Plan a year of organic and paid social in one page

Key takeaways

A one-page annual plan for organic and paid social shows always-on organic posting across all twelve months, three or four paid pushes timed to your peaks, and four quarterly reviews. Plan paid pushes around your own busy seasons and UK dates such as bank holidays, January and the run-up to Christmas, when ad costs rise.

• Organic runs all 12 months.
• Plan 3 or 4 paid pushes around your peaks.
• Expect higher ad costs from October to December.
• Review the plan every quarter.

What goes in an annual organic and paid plan?

An annual plan has three layers on one page.

• Organic: themes for each month, always on.
• Paid: three or four pushes with dates and budgets.
• Reviews: four quarterly checkpoints.
• Key dates: your peaks and UK holidays.

• Organic social media vs paid advertising: which to choose?
• How to build a monthly social media content calendar

How do you plan organic for the year?

Plan organic as monthly themes linked to what customers need at that time of year, then fill each month in your monthly calendar. Keep it always on: the IPA's research shows brand building works over long periods, not bursts.

• Organic posts keep working, ads stop: the longevity gap

How do you time paid pushes?

Time paid pushes to your busiest buying periods, launches and events, and to quiet months you want to fill. Ad costs often rise from October to December as competition increases. Start organic build-up a few weeks before each push.

• Why social ads cost more from October to December
• Seasonal advertising: timing spend across channels

Which UK dates matter?

Plan around bank holidays, which differ between England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland according to GOV.UK, school holidays, January, Black Friday and Christmas. Add sector dates such as tax deadlines or wedding season.

• Promoting an event: organic posts or paid social ads?

How do you review the plan?

Each quarter, compare enquiries and costs by source, adjust the next quarter's paid pushes and move budget towards what worked. Meta's budget tools let you set lifetime budgets for each push in advance.

• How long before you judge organic or paid results?

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: a garden centre ran ads all year at the same level. Moving to always-on organic with three paid pushes, spring planting, summer furniture and Christmas, spent a similar total but brought more sales in each peak, because budget was concentrated when customers were buying.

• See client work
• Social Media Marketing for UK businesses

Annual plan checklist

• Set 12 monthly organic themes.
• Mark your peak buying periods.
• Plan 3 or 4 paid pushes with budgets.
• Add UK holidays and sector dates.
• Start organic build-up before each push.
• Book four quarterly reviews.

• When does an organic post become an ad? UK rules
• Make the business case for paid social to your director

Next step

On one page, write twelve monthly organic themes, mark your three busiest periods for paid pushes and put four review dates in the diary.