Planning The Annual Company Publications
Column #itSAMarketingThing 9: How to plan the annual company publications and posts.
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Preparation for the Year
Blog articles, social media posts, thank you cards and invitations, there are a lot of corporate communications to organize in a year. And of course, all these ads need a visual in several sizes.
As in any good factory, it’s possible to increase our production, in speed and organization, by using the required applications. Therefore, we must list what we need to organize. The goal is to produce the year’s promo and campaigns in a single period of time.
Experience Helps
With many seasons scheduled, we have a good idea of the preparation and communications to produce for the public. It’s my case since 1998. By using appropriate digital tools and listening to some tips in this paper, we will save time, avoiding emergency calls to the graphic designer at the last minute or worse, correcting erroneous publications already sent to the public.
Come on! Welcome to the marketers who are celebrating the camper’s Christmas by designing holiday cards and happy new year greeting visuals in the middle of June! And it’s fun too!
The Annual Schedule That Can Be Prepared in One Minute
To make a list of the material to be produced, it’s necessary to establish the annual publications to do. So when you have an overview, and you know the number of photos required and their format, it’s easier to consolidate your preparations and avoid costs by producing several campaigns at once. Also, the schedule of its publications repeats from year to year and organizing in advance allows you to keep your eyes open for specials.
Here are some ideas for annual publications:
Founding and anniversary dates of your company and its members
World days whose subject is related to your products and services
Holiday periods (New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, national holidays, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, etc.)
The first days of the seasons
Back-to-school periods and school holidays
Important events in your city or neighbourhood (festival, related activities and leisure activities, the opening of a service, the birthday of your partners and staff, etc.).
Partner activities and trade fairs and conferences.
Take Note of the Visuals to Create and Their Dimensions
So I have a list of 10 event dates. These communications require a rectangle image for social media, from which a square version and a vertical rectangle version for Instagram, briefs and reels will be derived. Two of these publications require image preparation for press releases, so plan to prepare photos with logos and credits for these communications*. Here is the list of example formats:
Format of each image for the website and YouTube clip: 1920 × 1080 pixels. (The following images will be extracted from these images, as the image is finished in the dimension tool, therefore saving time in writing.)
Facebook and LinkedIn publication: 1200 × 630 pixels.
Instagram post: 1080 × 1080 pixels.
Story and Reel: 1080 × 1920 pixels (requires a vertical graphic of the background colour).
*Press gallery images: 1920 × 1080, 1200 × 630 and 1080 × 1080 images with the company logo on the visual and credits in the file title.
Of these 10 events, three communications will also be publicized in the media with the purchase of promotional banners. The advertising formats to plan and add to the list are:
The 728 × 90 pixel leaderboard for ads at the top and bottom of the page, and ads inserted in articles.
The Box, or Big Box, is the square image of 500 × 500 pixels that we often see in page side tabs and in member emails.
The Photographer’s Turn
And here we’re with 10 events, and their list of visual dimensions, to dress up with images. This is when the choice of using original images, a photo bank, a personalized design or the service of a graphic designer arises.
Regardless of the option, I believe it’s important to think about being original in the annual visuals. Simple photos, which resemble and respect the dynamics of the company, with branding and a simple slogan will have an impact throughout the year.
I also like to be alert for spontaneous photo shoots. A snapshot from a trip to Quebec could well serve as the backdrop to a message from Good Saint John, for example.
And Finally the Editor
Yes, I always wait until I have created the visuals, or have the official images in hand, before producing the final and corrected version of the communications texts. Too often I have had to start over good texts, corrected and translated, to adjust to a new, newly decided visual, or items that were finally discontinued, for example.
Since writing texts is the most easily malleable part of the work in establishing corporate communications, we only adapt the editorial content of the campaign when possible, which is much less expensive than redoing images or return corrective proofs continuously.
I therefore ideally compose the publication messages, the press releases and dispatches and the accompanying and presentation texts after having seen the final images which will accompany them.
Title of image files
Finally, from experience, I create nomenclature in establishing file names in advance, so that all visuals are named the same way, helping SEO. A file title must omit accents or special characters. Also leave spaces in case of an apostrophe.
Examples of nomenclature: event(space)month(space)year(space)media.png.
The file name of the image will be: Launch September 2024 instagram.png.
Another file will be: Roman the French writer Oct 24 press release.png.
Of course, when I name files, I always think SEO and keywords. This also facilitates web programming work when disclosing the communication.
Budget: Creation budgets are different depending on the communication to be planned and our knowledge in writing, correction, graphics and publicity. Whether or not you use an external service, the production to be carried out isn’t necessarily counted in monetary expenditure, but in labour. It must be remembered that any communication requires time, whether by a third party or by oneself, which doesn’t directly result in an inflow of money; it’s an investment.
Tip: I always suggest limiting the number of image formats to produce. With the possibility of adapting the layout of websites, for example, why not use the same image size as those produced for social media?
Take the example of the famous image format for publications of the size of 1200 × 630, this photo dimension can also be that of your main table at the start of the article on your blog; such visual production will be shorter, use less space on the server, etc. A new idea with the square image format of 1080 × 1080 for publications on Instagram and which can be easily used in Story and Reel; no need to produce a different 500 × 500 ad for external marketing, but try to use one image template for both publications with only one line of text to change. Another way to save time when producing a design.
Tools: Free applications for creation, design, logos and visuals are very useful. It’s often possible to use the sharing option directly from the software, freeing up time for social planning. The images are transferable in video, Story and Reel format. My favourites: CapCut, Photoshop and Canva.
Advertising
Conclusion
I end this column hoping to have helped you in establishing your annual corporate communications planning.
Whether you’re in the launch period or an established business, beautiful publications, well organized and planned, will bring you participation from your community by demonstrating that you’re active on all your platforms.
See you in the Blog!
Jeff
Cr Images and production: W+M Services
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Websites - creation, management and design
I edit the content of sites via CMS besides creating sites with WordPress and Squarespace. I have been producing website content as a webmaster since 1998.
I help companies get their first website up and I improve the performance of sites.
Yes, I’m Mr. Analytics and my reaction time to new digital marketing is daily, which allows my clients to have optional and trend-cutting tools.
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