Social Media Planning: How to Create it (30/60/90 Days Plan)

Social media marketing is never supposed to be easy, but most brands make it 10x harder than it should be. The reason? Poor social media planning or lack thereof. 

Running social media marketing without a proper plan is like navigating a maze blindfolded – it’s all fun and games until you hit the dead-end. It’s especially important if you are venturing into social media marketing for the first time or revamping your social media strategy. A result-oriented, time-bound plan in this case helps you stay focused and directional, giving you quick early wins and momentum to carry on.  

In this social media planning guide, you will learn how to create a 30/60/90-day plan to arrive at your desired marketing goals. The daily activities outlined in our plan will help you make steady progress and yield tangible results at the end of the plan period, which means increased follower growth, deeper audience insights, boosted engagement and a repository of valuable content that lays the groundwork for your brand authority. Let’s get started. 

What is social media planning? 

Social media planning is the process of building a time-stamped roadmap of social media activities to be undertaken each day for attainment of a predefined social media goal. The process culminates in a detailed social media plan with day-wise, week-wise or month-wise activities that take you closer to your overarching social media objectives.  

The activities include goal setting, audience study, platform selection, profile optimization, content creation, competitor analysis and result tracking, to name a few. Each activity is crucial for building a cohesive strategy that aligns with your overall objectives and helps amplify your brand's social media presence. 

Social media planning vs. social media strategy 

It’s easy to confuse social media planning with social media strategy, as these terms are often used interchangeably in the marketing fraternity. If you know the difference between the two, good for you. If not, here’s a table differentiating the two against certain key parameters.  

Top goals of social media planning 

Well-defined goals give direction and clarity and help with campaign prioritization. While social media goals differ widely by organizational objectives and other factors, there are certain goals that are universal. Here are some of them to help you get started with social media planning: 
 
1. Increasing brand awareness 

Brand awareness means getting your brand in front of as many eyes as possible so that people recognize and remember you. Social media is a powerful tool for reaching new audiences and making your brand voice heard far and wide, and a social media plan is your highway to reach them. 

In fact, 93% of marketers say brand exposure is their primary benefit from social media marketing. Whether you’re a global corporation or a local business, social media allows you to reach beyond your immediate circle and build recognition among potential customers. 

2. Improving engagement 

Engagement on social media refers to how people interact with your content via likes, shares, comments, and direct messages. High engagement indicates that your audience finds your content valuable, engaging, or relatable, meaning your content strategy is on point.  

A data-driven social media plan will help multiply your engagement numbers within stipulated timeframes. Its concerted efforts will give better results than random postings can ever give. 

3. Driving traffic to your website 

Driving traffic to your website via social media is a great goal to have, as it’s one step closer to conversion. Whether it’s through gated content, paid ads or catalogs, a social media plan will most likely include tactics to achieve this goal. 

Take fast-fashion brands like Zara and H&M for instance. They leverage social media advertising to direct traffic to their website, creating a sense of urgency that compels consumers to make a purchase. It’s safe to assume that these are recommendations in their social media planning. 

4. Generating leads and conversions 

Lead generation via social media is another common goal brands seek to attain through social media planning. Turning followers into potential customers is a dream and aspiration for most brands, which can be achieved through planned activities to capture emails, such as encouraging sign-ups for events or offering a free download in exchange for contact information. 

How to write a social media plan 

Now that your vision board is ready, it's time to put your ideas into action. Here's a step-by-step guide to creating a social media plan that you can implement right after setting your goals: 

1. Know your target audience 

Your social media planning will bear no fruits if you’re not speaking to the right people. That's why your first step will be identification and analysis of your target audience. Who are they? What are their interests, pain points and online behaviors?  

You could use audience analysis tools like Facebook Insights, Google Analytics or Sprinklr to gather customer data and create detailed audience personas. 

No matter how short your plan duration is, never skimp on this step. Astute audience insights lay the ground for most of your social media planning since it impacts brainstorming, scheduling, channel selection and even collaborations.  

For example, if you have developed a fitness app targeting millennials, your plan will include content that reflects their lifestyle and interests. You might want to focus on quick, at-home workouts, healthy eating tips and a daily dose of motivational content that vibes with a young busy social media demographic. 

2. Build a content calendar 

After audience analysis, you should have a clear idea of the kind of content themes, platforms and formats that resonate with your audience. At this stage, compiling all these insights into a comprehensive social media content calendar should be your next step.  

