price: The Basic plan is free. Create a custom template using the Personal plan for $7.99 per month.

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Evernote is a note-taking app that marketers can use to keep track of all the moving parts that comprise a social media campaign.

The tool also features yearly, monthly, weekly, and hourly logs, which make it easy to keep track of when you’re publishing content on social media, when you’re producing blog content, and other team-wide priorities. (Evernote offers customizable templates for each of these that can be downloaded into the app.)

Another useful feature is Evernote’s Web Clipper extension for Chrome. Marketers can use this tool to easily save links to their Evernote Notebook for sharing later on.

Why we like this social media tool:

The Evernote mobile app also boasts some interesting features to help marketers keep their social content ideas straight. For example, you can easily snap a photo and save it to your Evernote files for review later. This feature is of particular value for social content creators looking to maintain a backlog of photos to publish on Instagram.

7. Hootsuite

Social Publishing and Content Calendar

Price: The Professional plan starts at $49 per month and starts with a free 14-day trial.

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Hootsuite offers a built-in Planner tool to help you create campaigns, identify publishing gaps, and collaborate with your content creation team. Its primary features are in social publishing so that you can release content to your networks in advance, but it also has rich features for collaboration and post approvals.

You can even curate content from other sources without logging into your account. Once your content is created, you can preview it with the Composer tool, which displays according to each social network’s unique format.

Why we like this social media tool:

Cross collaboration is a big deal on just about any marketing team, and Hootsuite has a way to make this even easier. The social publishing platform comes with a built-in content library that serves as the single point of truth for your entire organization. Does your sales team need a product feature cheatsheet? Customer service looking for details on the latest product feature? All that and more can be found in your team’s Hootsuite content library.

8. Agorapulse

Social Publishing and Content Calendar

Price: The individual plan is free, or you can use the Pro plan for small teams starting at $79 per month.

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Similar to Hootsuite, Agorapulse offers social publishing tools and a content calendar so that you can manage your social media accounts with ease. This includes scheduling (or rescheduling), queuing, and bulk uploading posts, which is incredibly helpful for teams who use quarterly or monthly content plans.

Why we like this social media tool:

What makes Agorapulse different is its social inbox that allows you to manage all the interactions from various platforms in a single place. After all, content isn’t just a one-and-done activity; it’s about building awareness and engagement with your readers as well.

9. StoryChief

Content Planning and Distribution

Price: Team pricing starts at $90 per month, billed annually.

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If you want more from your content calendar than simply knowing when posts go live, StoryChief is the option for you. With StoryChief’s smart calendar, you can better strategize and plan your content strategy across channels.

It displays much more than your timetable — it also allows you to assign collaborators to tasks and filter them by campaign. StoryChief self-describes its tool as a “content distribution platform” that unifies analytics and publishing across multiple channels for a more simplified approach to content creation. Best of all, it syncs with HubSpot and all of your favorite calendar apps.

Why we like this social media tool:

Believe it or not, there are quite a few similarities between social media marketing and SEO marketing. StoryChief bridges this gap with its SEO Copywriting tool. By highlighting the areas you can improve your copy for the reader (and subsequently the search engines), you can write clearer, more engaging content that works on both social media and on your website or blog.

10. ClearVoice

Content Creation and Management

Price: Request a free consultation for pricing.

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So what about content planning and creation? ClearVoice offers content creation tools to fit into your workflow. While their big claim to fame is their Talent Network Search which allows you to find and connect to content creators to work on your projects, ClearVoice also has features for task management for internal and external collaborators.

You can create, edit, and approve projects in an interface that makes editorial management easy. It also includes a dashboard and dynamic editorial calendar with plenty of interactive functionality, and integrations with other popular software.

Why we like this social media tool:

Not every social team is working for a big agency or client. For freelance content teams who want to stay organized and on time with their social media publishing, ClearVoice offers some of the same great features at a price customized to your team.

11. Zerys

Content Creation and Management

Price: $40 per document plus $49 per month for project management.

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Zerys is another platform that matches you with your ideal content creation freelancers. However, it markets itself as a platform dedicated to content success, offering features for content planning, production, publishing, promotion, conversion, and analytics.

Why we like this social media tool:

You can manage unlimited content projects, plan keywords and titles for blog content, hire writers, and view all deadlines on an integrated calendar. With the project management features that Zerys offers, in-house writers can use the platform to produce quality work on time every time. It also integrates with HubSpot so that publishing is a breeze.

Social Media Templates

HubSpot’s Social Media Calendar Template

If you’re new to setting up social media calendars, HubSpot offers a pre-made, free, and downloadable template that you can use to schedule out full weeks of posts.

HubSpot’s Social Media Content Calendar Template for Startups

This template is very similar to the one seen above but also has tabs that work as a repository for content ideas. The template also includes helpful tips for posting on specific social media networks.

If you’re aiming to get all of your ideas down in order to develop a big-picture plan for your social assets, we recommend starting with this template.

The Benefits of Using a Social Media Content Calendar

We’re all busy, and inevitably, tasks slip through the cracks. Social media content is no exception.

