Process Owner: Hannah Halton
Last Updated: November 2023
Document Link: HERE
Overview:
Regardless of account size or client tier, as Social Leads we should be strategically planning for our clients on a quarterly basis. We are strategic partners and it is our job to stay proactive for our clients to ensure we’re aligning with larger marketing efforts, business goals, and more. This includes (but is not limited to) quarterly:
High-level outlines
Campaign building
Key Activation planning (sales, product launches, etc.)
Giveaway planning
Asset collection
Re-vamping or re-optimizing strategy (or even strategy re-alignment)
SEO keyword strategy
Growth amplifications and tactics - goal setting and pacing
Testing new key learnings and action items
& more!
For Growth and Enterprise accounts, all strategists must now complete a new tab in the calendar outline process once before each quarter (at least one-two months prior). This will be an internal resource for strategists, designers, AMs, etc, but must be transferred into client-facing decks such as quarterly and monthly reports.
What This Looks Like:
Depending on your client’s needs and scopes, this can look different! However, what we all want to align on moving forward:
Each strategist to complete the Quarterly Planning tab within the outline process for all Enterprise and Growth clients that includes a 3 month overview of:
Marketing and activation dates - product launches, events, key moments
High-level outline
Number of posts in scope for
Any key dates - national days, holidays, brand dates
Note: It is up to the strategist to flag relevant holidays/seasonal moments each month!
Seasonal/trending keywords to target around these dates
Any assets we may need from the client/brand ahead of time to support
Include any giveaways, collaborations, or larger campaign ideas to support
Action items and learnings from monthly reports - this is key for designers and producers to better understand what is working and what is not
Goals and pacing
If we are behind goals - why? What actions can we take to get there? Are there any limitations?
Once the quarterly plan is complete, it is highly recommended the strategist set up a 30 minute meeting with their designer, influencer leads, and / or producer to share ideas and learnings and continue to collaborate
Strategist to update Quarterly Planning tab with any new ideas following brainstorm
Strategist must then transfer these ideas and planning into deck slides for QBRs or Monthly Reports (or an upcoming bi-weekly call with the client if slides are limited)
Templates HERE
Note: All strategists are required to include the “Must Include” slides for Growth and Enterprise accounts
What Are the Benefits?
Feeling more prepared when it comes to outlines and social content
More time for ideas and collaboration between designers, producers, and strategists - with a high-level outline done ahead of time, you no longer need to scramble last-minute for ideas or in brainstorms
Let those ideas cook over time!
Staying proactive when it comes to testing and action items
Do you share action items in your monthly reports but never end up acting on them? With quarterly planning, you can easily add these into your plan ahead of time to hold yourself accountable
Increased results
Happy clients
Incorporating Quarterly Planning Into Our Deliverables:
Quarterly Planning Sheet Tab - added to Calendar Outline Process (there is an example tab for you!)
Strategists must complete these as a part of the new outline process on a quarterly basis ahead of each quarter for each Growth and Enterprise client (must complete 1-2 months ahead of time)
Note: It is important to be strategic when filling out this tab! Consider what your goals are for the quarter (increasing profile visits, more engagements, reaching new users) and how your quarterly planning can help you reach those goals
Once complete, strategists must mark this as complete in the Organic Social Deliverable Tracker and set up a brainstorm call if and where needed
From there, each strategist will include these ideas/planning updates in their next monthly or quarterly report. Use the template slides above or create custom slides that work for your client to share how we’re staying proactive and planning for the quarter!
The Ask/Immediate Next Steps:
Current Clients (Growth + Enterprise):
All strategists to fill out the Q3 section of the Quarterly Social Roadmap tab in their outline process by 6/25 or sooner (depending on quarterly planning meetings/outlines) - you can customize this date based on approvals/reporting times for your clients, but should not be any later than one month before
From there, each strategist is required to fill out each new quarter’s section one-two months before the first month of the quarter:
Q4 should be completed by 9/16 or sooner
And so on!
Completing these with ample time before the start of the quarter will ensure:
Time to align with internal team (influencer, paid, email, etc.) on plan and initiatives
Time for client feedback/approval (if applicable)
Having this info ready for quarterly reporting
Designers and producers will be in the loop for the quarterly plan when executing for the first month’s calendar
YOU have time to flesh out ideas, campaigns, asset needs, collaboration requests, etc.
New Clients:
The quarterly planning Social Roadmap will be included in the first round of calendar outlines, regardless of starting month for all Growth and Enterprise clients
Additional Ideas (As Needed, Above + Beyond):
Some months/quarters, your clients may ask for something more specific when it comes to quarterly planning, below are examples of how we can continue to stay strategic outside of our quarterly planning and reports:
Alliant University was wanting to re-align on our overall Organic Social strategy with their entire team. We created a refreshed and optimized Social Strategy deck to help the clients better understand our strategy, goals, target audience, and more.
Note: Use resources like this to push back on clients if/where needed! Ex: “The content you shared is not a part of our recommended post strategy for Instagram as it does not follow best practices and does not resonate with our audience. Please reference our Social Strategy deck below for our platform and content specific strategy!”
Cupcake Vineyards wanted to focus on overarching, relevant themes each month on social and build campaigns around them. Our team created a Social Roadmap where themes, growth strategies, and activation ideas were presented each month/quarter for approval before executing the social calendar
21SEEDS wanted to better understand what recipe content was top-performing and bottom-performing during the last two quarters of their fiscal year. Our team created two recap slides (slides 8-9) with top and bottom-performing 5 recipe posts and insight into why these performed the way they did.
Alliant University wanted to ensure our Organic Social efforts were aligning with their overall marketing initiatives when it came to university program spotlights. An Annual Calendar was created for future social planning to stay on track