• Outline content themes and topics: A mix of resonant, evergreen and viral themes and topics ensure you keep your audience engaged, stay on trend and strengthen your voice on issues that matter. 
• Specify platforms and strategies: Pick the platforms where your audience and competitors live and tailor your content and strategies to each target platform. The approach you take on Instagram might differ from LinkedIn due to their differing demographics and vibe. 
• Plan post dates and times: Identify the best days and times to post on each social platform to maximize your engagement. Different platforms have different peak times, so tailor your schedule accordingly. 
• Choose content types: Mix up your content by including various types, such as blog posts, videos, infographics, podcasts, press releases, user-generated content, polls, challenges, contests, memes and behind-the-scenes footage, catering to people with different content consumption habits. 
• Craft your social copy: Write compelling captions that instantly connect with your audience and reflect your brand voice. Don’t forget to include relevant hashtags and links to drive traffic and engagement. For example, if you have developed a fitness app targeting millennials, your plan will include content that reflects their lifestyle and interests. You might want to focus on quick, at-home workouts, healthy eating tips and a daily dose of motivational content that vibes with a young busy social media demographic. 

3. Allocate resources 

Social media planning without resource allocation is like throwing a last-minute party — exciting, sure, but potentially disastrous. It is crucial to determine your social media budget and stick to it. If you don't track and account for every marketing dollar, the overall cost can quickly spiral out of control, potentially derailing your social media campaigns and overall plan.  

Besides, utilizing human resources efficiently sets you up for long-term success. As a small business, you might be able to handle everything yourself. But as you grow, you may need to onboard additional team members, invest in content creation software or set aside a budget for paid advertising. That’s where fore-planning is a gamechanger. 

4. Measure success 

What doesn’t get measured, doesn’t improve. That’s why you ought to measure the success of your social media planning and analyze what's working and what requires improvement. 

Go back to the goals you defined. Map the social media metrics that can measure your goal attainment. Needless to say, these metrics will look different for different goals. 

If your objective is brand awareness, you'll want to focus on metrics like reach and impressions. On the other hand, if your goal is to drive sales, tracking conversions and ROI will be more pertinent. 

With Sprinklr, you can monitor your social campaigns across 30+ channels, no matter what your goals/metrics might be. Gain valuable insights into your audience's behavior, your posts’ performance and even brand reputation. 

Real-time reporting helps you make timely adjustments to your messaging, customer service and content strategy, ensuring your social media plan stays on track. 

Before we wrap up this topic, remember that social media planning is not a one-time activity. Social media algorithms are shifting, trends are changing and user expectations are rising. So, it’s important to revisit your social media plan regularly and make adjustments as needed. 

Social media plan examples: 30/60/90 day plans 

Creating a social media plan from the ground up might feel like a task, but you can break it down into 30/60/90 day increments to make it more manageable. Here’s a sample plan to help you navigate the first three months of social media marketing and get tangible gains out of it. 

First 30 days: Laying the groundwork

Your social media planning efforts during the first 30 days help lay the groundwork for long-term success. But you are most likely staring at a blank canvas and clueless about where to start and how to get past the creative block. 

To make your life easier, here’s a concise breakdown of activities to be executed within each time frame, so you can build and maintain an effective social media presence. 

Activities for week 1: Social media audit and goal setting 

• Conduct a comprehensive audit of all social media profiles, including inactive ones. 
• Consolidate and analyze performance data from the past three months to a year using a social scorecard. 
• Ensure brand consistency across all profiles by updating profile pictures, bios and content. 
• Review existing content assets for engagement and relevance and update as needed. 
• Set specific, measurable goals for each platform to guide your strategy moving forward. 

Activities for week 2: Audience profiling and competitor analysis 

• Define your target audience by collecting demographic, geographic, psychographic and behavioral data. 
• Identify pain points and challenges of your target audience through surveys, interviews and social listening. 
• Segment your audience into smaller, more specific groups based on shared characteristics. 
• Create detailed personas for each segment to understand their needs, preferences and behaviors. 
• Validate personas and segments with real customer data and feedback. 
• Engage with your audience on the platforms where they are most active. 
  

Activities for week 3: Content strategy and calendar creation 

• Identify your social media goals, content types, audience preferences and posting frequency to develop a content calendar. 
• Categorize your content based on goals like brand awareness, engagement, education and promotion. 
• Schedule posting times based on audience insights and platform-specific data. Better still, let an AI-powered scheduling tool like Sprinklr do it for you. 
• Use a social media calendar to organize and track content and campaigns. 

Activities for week 4: Launch content and monitor engagement 

• Start posting content according to your social media calendar using scheduling tools like Sprinklr. 
• Monitor engagement by responding to comments and interacting with followers to build connections. 
• Utilize content scheduling and monitoring tools to ensure timely posting and track interactions. 
• Prepare a weekly performance analysis report to assess what’s working and adjust the strategy as needed. 