Just like with blogging, a successful social media strategy requires regular publishing and engaging with followers to see positive results — whether that’s in terms of SEO, brand recognition, lead generation, or all three.

So, if you’re not already using a social media content calendar, here are three facts to pique your interest:

1. You can pivot flawlessly when plans change by using a content calendar. With a social media content calendar, marketers can plan out posts for entire weeks or months in advance, which frees up working hours to strategize for the future. The best part is that you can always leave space for breaking news or current events in your industry. Otherwise, you’ll spend valuable time each day searching the internet every day for content to share, which is a known productivity killer.
2. Grow your audience on each platform by curating content specifically for them. Social media marketers should take the time to craft custom messages for each network because the audience expects to see something different on each one. For example, your Instagram followers want to see Reels and Videos while your Twitter followers like quick sound bites and shareable quotes. Planning this content in advance using a social media calendar will save you time throughout the week and ensure you’re being thoughtful and intentional when you post on each site.
3. Optimize your social strategy by tracking the performance of your content each month. Without a calendar, social media marketers are publishing content into the void and are unable to track big-picture and past performance. With a calendar, marketers can look back and analyze which content performed best so they can adjust their strategy accordingly. If a particular type of post received a significant amount of views, you could recreate it for a different topic and see the same success.
4. Take advantage of social media holidays to tap into a new, but relevant audience. With the help of a calendar, marketers can plan for holidays and observance days, such as National Cat Day, when they can tailor their content and engage with a wider audience.

Social Media Calendar Examples

1. JotForm Social Media Calendar

JotForm’s social media calendar isn’t just visually appealing, it’s also functional. The tabs at the top reveal your social plan for every channel you execute your strategy on, including in-person or virtual events. If you’re modeling your social calendar after this one, don’t forget to include a tab for content details and who on your team will be responsible for creating the content. You might also include a separate tab for each month to keep things organized.

2. Firefly Marketing Social Media Content Calendar

Going a more traditional route with your social media calendar? Try a Google Sheets template like the one created by Firefly Marketing. Each tab is dedicated to a different month while the worksheet includes every channel you might need across the top. The rows are separated by week so you can easily identify the date and time a post is scheduled for publishing. Our favorite part of this template is the social media holiday column that is pre-populated with fun dates that your audience will love.

What is the best social media calendar?

Now that we’ve reviewed a few helpful tools to kick your social media strategy into high gear, it’s time for you to experiment with them. The best social media calendar is one that saves you time, streamlines processes, and helps you work smarter, not harder.

Several of the platforms we’ve suggested are free to use or offer a free trial. Have one person on your team test one out and report back on their findings. You might just find the tool that helps you reach your next social media KPI. Don’t forget, every social media team is different, and it could be a combination of these tools that helps you execute your strategy efficiently to drive ROI.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in 2017 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

When people arrive at your Facebook Page, where do you think they’ll look first?

I’ll give you a few hints. It’s a visual piece of content that sits at the top of your Page. Its dimensions are 820 pixels wide by 312 pixels tall. It takes up almost a quarter of the screen on most desktop browsers.

That’s right — it’s your Facebook cover photo.

A cover photo can transform your Facebook Business Page from a passive repository of your business’ activity to an inviting community. Whether you’re using Facebook to generate leads, close your next sale, or create a customer network, knowing how to create and optimize your Facebook cover photo will be essential to the success of your Page.

In this post, you’ll learn Facebook cover photo best practices with real-world examples of each tip we recommend. To get started, let’s dive into Facebook cover photo dimensions.

Sometimes called your Facebook banner, this graphic is one of the most noticeable parts of your Page. Facebook sets specific dimensions for cover photos in order to create a standard look across all Facebook Pages no matter what device they’re viewed on. Therefore, you’ll want to follow Facebook cover photo best practices and optimize your cover photo for the correct dimensions.

When you consider the Facebook cover photo dimensions above, it can be tough to balance creativity with the requirements of the platform. Mobile and desktop screens have different requirements and will display the same cover photo differently. Here’s what to look for when optimizing your cover photo for mobile and desktop devices.

How do Facebook cover photos appear on mobile screens vs. desktop screens?

It makes sense that mobile devices would display a smaller version of the cover photo than a desktop screen would, and the image below describes exactly why that happens. As you can see, there’s a lot of space around the perimeter of the photo that could be cut off when a visitor is viewing it on a mobile screen vs. a desktop screen if you’re not careful with your design.

Therefore, it’s best to place the important parts of your content in the green space. Doing this will make sure everyone can see your cover photo properly regardless of the device they’re using.

Need help getting started? Below, you’ll find Facebook cover photo templates and best practices to guide you when designing your brand’s cover photo artwork.

1. Abide by Facebook’s cover photo guidelines.

It seems like a no-brainer, but following Facebook’s cover photo guidelines is the first step to keeping your Facebook Page visible on the platform. I’d highly suggest reading through the full Page Guidelines, but here are a few important things to keep in mind for your Facebook cover photo:

• Your cover photo is public.
• Cover photos can’t be deceptive, misleading, or infringe on anyone else’s copyright.
• You can’t encourage people to upload your cover photo to their personal timelines.

