Sure. Posting regularly and consistently on social media is key to building your following and boosting engagement.
But between managing your business, serving your customers, and living your life, finding the time to post can feel impossible.
The solution? Create a social media content calendar. A content calendar will save you time, reduce stress, and help you achieve your goals.
In just 30 minutes a week, you can plan out your content in advance and never miss a post again. This guide will walk you through how to build a simple but effective social media content calendar from scratch. Without further ado, let’s get started.
Choose Your Networks and Posting Frequency
Choosing which social networks to focus on and how often to post is key to creating an effective content calendar.
- Pick your top 2-3 networks. For most businesses, this is Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Choose networks where your target audience is most active.
- Determine your posting frequency. As a general rule of thumb, aim for:
- Facebook: 3-5 times per week
- Instagram: 1-2 times per day
- LinkedIn: 3 times per week
Set Content Themes and Topics
To create a content calendar, you first need to determine themes and topics to focus on. Think about what your audience cares about and the questions they have. Some ideas could be:
- Company updates or behind-the-scenes info
- Tips, how-tos or best practices
- Trends in your industry
- Common problems your products or services solve
- Seasonal or timely content
Once you have 3-5 broad themes, break them down into more specific topics. For a social media marketing agency, for example, themes could be:
- Social Media Strategy
- Developing a social media plan
- Choosing the right platforms for your business
- Setting social media goals and KPIs
- Content Creation
- Creating a content calendar
- How to repurpose content across platforms
- Sourcing content ideas and inspiration
- Social Media Tools
- Must-have tools for social media managers
- New tools to improve your workflow
- Tool reviews and comparisons
With a list of 12-20 topics, you’ll have plenty of inspiration for social posts, blog articles, emails, webinars, and more. And don’t worry if you don’t cover every single topic – you can always revisit your list for future content planning. The most important thing is that the themes and topics you choose resonate with your audience.
Create Your Editorial Calendar
Once you’ve determined your content themes and topics, it’s time to organize them into an editorial calendar. This helps ensure you have a good balance and variety of content planned and stay on schedule.
Map Out Your Content
Start by listing your content topics and themes along with the type of content for each, such as:
- Social media posts (image, video, blog excerpt, etc.)
- Blog posts
- Email newsletters
- Webinars or virtual events
Then assign each piece of content to a week or date on your calendar. Aim for 2-3 social posts per day, 1-2 blog posts per week, a monthly newsletter, and a webinar or event every 4-6 weeks.
Schedule Your Content
Next, schedule specific dates and times for your content. While you want a consistent posting schedule, you also want to avoid being too predictable. Vary the times and days of the week for your social media posts. You might do:
- Social media posts at 9 am, 12 pm and 3 pm
- Blog posts on Tuesdays and Thursdays
- Email newsletters on the 3rd Friday of the month
- Webinars or events on the 2nd Thursday of the month
Be sure to also consider holidays, events or seasonal themes that could impact your schedule. You may need to adjust post times or skip certain days.
Review and Revise
Once your initial calendar is set, review it to ensure you have a good balance and variety in your content. Make any changes needed to topics, types or scheduling to optimize engagement. You should also revisit your editorial calendar at least quarterly to swap in new topics or themes and stay up-to-date with trends.
While you can remain stuck to the schedule and calendar you establish, make sure to get flexible enough to make changes as needed to keep your audience engaged.
Schedule Your Posts in Advance
Once you’ve created your social media content calendar and drafted your posts, it’s time to schedule them. Scheduling your content in advance has several benefits:
Consistency
Posting consistently keeps your followers engaged and coming back to your profiles. When you schedule posts ahead of time, you ensure you’re posting regularly even when you’re too busy to post in the moment.
Efficiency
Scheduling multiple posts at once saves you time. You can sit down for an hour or two and plan out posts for the entire month. Then you don’t have to worry about creating and posting new content every single day.
Preparation
Having your posts ready in advance allows you to be prepared with high-quality content. You have more time to find or create visuals, refine your wording, and make sure each post is as impactful as possible.
Review and Optimize Your Strategy
Once you’ve implemented your social media content calendar for a few months, it’s a good idea to review how it’s working and make any needed changes to optimize your strategy.
Review Your Key Metrics
Look at the numbers for each of your platforms – are your followers and engagement rates increasing? What posts and types of content get the most likes, comments and shares? Take note of what’s working so you can do more of it. If some areas need improvement, don’t be afraid to switch things up. Your content calendar is a living document, so make changes as needed to boost your results.
Check for Consistency
Double-check that you’re posting with the frequency you planned and that your messaging is cohesive across platforms. Your social media profiles should have a consistent look, feel, voice and brand identity. If anything feels off, update your style guides and content calendar to address it.
Refine Your Content Mix
See if your current content mix – blog posts, images, video, etc. – is achieving the results you want. You may need to experiment by adding or swapping in different types of content. For example, try live streaming a Q&A or behind-the-scenes video on Facebook, or start a series of Instagram Stories showing how you work. Keep optimizing until you find the perfect mix for your brand and audience.
Review and Respond to Feedback
Check the comments on your posts and any direct messages you’ve received. Look for constructive feedback and suggestions on how to improve. Respond to comments and messages, thanking people for the feedback and addressing any legitimate concerns or criticism. Make note of common themes in the feedback and use them to strengthen your social media strategy.
Continuously reviewing and optimizing your social media content calendar will help you gain valuable insights, improve your results over time and build stronger connections with your followers. Keep at it and your hard work will pay off!
Conclusion
Staying organized and planning ahead is key to achieving social media success. When you have a roadmap in place, you’ll find yourself spending less time scrambling to come up with posts on the fly and more time engaging with your followers and optimizing your content strategy.
Give this process a shot and stick with it – your social media productivity and results will thank you.
Once you get into the habit, you may even find yourself looking forward to diving into your calendar each week. Happy planning!
