The Biggest Social Media Mistakes DQ® Franchisees Make (And How to Avoid Them)
July 17, 2022
The Power of Social Media for Driving Foot Traffic to Your Dairy Queen® Store
July 17, 2023
If you're like most small businesses, you're probably struggling to create enough content for your social media accounts. It's hard to come up with fresh ideas all the time, and it can be tough to keep track of what you've already posted. That's where a social media content calendar comes in handy! In this article, we will discuss how to create a social media content calendar that works for your Dairy Queen location or locations. We'll also go over some tips and tricks that will help you get started using a social calendar.
What is a Social Media Content Calendar?
A social media content calendar is a tool that helps you plan and track your social media posts. It can be as simple as a spreadsheet with dates and post ideas, or it can be a more elaborate system that includes scheduling tools and analytics. Either way, a content calendar will help you keep track of your social media marketing efforts and make sure you're posting fresh, relevant content on a regular basis.
Why Use a Social Media Content Calendar?
There are many benefits to using a social media content calendar. First, it helps you save time by planning ahead and batching your content creation. This is especially helpful so that you aren't trying to throw social media posts together at the last minute because you forgot it was a special day or a promotion was starting. Planning your social media posts on a content calendar will help you to be more efficient and organized while removing stress from creating last-minute posts.
Second, a content calendar ensures that you're posting regularly and consistently, which is important for growing your audience on each social media platform. When people see that you're posting regularly, they're more likely to follow you and engage with your content. Consistent posting also allows for your brand to show up in your customer's social media feed more often and stay "top-of-mind." With so many advertisements that your fans are exposed to every day, daily reminders are a great way to compete.
Third, it allows you to try different content formats and see what works best for your business. With a content calendar, you can experiment with different types of posts (photos, videos, memes, etc.) and see which ones get the most engagement. You can also track how often you post each type of content and mix things up to keep your feed interesting.
Finally, a social media content calendar can give you a way to track your progress and measure the results from each social media platform over time. By looking at your content calendar, you can see how much you've grown, improved since you started, and other social media data. This is a great way to track your progress and see what's working well so that you can continue to do more of it.
BuzzTown can manage the social media accounts for your DQ® location so that you can focus on running your business!
How to Create a Social Media Content Calendar
Now that we've discussed the benefits of using a social media content calendar let's talk about how to create one that works for your Dairy Queen franchise. The first step is to decide which social media platforms you want to use. For Dairy Queen locations, we recommend posting content to multiple platforms, like Facebook and Instagram. Once you've chosen your social media platforms, it's time to start brainstorming ideas for what kind of content you want to post.
Some content ideas include:
- Promotions or discounts
- New menu items
- Customer photos or testimonials
- Behind-the-scenes photos or videos
- Info about your location (history, fun facts, etc.)
- Local events or happenings that you're involved in
- Holidays, special events, and other topics of interest for your audience.
Once you have a list of ideas, it's time to start filling in your content calendar. We recommend starting off using a simple spreadsheet like Google Sheets so that you can easily add, delete, or move around your posts as needed. You can eventually upgrade to a more advanced system, but for most locations, a simple spreadsheet will be just fine. Be sure to include the date, time, platform, and post type for each entry. For all images or videos, create folders for each, along with the text, so they're ready to go when it's time to post.
Once you have a few weeks or a month of social posts planned out, take a look at your calendar and see if there are any gaps. Are there any days or weeks where you don't have anything planned? If so, start brainstorming some ideas for what you could post during those times.
It's also important to keep an eye on your competition and see what they're posting about. You may find some inspiration for new content ideas that you can use on your own social media platforms. Look at other fast food chains, local fast-casual restaurants, and even social media accounts for non-food companies you respect and that post often. You never know when you may find inspiration or come across some great social media strategy you hadn't thought of before!
A social media calendar can help a lot when planning out each month's posts and will help to keep things very organized. Of course, it still takes a lot of time and effort to plan, create, and post to social media daily, a few times a week, or every so often. BuzzTown can certainly help to manage your Dairy Queen social media profiles. Since our founder is also a Dairy Queen franchise owner, we have full access to the DQ Hub, weekly and monthly special promotions, and the DQ® Image Library. Book a Call with us today, and we will help to grow your fan base and social media accounts!