If you get caught violating the above terms, Facebook could take action against your Page. And while Facebook doesn’t explicitly say what will happen if you violate their cover photo guidelines, it’ll be pretty inconvenient to have your Facebook Page removed because of a cover photo infraction.

2. Make sure your Facebook cover photo is the right size.

As I mentioned earlier, the Facebook cover photo size is 820 pixels wide by 312 pixels tall for desktop screens, and 640 pixels wide by 360 pixels tall on mobile screens.

After spending time designing the perfect cover photo, the last thing you’ll want your visitors to see is a truncated version of it. If you upload an image smaller than those dimensions, Facebook will stretch it to fit the space. That means Facebook may only display a third of the image you designed.

If you want a no-hassle way to make sure your cover photos are the right size, download our pre-sized template for Facebook cover photos.

Featured Resource: Facebook Cover Photo Templates

Download the Free Templates

3. Don’t worry about the “20% text” rule.

Back in 2013, Facebook removed all references to the 20% rule on text in cover photos, but that doesn’t mean you should use a lot of text in your design. The previous rule stated that only 20% of a cover photo could display text. Although this rule might sound restrictive, the sentiment behind it had merit — you want your visitors engaged with visuals, not a wall of text.

If you’re going to use text in your cover photo, keep it concise and let the imagery speak for itself. You can see how we struck this balance on HubSpot’s Facebook Page below.

For more cover photo inspiration, check out our Facebook Page.

4. Give your cover image a focal point.

Think of your cover photo as the portion of your Page that’s “above the fold.” If it’s distracting or confusing, people will be more likely to click off the Page.

Many of the best Facebook cover photos include a focal point along with a color scheme that aligns with the rest of the brand. Remember, your social media accounts are extensions of your business and they should make a good first impression on visitors.

Great Facebook cover photos also have ample negative space to make the subject, the copy, and the elements unique to Facebook (like the CTA button on Facebook business Pages) stand out even more.

Here’s an example of a good use of negative space from The New York Times:

And here’s another example from social media management platform Sprout Social:

5. Avoid blending the contents of your cover photo with your profile picture.

With some clever design techniques, you could manipulate your profile picture and cover photo so they appear as if they’re two parts of the same canvas.

One of Paris’ old cover photos is a great example of this:

You can still do this on your personal profile, but Facebook no longer sets up Business Pages this way. Now, as shown in the examples earlier in this article, the profile picture is completely separate from the cover photo. So, instead of merging the two photos into one, have them complement each other with similar colors or contrasting patterns while still adhering to your brand guidelines.

6. Draw attention to the action buttons on the bottom right.

You may have noticed in a few of the cover photo examples above that the primary call-to-action (CTA) buttons were different. HubSpot’s CTA button says “Follow,” while Sprout Social’s says “Sign Up.”

Depending on your business, you can launch a Page on Facebook with a unique CTA button to the bottom right of your cover photo. Take the placement of this button into consideration when designing your cover photo.

LinkedIn Learning does this in a subtle way below, placing the graphic of a person on a laptop over the “Sign Up” button, drawing your eye to that blue CTA.

Note: While it might seem like a good idea to add directional cues like an arrow to get people to click on the CTA buttons, note that those CTA buttons don’t appear the same way on the mobile app. In other words, it might be confusing to mobile users if you directly integrate the cover photo design with the CTA buttons.

7. Right-align the objects in your cover photo.

Since your profile picture is on the left, you want to add some balance to your Facebook cover photo design by placing the focus of the image on the right.

Take a look at these cover photos. Which one looks more aesthetically pleasing?

Right-aligned focus:

Left-aligned focus:

Doesn’t the right-aligned cover photo look and feel a lot better? In Samsung’s new cover photo, the biggest design elements (the profile picture, the text, and the two phones) are evenly spaced. In Samsung’s old cover photo, your attention goes immediately to the left side of the Facebook Page, causing you to miss the name of the product on the upper-right side.

Not only is adding balance a crucial element of design, but it also allows your cover photos to be more visually effective on mobile. This brings me to my next point…

8. Keep mobile users in mind.

Statista reports that 98.5% of Facebook’s user base accesses the social network from mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. That’s huge — and it’s exactly why it’s so important to keep mobile users top-of-mind when designing your Facebook cover photo.

On mobile, a much smaller portion of the cover photo is visible. The right side is typically cut out entirely.

Let’s take a look at what Cisco’s Facebook Page looks like on a desktop browser versus on Facebook’s mobile app.

Desktop:

Mobile:

It’s important to note that the text in Cisco’s cover photo doesn’t appear. While right-aligned visual elements look great, be careful not to put important content so far to the right that it gets cut off when being viewed on a mobile device.

9. Include a shortened link in your cover photo description that aligns with your Page CTA.

If you want to use your cover photo to support a Page CTA, make sure your cover photo description also includes a text CTA and links to the same offer. This way, any time people view your cover photo by itself, they can still access the link.

