You should have BOTH a social plan and a guide. But what’s the difference?
Social Media Guide: A guide should be ‘evergreen’, or a document that should support seasonal campaigns and seasons. It should include brand tone, colours, and what areas of content you touch on. It shows how your socials are supposed to look, what you’re posting and why, and what the goal is of your social presence.
Social Media Plan: A social media plan is more specific and can be used for campaigns, launches, or seasons. It outlines the specific content that is going up and how your social media interacts with your other marketing efforts. You can create a monthly plan that includes your content calendar and plans for campaigns or seasons.
Why do you need both?
A guide should prevent your team from going back and debating the same things over and over and give everyone consensus and confidence on the overall direction of social media. There should be no surprises. A plan should be an outline for a specific campaign or time to support a seasonal goal.
Start with a guide!
Your plans should follow your guide and it should save you money when onboarding, expanding, and planning!