Results to expect after 30 days 

• Better understanding of your current social media performance and audience demographics. 
• Well-defined social media goals and a cohesive brand presence across all platforms. 
• A comprehensive audience profile and competitive analysis to guide future strategies. 
• A structured content calendar that aligns with your goals and optimizes engagement. 

60-day plan: Building momentum and scaling up 

During the next 30 days, focus on building deeper engagement with your audience and expanding your reach. This phase is about reinforcing the foundation you've laid and utilizing data-driven insights to optimize your strategy further. 

Activities for week 5: Diversify content and experiment 

• Introduce new content formats like polls, quizzes, Q&A sessions and user-generated content to engage different audience segments. 
• Experiment with video content such as Instagram Stories, Reels, TikTok videos and Facebook Lives. 
• Collaborate with influencers who align with your brand values to create engaging content. Influencer selection will hold the key to success here. Learn how to find influencers like a pro. 

Activities for week 6: Deepen audience engagement and community building 

• Host live events like webinars, product demos or AMAs to directly engage with your audience. 
• Encourage followers to create and share content related to your brand through contests or challenges. 
• Strengthen customer service on social media by responding to inquiries and gathering feedback promptly. 

Activities for week 7: Optimize content scheduling and automation 

• Refine your posting schedule based on engagement data to optimize timing and frequency. 
• Automate recurring content using a social media scheduling tool to maintain a consistent presence. 
• A/B testing on social media is a surefire way to arrive at the best content types, headlines, images or call-to-actions to drive the most engagement. 

Activities for week 8: Expand audience reach and conduct competitor analysis 

• Identify new audience segments or demographics to target and cast your net wider. 
• Boost posts and run social media ads to reach a wider audience and maximize return on investment. 
• Conduct a thorough competitor analysis to understand their strengths and weaknesses and identify market opportunities. An analysis of your own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) can make this step more meaningful. 

Results to expect after 60 days 

• Increased engagement and reach through diversified content formats and influencer collaborations. 
• A stronger sense of community and loyalty among your audience through interactive and user-generated content. 
• Optimized content scheduling and automation, leading to more efficient social media management. 
• Expanded audience reach and improved competitive positioning in the market. 

90-day plan: Double down and optimize 

In the final 30 days, double down on successful strategies and optimize them for conversions based on the performance over the past two months. Here are weekly activities you can execute to bring your efforts to fruition. 

Activities for week 9: Launch targeted campaigns 

• Develop targeted social media campaigns aligned with specific audience segments or seasonal trends. 
• Continuously refine audience segments based on performance data and feedback. 
• Create personalized content and offers to increase engagement and conversions. 
• Utilize smart segmentation tools like Sprinklr to get audience insights and enhance audience targeting. 

Activities for week 10: Optimize conversion paths and track ROI 

• Shift focus to actions that lead directly to conversions, such as signing up for newsletters or making purchases. 
• Analyze conversion data to identify the most effective strategies and optimize campaigns. 
• Enhance sales funnels to ensure smooth transitions from discovery to conversion. 

Activities for week 11: Double down on high-performing content and channels 

• Replicate the success of top-performing content by creating similar posts or extending the theme. 
• Prioritize social media channels that deliver the highest engagement and conversion rates. 
• Integrate social media with other marketing efforts for a unified strategy and sustained business growth. Integrate it with your website and emails to begin with using social share buttons, login plugins, social media review widgets, etc.  

Activities for week 12: Conduct a comprehensive review and benchmarking 

• Conduct a comprehensive review of social media performance over the last 90 days. 
• Compare your performance against industry benchmarks on social media to see where you stand after concerted efforts. 
• Gather feedback from your team, stakeholders and audience to identify improvements and new ideas. 

Results to expect after 90 days 

• Targeted campaigns and refined audience segmentation that enhance personalization and engagement. 
• Optimized conversion paths and improved ROI through data-driven strategies. 
• Sustained engagement and conversions from doubling down on high-performing content and channels. 
• A comprehensive understanding of what has worked and a clear plan for continued growth and engagement in the next quarter. 

Automate and simplify your social media planning 

Social media planning is an ongoing process of trial and error, learning and adapting. The key is to stay flexible, keep a close eye on your analytics and be willing to tweak your strategy as needed. By following a structured 30/60/90 day plan, you can build a strong social media presence that drives real results for your business. 

However, the grind doesn’t stop here; as you step into the big leagues, keeping pace with the competition becomes crucial. And this is where you need to bring out the heavy hitters.  

Sprinklr Social is a unified social media management solution that integrates consumer intelligence, marketing and customer service on a single platform. With 90% AI-powered accuracy, these insights empower you to make informed marketing decisions that deliver measurable outcomes.  

Intrigued? 

Book a demo or sign up for a 30-day free trial to discover how it can make a difference to your social media campaigns.