How I use Microsoft Loop to organize, plan and write my social media content ✨🎀

Today I wanted to share a practical tip on how I organize my social media content with the help of Microsoft Loop! I share a lot of content on LinkedIn (you can find me at aka.ms/amandatory I'm much more active there compared to here 😇) and it do come naturally, but I need a tool to support me - hello Microsoft Loop! This isn't a blog post about how to use Microsoft Loop, but the post starts with a short introduction.

🎀Table of content🎀

The why

What is Microsoft Loop?

How my set-up looks

Things I'm missing to make it perfect

Your getting started checklist

The why

Let's start with why I use Loop and not OneNote, which might be another possible tool in the Microsoft ecosystem. The short and simple answer I that I really enjoy the look and feel of Loop - I just find Loop much pretty and nicer to look at🎀.

What is Microsoft Loop?

Microsoft Loop was announced a couple of years ago by Microsoft as a flexible collaboration app that brings together people, content and tasks into one place. The idea was that it's not a place you collaborate with, it's the content. With Loop components, it doesn't matter if you use it in Loop, Microsoft Teams or other parts of Microsoft 365. It just works and it's always in perfect sync across all places. To put it in less fancy marketing terms, it's a place for putting down your thoughts. The core parts of Loop are:

• Loop workspaces: The top level in Loop, you will get a personal workspace as a default, but can also create new workspaces in any topic - either connected to a Microsoft 365 group or not. When you create a workspace and leave the company the workspace will not be deleted since it's created in a shared manner.

• Loop pages: Each workspace consists of pages, it's in the pages the content lives. You can also attach files to a workspace. Loop pages can be used to create "hierarchy" and structure in a Loop workspace as I will show soon.

• Loop components: In a page there can be different kinds of content, such a text, bullet lists, code, callouts e.g. A page can consist of several components but also only of one, the components can then be copy pasted into other places where they are needed such as a chat.

I could write a lot about Loop and all of it's features but that is not the aim of this blog post. Now lets talk social media planning instead 🙌🏻.

How my set-up looks

The first step is the set-up. If you have your own tenant I would suggest creating a new workspace, mine is called Social media 💘✨🐬. If you don't have a personal tenant I would use My workspace to keep better control of your data.

The second step is thinking of a structure, I have five different categories with different kinds of content:

📅 Plan to post: In the top level I add my planned content (with a link to the page if I have created it) and dates in a check list, once the post is posted or scheduled, I mark it as done. This gives me a view of what's going on and if there's some missing. I do this for my posts on LinkedIn, if I posted more on my blog I would probably have two different lists with the planned dates.

Under📅 Plan to post I add EVERYTHING. I add titles of posts I want to write, I add vague ideas, I add full ideas, I add dreams, I add desires. No but seriously I add everything that comes to mind. I really try not to kill the sparks of creativity directly. I rather write it down and let the idea either blossom or self die. Right now my idea list consists of a few blog posts I want to write (where the draft for this idea was created maybe a year ago), some quotes from I book i liked, a list of ideas for posts I want to schedule during a trip. As you see it's a mix, what I really enjoy is that I easily get an overview but also that I whenever can open the pages (even on the go from my phone) and add more text. Below are four random drafts from my workspace right now.

✏️ Blog posts: Here I add all the finished blog posts I've written and posted.

🪄 LinkedIn: Here I add all the finished LinkedIn posts I've posted.

🦸🏻‍♀️ Copilot tips: Here I add all the LinkedIn posts I've posted in a series I'm doing, since there are many posts centered around one topic I like to organize them together.

🌟 Other: Here I add things I write that does not fit under LinkedIn posts or blog posts, it can be for my podcast, it can be for an article, it can be for participating in a podcast.

The later four categories are mainly used to move finished content to.

Things I'm missing to make it perfect

I love using Loop for creating and planning content but there are two big things I'm missing to make it perfect:

1. There is as of now no offline support. I often spend time adding ideas on the road or in air, but I don't always have Wi-fi access. This is annoying and often I just use the built-in notes app on my phone and paste the content afterwards.

   
   

2. It's very difficult to share externally. It's possible to use Loop with people outside of your tenant, but sometimes I just want an easy link as when you share for example a Word file. But good thing is I can ask Copilot for feedback instead of my husband 🤪. 

Your getting started checklist

▢ Decide if your should create a new workspace or use 😎 My workspace.

▢ Add key pages to your workflow, start with 📅Plan to post. If you are using 😎 My workspace it could be an idea to have a top page called Social media and add all the pages under to not confuse with other personal pages.

▢ Add at least one more page suitable for your workflow, some examples:

• Blog posts

• LinkedIn posts

• Internal

  
  

▢ Set up your 📅Plan to post page. Add upcoming posts and dates, link to post page when possible.

▢ Capture EVERY idea, I mean every idea. Do the cleanse later.

▢ Organize your published content.

▢ Experiment with Loop components to get new ideas.

▢ Review and updated on a regular basis.

▢ Use Copilot for feedback 😏.

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I hope I have given you some ideas on how you can use Loop for organizing, planning and writing your social media content. It has really been a big help for my work💖.