Social Media Calendar

Before jumping into specific channels, it’s best to look at social media as a whole. While all the social media channels have their quirks and differences, there’s also a lot of overlap in how you approach them.

Should you even be using social media at all?

When does it make sense to make social media part of your marketing strategy?

How do these channels fit into the rest of your market funnel?

What are the trends sweeping across all social media channels?

I recommend getting a solid grounding in how social media works, then going through the different channel options to pick the one’s that are right for you.

Facebook

Facebook has definitely gone through a period of ups and downs over the years. For a long time, lots of businesses invested heavily into building their pages and audiences. Then Facebook completely changed how those posts end up in the newsfeed. The organic reach got so limited that Facebook became a “pay-to-play” social network by default.

You can still lead with a content and value-based social media strategy but it’s really difficult to get traction with paying to post your Facebook posts. Every Facebook strategy needs a dedicated budget to promote posts.

Even with the extra hurdle, Facebook is still the heavy-hitting social media channel. You can reach anyone on earth and Facebook’s targeting is extraordinarily detailed. You can get anyone and everyone that you want. Facebook is still the starting point for any social media push.

Instagram

Instagram has become THE social media network. It’s easy to generate content for, has solid engagement, and still has a true flywheel that you can build over time. As you build your audience, you can still depend on being able to reach them with every post unlike Facebook which became “pay-to-play.”

For any B2C brand, a thriving Instagram account is absolutely essential. I wouldn’t waste any more time before getting started:

YouTube

YouTube has gained a ton of momentum in the last few years. The search volume is almost as big as Google and the user engagement is off the charts.

The one major downside is how much effort and money that great video content requires. There’s certainly shortcuts and corners to cut in the beginning, but it’s always going to require more effort than some of the other social networks.

That said, YouTube is worth the effort. Use these guides to ramp up quickly:

Surprisingly, LinkedIn has become one of the hot social media networks lately. The engagement on LinkedIn posts are off the charts, easily outpacing Twitter profiles and Facebook pages.

If you’re B2B, I strongly recommend that you make LinkedIn a core part of your social media strategy. It’s too hot to pass up right now.

Pinterest doesn’t get nearly as much attention in digital marketing circles as it should. Yes, the Pinterest audience is overwhelmingly female. You should strongly consider making Pinterest a priority if your target market skews towards females and you have a highly visual product.

Check out our Pinterest guides to get started:

Twitter

Twitter used to be one of the heavy-hitting social networks. If you wanted a serious social media strategy, you had to have an engaging and active Twitter account.

These days, Twitter isn’t considered a required channel for a social media strategy. The half-life of tweets are exceptionally short, it’s really difficult to get them to go viral, and a lot of people have decided to avoid Twitter because it’s too difficult to use. While it can still be worth pursuing, it’s definitely no longer a requirement.

If you think it could be a good fit, these guides break it all down:

Other Channels

There’s always a new up and coming social media channel to start looking into. If you’re looking to push into channels that most teams haven’t spent much time on, start with Reddit and Snapchat.

As a freelancer, you have to keep track of everything. From monitoring budgets to planning new creative ventures, there’s way too much information to keep track of. Some people work on paper or cobble together tables in word processors, but both of these options are difficult to manage.

If you own Excel, however, you have access to a much easier way of graphing information. Even if you’re not adept at creating spreadsheets and templates of your own, there are plenty of free ones scattered across the interwebs. We’ve gathered them here: 10 free Excel templates, suitable for freelancers and designers.

Time Tracking Template

Nothing is more valuable than your time. Whether you want an easier way to track it for billing reasons, or just want to keep tabs on your workflow, the versatile Time Tracking Template can get it done. A must-have if you get paid hourly.

Personal Budget

Straight from Microsoft, this budgeting template is extremely useful when you want to see your income, expenses and savings. There are two graphs to help you visualize the difference between your income and expenses. This one is simple, but invaluable.

Project Budget Template

If you’re looking to budget a project rather than your personal finances, this template will do the trick. All but the largest projects can be tracked in a spreadsheet like this one. There are a few extra templates here, suitable for real-world projects, monthly tracking or for a multitude of other tasks.

Free Graphic Design Invoice Template

If you’re a freelancer who works online, you’re probably going to need an invoice template. These function as a record of your services and the money collected. It’s crucial that invoices look professional, as your clients will be seeing them. So, this minimal-but-beautiful Excel template is perfect.

Gantt Chart Template for Excel

A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart that spans the start and end times for individual pieces of a project. Gantt charts can be easily created in Excel, and this template can help you learn how to take advantage of this useful graph. Just set the tasks and add their start and end times, and you’ll have a visual plan for your next project.

Free Creative Brief Templates

As a designer, creative briefs are great for communicating with your clients and ensuring that they understand how your project is going to turn out. There’s a simple and detailed version of the brief template, so choose the one that applies most to your job.

Free Project Schedule Template

This simplistic project schedule can be used for small projects and presentations. It divides your projects into three phases spread across multiple weeks. But you can also customize them and add milestones to suit your needs. Great if you just need something with very little fuss.

Using social media is a great marketing tactic, but freelancers especially benefit from employing it – because it’s free! This Excel social media calendar can help you plan your online campaigns and remind yourself to post about important events.

Editorial Calendar Template

Blogging is another great way to put yourself out there as a freelancer, but it’s not just about the writing. The organization and planning can be daunting. This calendar can help you keep everything together, plan future posts and brainstorm keywords or special offers.

27 Free Excel Documents

Instead of one big Excel template, this package includes 27 mini documents. Checklists, receipts and sign-in sheets are available for printing and use online. Not all are useful for freelancers, but a fair few could prove invaluable.

Data Tracking for Freelancers

It’s not easy, being a freelancer. But thanks to the internet, running a small business is much easier than it was in the past. While templates like these aren’t the only tools you’re going to need, these professional and versatile assets can definitely help you keep things in order.