If your life has a routine, success will surely knock on your door. It is true for every aspect of life, whether it is about scheduling your studies, household chores, or even social media content. Yes, you heard me right! In order to stay ahead of everyone in the social media marketing world, you have to build a content calendar and be strategic about your posts.
Today, let me walk you through the art of social media content calendars. The world of social media is vast and overwhelming. So, no matter how creative your content is, you will fail to attract your desired audience without a solid plan of action.
So, to build a social media content calendar, continue reading below for the best tips!
In This Article
Just like a regular calendar, where you mark your birthdays and upcoming events, a social media calendar is a rundown of your upcoming content and posts. It is a detailed outline of what you need to post, when to post, and where to post. It can be in the form of a spreadsheet, dashboard, or even a document.
The three most common elements of every content calendar are the date and time of when the post will go live, the platforms where the content will be posted, and the post creatives like links, videos, etc.
Is Content Calendar Important?
Social media has become the centre of attraction for every business owner. With a solid follower base, you can get loyal customers for every product you share and an amazing ROI (Return on Investment). You can also enter platforms like Socialwick to enhance visibility and engagement on your social media platforms. Trusted websites give you real-time interaction in just a short period.
However, even with a good count of followers, it is not easy to attract an audience and reap benefits. Hence, social marketers have started relying on content calendars to keep track of when and where to post. A detailed overview of the publishing date and time, post format, hashtags, platforms, and even reviews of projects make things more efficient and effective.
Especially when you have multiple platforms to run, a calendar keeps track of what you are missing and what you are yet to accomplish. And since everything becomes organized, you get more time to focus on creating quality content for your audience.
Now let us dive into how to start a content calendar:
Know The Basics
Before deciding anything else, you should know what you are looking for. You have to be clear about your aim with social media. So, before whipping up a calendar, ask yourself some essential questions:
- Your purpose for using social media
- Which platform do you want to focus on?
- What type of content do you want?
- Who is your target audience?
Once you are clear about these necessities, you can proceed to the next step and plan out your content calendar.
Social Media Audit
A social media audit is another essential step before formatting your calendar. You need to assess your media presence, past performance, and audience engagement. Only with an audit will you understand your flaws and drawbacks.
An audit can help you understand the interests and expectations of your audience. It will give you better clues as to what your future content should look like. Auditing can also help you review your presence compared to your competitor’s media presence.
Run a competitive analysis by checking clicks, conversion, and engagement of posts and figuring out the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) important for your brand.
Format Your Calendar
Now that you know what your content will look like and which platform you want to focus on, it is time to build your calendar and fill in the blanks. The first step is to choose your calendar framework. You have plenty of available tools to give you a jumpstart. For instance, you have Google Sheets or Excel, Loomly, or even Trello for your calendar. All the tools have a simple interface with visuals and other elements to help you map out your content.
Once you have decided on the framework, you can start including the essential elements of your calendar. As mentioned earlier, the basic elements of a calendar include:
- Date and time of publishing
- Social platforms you are focusing on
- Title, Topic, URL
- Media (videos, graphics, etc.)
- Hashtags and captions
- Type of content
Make sure you create a new tab for every month. You can also have an evergreen content column to keep track of all the posts that consistently perform well. And, as you grow more comfortable, you can add advanced elements like platform-specific materials (reels, TikTok LIVE, etc.), Geo-targeting, etc.
Generate Ideas
Now that your calendar is set up with the primary elements, it is time to generate more ideas and fill your calendar. For starters, you can begin by adding recurring events. For instance, you can start with holidays relevant to your brand, product launches with teasers and videos, sales like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, etc., and company news.
After including all the details regarding what to post on the calendar, you can focus on the posting schedule. For instance, you can decide on 3–4 posts a week for Instagram, 10–20 tweets a week for X (formerly Twitter), and so on.
Always remember to generate ideas that have a content mix. Having the same flavor for every piece of content might bore the audience. Also, it is better to post less often with quality content than to post every day with subpar material. It is similar to the benefit of having fewer authentic followers than more fake ones.
Get Feedback
Once your calendar is complete, it is time to share it with the marketing team and get their feedback. It is important to ensure that the calendar meets everyone’s needs. Your calendar should be easy to understand, and everyone should be aware of their duties.
For instance, if someone feels like the calendar contains too much information and is confusing, you can dial down some of the details. The goal is to make every team member aware of what is happening and recognize their work.
Endnote
Scheduling your social media work can benefit both the marketing team and the business. It makes social marketing more efficient and effective while doubling the profit with organized posting and auditing.
