A content calendar is a written schedule of when and where you plan to publish upcoming content.
Its purpose is to keep stakeholders organised and accountable to their responsibilities & commitments per the Social Leadership SLAs as well as to maintain consistency - e.g. your organisation may come to expect a newsfeed post every week on #FeedbackFriday from a member of the Guest Services team.
Collaboration is key when populating your content calendar, why?
different departments all have a place to communicate to frontline teams;
frontline teams benefit from a variety of new and exciting content;
the sole responsibility for generating content for Yapster doesn't fall on one person.
Once you've plotted your structured content, remember to include important dates that you would normally celebrate on your external social media channels:
new menu countdown & announcements;
seasonal events;
company anniversaries;
charity & fundraising events.
You'll find that you have a great selection of content by following the above, which also leaves some flexibility for ad-hoc & spontaneous posts from your teams during the week.
We've compiled some examples of content to add to your calendar for your first 5 days of launch - don't forget to check out our weekly and monthly content recommendations. You can also download a free content calendar template here.
Example Content for your "First 5 Days Of Yapster"
Day 1
Onboarding competition “Let’s get yapping!”
What: group yap
Who: project leaders + Management team of all sites
Why: to encourage friendly competition & chatter between sites at the same time as pushing onboarding.
“Hey everyone, Yapster invites went out to your teams this morning, you should have already had the chance to speak to them about it but now’s the time to get them involved. First site to get to 100% of the team online and shout about it in this group gets XXX. Let’s do this!”
Head to your location group in the directory to find out who’s online!
Welcome video by MD (or equivalent stakeholder)
What: 60-90 second video post to the newsfeed
Who: MD or equivalent stakeholder
Why: highlight (briefly) the WHY behind Yapster. Newsfeed post - visible to the entire organisation.
"Here’s a quick summary of why you’re here - I want to hear your thoughts, please yap me directly!"
Day 2
Call to action from Managers
What: welcome message in location yap
Who: General Manager
Why: set out clear guidelines of what Yapster will be used for, encourage team members to interact to get the conversation started. Understand how many team members are yet to onboard.
"Hey gang, thanks for downloading Yapster. This chat is where I'll be posting our daily numbers and sorting rotas and shifts going forward. Our Whatsapp chats are closing soon too. This is an app specifically for teams like ours - make sure you customise your notifications so you can switch off once you're done with your shift 😊"
Day 3
News Feed post giving an update on onboarding competition. Include - Don’t forget to check out the Help App in the Apps tab?
Day 4
Request for feedback on last year's seasonal items
What: Poll with customised options so participants can pick the seasonal item they thought did the best last year.
Who: choose roles that you'd like to solicit feedback from e.g. Server, Sales Assistant etc. The owner of the poll is responsible for collating and responding to ad-hoc feedback in the attached chat.
Why: introduce teams to Yapster's polling feature early in a launch. Soliciting feedback so easily should be utilised whenever possible. Show team members that you value their opinions.
Day 5
Announcing the winner of the onboarding competition with a picture of the winning site
What: Newsfeed post to company timeline
Who: member of the project team
Why: follow up from onboarding competition to thank teams for getting involved and reward the site that has the highest compliance.