Here’s this practice in action on the Adobe Creative Cloud Facebook Page:

Pro tip: Shorten your links and add UTM codes to track the visitors who view your cover photo and click the link in the description. Shortening and tracking features are available in HubSpot’s Marketing Hub and with tools like Bitly.

(If you want to learn more about how to write effective call-to-action copy for your cover photo description, download our free ebook on creating compelling CTAs.)

10. Pin a related post right below your Facebook cover image.

Pinning a post allows you to highlight a typical Facebook post at the top of your Timeline. It’s signified by a PINNED POST title on the top right of the post, like on Behance’s Page below:

How does this relate to optimizing your Facebook cover photo? Well, if you’re spending time aligning your Facebook Page CTA, your cover photo design, and your cover photo description copy, you should also make sure to post about the same thing directly to your Page and pin that post to the top of your Timeline.

That way, your visitors have one very clear call-to-action when they land on your Page (albeit in several different locations) — which will give them more opportunities to convert.

How to pin a Facebook post:Publish the post to Facebook, then click the three dots on the top right corner of the post and choose Pin to Top of Page.

Facebook Cover Photo Sizes that Work for Your Business

Choosing the right cover size for your Facebook Page may seem simple, but it can have a huge impact on users and prospects visiting your Page. An ill-fitting cover photo or video can look unprofessional and give the wrong impression about the quality of your products or services.

With the tips in this article, you have the information you need to create a Facebook cover photo that embodies your brand and engages users on the platform.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in July 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

“We have a 9 a.m. meeting? Hold on — let me scour the internet to find content for the morning tweet.”

Sound familiar?

Scrambling for social content is nothing new. We have meetings. We miss deadlines. Things come up. And it’s really hard to get any meaningful amount of work done when you have the next social media update looming over your head every 30, 60, or 90 minutes. Social media content moves so fast that you might occasionally feel thrown for a loop, which is why a pre-scheduled social media content calendar should be your new best friend.

To make social media content easier for companies to plan and schedule across the accounts they manage, we created a social media content calendar template. And because this field moves so quickly, we’re always updating this template with the latest social platform features to help you share your content strategy at a tactical level.

Use the Above Template to Plan Out Your Social Media Holiday Posts

What’s in this social media content calendar template?

Every social media content calendar is different and should be customized to fit your unique social media strategy. In this one, you’ll find a schedule tab, your monthly planning calendar, a repository for website content, and updates for each of the top social media platforms:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Pinterest

The great thing about this template is that as new social media platforms become popular and part of your content strategy (looking at you Tik Tok and Clubhouse), you can simply copy the spreadsheet and repurpose it for that new channel.

This blog post will walk you through exactly how to use a social media content calendar template to stay on top of your social media content planning for each channel.

Pro Tip: HubSpot customers can also schedule content through HubSpot’s Social Media Management Software, or use this spreadsheet to organize and upload content. Detailed instructions for doing this can be found in the cover sheet of the template.

How to Create a Social Media Content Calendar Template

When you open the social media content calendar template, you’ll notice the bottom of the Excel spreadsheet has several different tabs, most of which are dedicated to a specific social network.

Since each social media network is a little different, you don’t want to craft a generic social media post and use it across LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Instead, it’s best practice to create a different worksheet for each platform.

Why?

A few reasons. Image sizes vary across all platforms, the types of content that work well on Facebook might tank on Twitter, and external links are great for Twitter but nearly impossible to use effectively on Instagram.

You can certainly promote the same piece of content across those networks, but that doesn’t mean you’ll craft your update the same way for each of them. In fact, you may want to add additional tabs if you’re active on other networks, like Quora or YouTube.

How to Use this Template

The following subsections will show you how to fill out each of the tabs you see in this template — Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest. But before we get to that, let’s start with the Monthly Social Calendar.

Monthly Planning Calendar

The tab Monthly Planning Calendar provides an overall snapshot of your monthly social media campaigns. It’ll help you coordinate with other stakeholders and keep all the moving parts in order. Here’s what it looks like:

There are three sections to take note of when you edit this template. First, the color-coding key. Each color represents a type of content or campaign you might coordinate, like ebooks, webinars, blog posts, product launches, and so on. Though only some of these might be relevant to you, they’re just the beginning of what you may want to include here — so be sure to add and remove categories that align with your own types of content.

The other two sections you’ll need to edit are the Month and Year at the top of the calendar, as well as the cells below each day of the week. In those cells, you should enter the type of content you’ll be promoting that day and color-code it to align with the campaign it’s supporting.

Instead of deleting all the content in this spreadsheet each month, I recommend copying this worksheet twelve times over and creating a separate sheet for each month. (If that gets to be too overwhelming, you can always save those tabs as a separate workbook.)

Planning Your Social Media Content Calendar for Twitter

Alright, now let’s get to the social media content part of the calendar. This section will be the longest because all subsequent sections will draw on the instructions we go through here. If you only read one section in this whole post, make sure it’s this one.

