Blogs and social media can be effective marketing tools for small town businesses, but they take planning to make the most of.
This is true for small businesses and for tourism groups. Don’t let important events, holidays, and tie-ins sneak up on you. Use your calendar to connect your social efforts to the real world.
First, plan out your blog posts. Use the free blog post planner from Productive Flourishing, updated every month. Go to their Free Planners page, and scroll down for Blog Post Planners. You can read their instructions page for more detail.
The Blog Post Planner, below, helps you brainstorm for new posts by category.
The Blog Post Calendar, below, organizes the process of scheduling those posts. You can also make note of local events, fairs, festivals, sales, and other things you want to be sure to write about.
Second, plan out your social media. I don’t mean to be artificial about what you share on social networks. I do mean to think ahead about what it makes sense to share at certain times. To help you plan that out, customize this Social Media Calendar. It’s available as a DOCX or PDF.
For example, you know you want to promote the local car show, so schedule it in on your calendar and what you might do for it in different media.
I’ve used these tools to plan out special campaigns that spanned several months. What do you use to plan ahead for your online promotions and content?
New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.
- Boost your maker economy with a “Made in” day - September 17, 2021
- How a ghost town made something from nothing with a folk festival - September 3, 2021
- Rural business idea: sell foraged fruits and more - August 3, 2021
- Best practices for rural housing - July 19, 2021
- How to be more open to new ideas #IdeaFriendly - July 3, 2021
- Market your small town as a movie filming location, attract movie and game fan tourists - June 28, 2021
- Survey of Rural Challenges 2021 results, analysis of themes from 2015 through today - June 7, 2021
- What makes a small town a micropolitan or nanopolitan? - May 22, 2021
- Improving Rural Housing: turning blighted dilapidated houses into new homes - May 7, 2021
- Are marijuana shops good or bad for small towns? - April 22, 2021
Thanks for mentioning our planners, Becky! Much appreciated.
Nice tools!
My Twitter friend Danielle Hatfield @DHatfield posted a link to the social media calendar and blog planner at Experience Farm (you know I love a farming reference).