Let’s say you want to add some tweets to your scheduling template. Scroll over to the Twitter Updates tab in the content calendar spreadsheet, where you’ll see this:

The first four columns, Day, Date, Time, and Date & Time are there for your convenience, and if you choose to use a third-party app for pre-scheduling your tweets (like HubSpot’s Social Media Management Software), then these columns will be useful. For now, just fill in the date for when you’ll publish updates to Twitter, and the time at which you’d like them to go out. The Date & Time column will automatically change based on what you type in the previous two columns.

Now, let’s move over to the Message column. Here, input the copy you’d like to appear in your tweet, bearing in mind you should cap it at 217 characters to allow enough room for a link. (Read this blog post for a full character count guide.) This spreadsheet will auto-calculate the number of characters you’ve entered to keep you on-point, turning yellow and eventually red as you approach 240 characters.

After you’ve composed your tweet, paste the URL you’d like to include in your tweet in the Link column. Be sure to include UTM parameters so you’ll know whether these tweets are driving traffic, leads, and customers. This is an important step to remember if you’d like to demonstrate ROI from social media. You can also use the Campaign column to add an associated campaign which helps with more detailed tracking and reporting.

Finally, in the Image column, attach the tweet’s image (if you have one). For Twitter, we recommend images that are 1200 x 670 pixels.

(Click here for a full cheat sheet of social media image sizes.)

If you’re having trouble attaching your image to the spreadsheet, follow these steps:

Step 1: Click on the cell where you’d like to place your image.

Step 2: Click Insert in the top row, then click the Image button, and finally, click Image in cell to choose your image.

Step 3: In the Insert image window, choose the option your photo will come from. In this example, we uploaded an image from our computer.

Step 4: You’ll now see the image appear in the cell.

Pro Tip: This process is just for organizational purposes. If you decide to upload the spreadsheet to your social media publishing software, it will not attach — you’ll have to do that manually. If you’re a HubSpot customer, details for how to bulk upload your Twitter content to the HubSpot Social PublishingTool can be found within the downloaded template.

Planning Your Social Media Content Calendar for Facebook

Now, let’s talk about how to plan your Facebook marketing content with this template. First, navigate to the tab in your template labeled Facebook Updates.

The first three columns, Day, Date, and Time are there for your convenience. Scroll over to the column labeled Message and input the copy you’d like to appear in your status update, corresponding to the days and times you’d like those updates to run. Then, move to the Link column and input the link that’ll be included in the update. (Don’t forget that UTM parameter.) If you’d like the update to be tagged to a certain campaign, include this in the Campaigns column. Finally, attach an image just like you did with your Twitter updates — if you’re using one. (These images should fit the dimensions of 1200 x 628 pixels.)

Planning Your Social Media Content Calendar for LinkedIn

LinkedIn Groups let you start conversations with your Group members and share company updates on your Company Page.

To begin, fill out the first column, Message, for every post you create, including those for a Company Page or a Group. Simply enter your copy into this column, and then navigate to the next two columns, Link and Campaign. Here, you’ll add your URL with a UTM parameter that you’ll use to track activity. Then add the campaign in the Campaign column, if you’re using one. If you’d like to use an image for an update, attach one using the instructions we shared earlier. We recommend uploading the image in the dimensions of 1200 x 1200 pixels for a clear, professional-looking post.

Planning Your Social Media Content Calendar for Instagram

Now, let’s move on to setting up your Instagram photos and videos. Scroll to the tab in your template labeled Instagram Updates.

The first three columns, Day, Date, and Time are there for your convenience. Head on over to the column labeled Message, and input the copy you’d like to appear in your post’s caption, corresponding to the days and times you’d like those updates to run. Keep in mind that although Instagram captions can be up to 2,200 characters long, they cut off in users’ feeds after three lines of text. The exact length of these three lines depends on the length of your Instagram handle. (Read this blog post for a full character count guide.)

Next, move to the Link for Bio column and input whichever link you plan to put in the bio when you publish the accompanying Instagram post. Oh, and don’t forget the UTM parameter.

If you’d like the update to be tagged to a certain campaign, include this in the Campaigns column. Finally, attach an image just like you did with your other social media updates — we suggest you edit it to be 1080 x 1080 pixels. (Here’s the cheat sheet of social media image sizes.)

Pro Tip: Even though you can’t schedule Instagram stories automatically, you can still add them to your social media content calendar. Stories also support links once your account has over 10,000 followers, so you can include specific links for these types of posts in your content calendar. The dimensions for Instagram Story posts are 1080 x 1920 pixels.

Planning Your Social Media Content Calendar for Pinterest

Next, let’s go over how to set up your Pinterest Pins in advance with this template. Navigate over to the tab in your template labeled Pinterest Updates.

For your convenience, we’ve added Day, Date, and Time columns, but you can skip them if you don’t need them.

Next, go to the column labeled Message, and enter the information for the pin’s description. Then, scroll to the Link column and add the link you’ll be including in the update. (And seriously, don’t forget the URL Parameter.)

If you’d like the update to be tagged to a certain campaign, include this in the Campaigns column. Finally, attach an image the same way you did with your other social media updates — we suggest you edit it to fit the dimensions of 1000 x1500 pixels. This is the standard size, but Pinterest Pins can be much longer if your audience responds to longer content. Just make sure your Pin fits the aspect ratio of 2:3.

Content Repository (Or, Where to Source Social Media Content)

This template also provides you with a tab called Content Repository, which should help you keep track of all your content and maintain a healthy backlog of fodder to make sourcing social media content easier.

As you create more assets, you’ll likely want to resurface and re-promote those pieces down the line, too. To ensure you don’t lose track of all of that content, record it on this tab so you’re never at a loss for what to publish on social media. If the content you’re promoting isn’t evergreen, be sure to include an expiration date in the column marked Expiration so you don’t promote it after it’s out of date.

This tab will also help you maintain a healthy balance of content. Here you can include a mix of original content, curated content, various formats and types, and lead generation content vs. MQL-generating content.

Perfecting your social media content calendar doesn’t have to be a chore. With these essential components, you’ll have a foundation to organize your social media strategy at a tactical level.

Key

As you noticed in earlier sections, your stakeholders will appreciate having an easy-to-read key that they can use to understand the information in the calendar. We’ve color-coded our example here, but you don’t have to go that extra step if you have fewer channels and types of content to differentiate between. As long as your key is clear, just about anyone in your organization can view your social media content calendar and understand exactly what’s happening on all platforms.

URLs and UTM Parameters

We’ve harped on these UTM parameters throughout this post for good reason. They’re critical to tracking the success of your campaign. Without them, you won’t know what’s working and what isn’t.

URLs and UTM parameters are similar, but they’re not one and the same. URLs are the links you’ll want to share from your website (or even another website if you’re curating content) on your social media platforms.

On the other hand, a UTM parameter is an extension of your URL. It’s a string of tracking code that’s appended to the end of the URL and it helps social media marketers track how well their posts are driving traffic to their website. By tracking and analyzing UTM parameters, you’ll be able to see what content is meeting your conversion goals and what content is better for engagement on social media platforms.

Date and Time

If you have stakeholders or other teams that rely on your social media content, you’ll quickly see the benefit of including dates and times in your social media calendar. When teammates can view the calendar and identify exactly when a post was or will be scheduled, they’ll be able to quickly proceed with their workflow which is beneficial for you, too. That means you won’t be interrupted to give status updates about every Tweet on the docket for the day.

Message

Transparency and context are invaluable when it comes to social media content calendars. Giving a brief synopsis of the message or even sharing the caption for a post can go a long way in helping others within and outside your team understand what the intent of the post will be.

Pro tip: If you’re adding a video to your social media content calendar that isn’t finished, consider adding a short Loom video that gives an overview of what the video will be about.

Campaign

When it comes to tracking, it’s too late to start when the campaign is over. Start tracking your social media campaigns in your content calendar. You can make this prescriptive by having a dropdown list of predetermined campaign names, or if your campaigns are few and far between, simply copy and paste the names next to the corresponding content.

Pro tip: Align your campaign name with the campaign section of your UTM parameter for seamless tracking.

Image

Your social media content calendar will become just another spreadsheet without some imagery. Since much of your social media content will probably be visual, add a thumbnail-sized version of the image that will be included in the published post. Coupled with the message, stakeholders who view the calendar images will have a pretty good idea of what will be shared and when. To make editing your images for each platform easier, check out this cheat sheet for ideal image dimensions on each platform.

Don’t Forget to Interact With Your Followers

Whether you use this spreadsheet to plan your content or upload it to a third-party app, you’ll still need to supplement these updates with on-the-fly content. Breaking news hits? Whip up a quick update to share it with your network. Did someone in your network tweet something interesting? Give it a retweet with some commentary. Got a fascinating comment on one of your updates? Respond with a “thank you” for their interaction.

Coming up with and scheduling your social media content in advance is a huge time-saver, but it should go without saying that you still need to monitor and add to your social presence throughout the day.

Finally, we encourage you to experiment with your social media publishing. This template provides publishing dates and times for each social network, but you may find those are way too many updates for you to fill, or perhaps too infrequent for your booming social presence. If this is the case, you should adjust your social media publishing frequency as needed.

Now that you’ve got the ins and outs of a social media content calendar, download the one below for free and start planning your content.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in January 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

INBOUND 2021 — hosted with love by HubSpot — is a fully immersive, online experience that gives you access to transformative business trends, proactive conversations, and key actionable takeaways that future you will appreciate.

INBOUND has been hosted by HubSpot for over ten years, and is one of the world’s largest marketing conferences, attracting more than 26,000 attendees from 110 countries.

But this year, INBOUND is especially unique — as it’s built with remote work in-mind, so you can learn from anywhere with audio sessions, meetups, and on-demand content.

Additionally, you’ll hear from Oprah Winfrey, Spike Lee, David Chang, and more.

Here, let’s explore five reasons you’ll want to attend INBOUND 2021, according to HubSpot’s Global Events team.

1. BLACK@INBOUND

Black@INBOUND is a global community that gathers Black professionals across industries to grow and network. HubSpot customer Devyn Bellamy first founded Black@INBOUND at INBOUND to find and connect with other Black professionals.

Since then, Black@INBOUND has grown into a dynamic and interactive meet-up for passionate HubSpot fans and INBOUND enthusiasts.  

Don’t miss the Black@INBOUND events just for you — including our exclusive Meetup with the community at 3:45 PM EST on October 12. Join the virtual cookout and meet all the members of the Community. Then stay tuned for an amazing panel: Mentorship and Advocacy in Black Business Leadership. 

Black@INBOUND is an inclusive community intended for Black business professionals as a space to gather, connect, and share resources.

Black HubSpot users, customers, or fans are welcome to join this space by creating a HubSpot Community profile.

2. The HubSpot Podcast Network

The HubSpot Podcast Network Live will be live at INBOUND 2021! Yes, we want you to step away from your computer screen, give your eyes a rest, head out for a walk and learn from anywhere.

HubSpot’s Podcast Network is the audio destination for business professionals who seek the best education and inspiration to best approach the ever-evolving business landscape.

We will feature exclusive episodes recorded specifically for INBOUND from Entrepreneurs on Fire, My First Million, The Salesman Podcast, and the MarTech Podcast at INBOUND 2021:

Entrepreneurs on Fire

Host John Lee Dumas delivers the inspiration and strategies you need to fire up your entrepreneurial journey and create the life you’ve always dreamed of.

My First Million

Host Sam Parr and Shaan Puri brainstorm new business ideas based on trends and opportunities in the market and share the stories of how companies made their first million.

MarTech Podcast

The MarTech Podcast tells stories of marketers who use technology to generate growth and achieve success. It unearths the successes and pitfalls of industry experts and teaches the tools and tips that they’ve learned along the way.

The Salesman Podcast

The Salesman Podcast is the world’s most downloaded B2B sales podcast. Host Will Barron helps sales professionals find buyers and win business in a modern, effective, and ethical way.

3. HubSpot at INBOUND

Join us at HubSpot’s Product announcement, where you can join Yamini Rangan, Brian Halligan, and Dharmesh Shah as they continue to push the boundaries at HubSpot. Explore some of HubSpot’s new and improved product offerings and how we are focusing on customer success to meet our goals.

This is Yamin Rangan’s first INBOUND as the CEO of HubSpot.

Of her new role, Yamini Rangan said, “It’s the honor of a lifetime to partner with our founders to write HubSpot’s next chapter. My goal is to make our customers, partners, employees, and investors proud — proud to grow their businesses, careers, and futures with HubSpot … I couldn’t be more excited for the future of HubSpot’s journey.”

4. Diverse Spotlight and Breakout Speakers

Oprah Winfrey will be headlining INBOUND 2021.

Oprah Winfrey is a global media leader, philanthropist, producer, and actress. She has created an unparalleled connection with people worldwide, making her one of the most respected and admired figures today.

For 25 years, Winfrey was host and producer of the award-winning talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. In her role as Chairman and CEO of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, she’s guiding her cable network to success. Winfrey is also the founder of O, The Oprah Magazine, and oversees Harpo Films.

Oprah Winfrey’s exclusive session at INBOUND 2021 is all about the lessons learned on the road to success. See how Oprah — and yourself — can transform failures into lessons.

Spike Lee will guide attendees through an exclusive session that helps you draw ambition out of themselves and others.

Hasan Minhaj takes attendees with him as he explores different ways for you to find your inner voice and follow your passions.

David Chang of Momofuku helps you turn those passions into a business, and he gives you his secret recipe on how he did just that.

Additionally, join lifelong advocate and internationally recognized leader Judith Huemann for an insightful discussion on what ableist privilege looks like and what it means for companies to truly support disabled employees as a prominent community in the DI&B ecosystem.

Experience over 100+ similar sessions at INBOUND 2021 with some of the smartest and innovative thought leaders.

5. The Agenda

INBOUND 2021 offers an immersive and interactive digital experience for all attendees. You will get the chance to create a personalized avatar, join sponsoring partner’s meetups, explore workshops for personal development, and network with a global audience from various backgrounds and industries.

The agenda this year is extraordinary. You can find educational sessions, workshops, Ask Me Anything, debates, and meetup networking sessions. You can customize your agenda by filtering out tracks for Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, HubSpot Academy, and RevOps. There’s something for everyone.

How to attend?

The great thing about INBOUND 2021 this year is that it’s a fully immersive digital experience. You can attend from the comfort of your couch, hop on over to your favorite cafe, listen to sessions while you’re working out. There are endless ways to attend and enjoy INBOUND this year.

You can go ahead and claim your free starter pass, which will allow you to attend our exciting spotlight speaker sessions. You can purchase our Powerhouse pass, which gives you full access to the INBOUND 2021 agenda and platform.

Even though LinkedIn has been around since 2003, the platform didn’t allow the use of clickable hashtags until 2016.

Social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram have encouraged hashtag use for years as a way for users to connect with their communities. They even offer analytics, allowing content creators and influencers to gauge their impact.

Now that LinkedIn has fully embraced the use of hashtags, brands can too.

Let’s get into the basics of using hashtags on the platform and dive into how to find the top trending ones in your industry.

How To Use Hashtags on Your LinkedIn Status Update

There are a few ways to add hashtags to your status update.

As the GIF illustrates, you can add a hashtag by:

1. Typing out the pound sign followed by the word or phrase. As you type out your hashtag, LinkedIn will auto-generate hashtag suggestions based on what’s trending and popular.
2. Clicking on the “Add Hashtag” button located on the bottom left of the box.
3. Selecting one of the related hashtags next to the “Add Hashtag” button.

Pro-tip: Don’t add spaces or symbols in your hashtags, as they will no longer be clickable.

How To Use Hashtags on Your LinkedIn Article

As it currently stands, users cannot add clickable hashtags in the body of their articles published on LinkedIn. However, they can make it discoverable by adding hashtags to the article description box.

How To Use Hashtags on Your Business Page

If you have a business page on LinkedIn, you can associate it with relevant hashtags. This will put you right in the center of conversations surrounding those hashtags and allow you to connect with relevant audiences. Here are the steps to add them:

1. Start on your business page’s homepage.

2. Click on the “Add” button on the bottom right under “Hashtags.” A smaller page will open up.

   

3. Click “Add a hashtag” and select up to three hashtags.

   You’re all set.

Should I use hashtags on LinkedIn?

The short answer is yes, hashtags are a great way to reach audiences beyond your direct connections on LinkedIn.

Benefits of Using LinkedIn Hashtags

Let’s say you only have 200 connections on LinkedIn. You publish an article on SEO and don’t use any hashtags. For it to make a substantial impact, you’ll need a lot of post engagement from second-and third-degree connections.

Why place such limits on your content? By using hashtags, you maximize your post’s reach potential. If the SEO hashtag has 100,000K followers and you use it, your post engagement can easily triple what it was without hashtags.

Higher engagement can help you establish credibility and can facilitate meaningful connections with other LinkedIn users.

Now that you know why and how to use LinkedIn hashtags, let’s review some common hashtag mistakes you’ll want to steer clear of. Here are a few tips to keep in mind. 

LinkedIn Hashtag Mistakes to Avoid

• Don’t go overboard – As mentioned above, LinkedIn’s former senior director of product management, Pete Davies, recommends sticking to three hashtags. That should be enough to target the main keywords without looking spammy.
• Hashtags don’t replace copy – Hashtags don’t provide context, they should only be used to improve your discoverability. You should still have descriptions in everything you post.
• Only using popular hashtags – When you only use popular hashtags, your content can get lost. If you go too niche, you may not reach enough people. Using a mix of niche and broad hashtags strikes the perfect balance.

Once you get comfortable with the use of hashtags, you can start identifying which ones are performing the best. You may find that some lead to higher engagement rates than others. If so, those are worth reusing.

LinkedIn Trending Hashtags

LinkedIn released data on the top trending hashtags for Q1 in 2020.

Image Source

In January and February, the list was virtually identical. However, conversations shifted in March when the pandemic started. Searches for topics on remote working tripled and the #remotework hashtag also started trending.

The best way to optimize your hashtag use is by referring to your recommended hashtags and analyzing their performance on your posts.

Where do I find trending LinkedIn hashtags?

There are three types of hashtags that LinkedIn recommends to its users based on their network and industry: recommended, popular, trending. LinkedIn’s ‘Discover More’ page is the first – and best – place to look when considering which hashtags to use in your posts.

To access this page, follow these steps:

1. Click on the “Discover More” button.
   • On the mobile app, this will appear when you click on your profile picture on the top left corner of the page.
   • On desktop view, it will be at the bottom of the left sidebar.
2. On this page, you’ll see trending pages, recommended connections and pages, and hashtags toward the bottom of the page.

As a marketer, LinkedIn recommends me many marketing-related hashtags, such as #digitalmarketing, #seo, and #contentwriter. However, this list will vary from one user to the next.

How To Follow Hashtags on LinkedIn

Following hashtags will allow you to see what other content creators are posting, how users are responding, and get ideas for future posts.

1. Head to the search bar and type the hashtag you want to follow.
2. Select an option from the dropdown menu.
3. That will take you to the hashtag’s feed where you can see all content published with this hashtag. Click “Follow” at the top of the page.

See the GIF below to see the steps in action.

Now that you’re following the hashtag, you’ll see it on the left sidebar under “Followed Hashtags” when navigating on a computer. When using the LinkedIn mobile app, you can access the hashtags you’re following by clicking on your profile picture on the top left of the window and scrolling down to the “Followed Hashtags” dropdown menu.

Hashtags are integral to the success of your content. By relying on LinkedIn’s hashtag recommendations and your analytics, you can ensure your posts are reaching the right audience.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in March 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.