If you're managing your social media business page, you've probably experienced any of these:
Inconsistent posting... realizing you haven't posted anything in 3 days... or too many promotional posts in a row.
These are some of the most common scenarios for business owners and social media managers. But let me tell you that you can avoid this.
Yep, you can. And this is excellent because social media moves fast, so inconsistent posting is a no-no!
But the thing is... how can you create a social media calendar that works for you and your business?
That's what we're talking about today. We'll discuss...
- What is a social media calendar?
- What are the critical things you should include in your social media content calendar?
- The benefits of having a social media content calendar for your business.
- What are some tools you can use to create your social media calendar?
- 3 free social media content calendar templates you can download.
Are you ready? Let's jump right in!
What's a social media content calendar?
A content calendar is a calendar but not your typical one. Social media calendars are filled with scheduled content for your business or clients.
The purpose of a content calendar is to have an overview of your social media postings for each month or week.
This is what it usually looks like:
As you can see, there are different categories for each day in a month. But there are different types of calendars.
For example, some calendars look like an overview of the month. But when you click on each day, you will see other details, like captions, images, links, etc. While there are calendars that look like this:
It all depends on what works for you and your business, but here are the...
Things to include in your social media calendar
Content calendars are essential in social media management. And there are different social media calendars for each business. It's not a one-size-fits-all calendar, but you can create your own.
Whether you'll use a social media calendar template or create your own, here are important things that should be in your calendar:
- Date of publication. This indicates when you're posting the content.
- Time of posting. Timing is crucial for social media content. You need to include when is the exact time you're posting the content.
- Distribution channel. Where are you posting the content? Instagram? Facebook? TikTok? Indicate the social media platforms.
- Content type. What's the kind of content? Carousel post? Short-form video? Facebook Live? This will help you set the frequency of each content type.
- Content strategy/category. Is it promotional, educational, or entertaining? You need to indicate this to make sure you're distributing posts equally.
- Copy. Write the caption of your posts. This is helpful to ensure that everything is reviewed before posting.
- Link. You can include the link to the file or the website URL you'll be promoting.
- Post link. Once the post is live, you need to document the link for easy access in case future changes occur.
- Status. This is important in knowing what's the status of the post. Are the images ready? Did you write the copy? Is it approved?
- Analytics. Input the results or analytics of each post to give you an overview of your posts performed.
Having these things in your social media content calendar will help you track efficiently of your schedules.
But why do you need to have a social media calendar in the first place? Here are...
5 Benefits of having a social media content calendar
Having a social media calendar will maintain your...
1. Consistency in posting
A social media calendar will help you stay consistent in posting because you can plan ahead for your content. You don’t need to wing a social media post just because you realize you haven’t posted for the week.
You can also have an overview of your content for the month, then you can gauge or adjust the interval of postings.
It’s important to be consistent in showing up online because that will help your audience remember you. This will also help you build a solid social media presence.
A social media calendar will also let you see the…
2. Variety of your content
Social media marketing is not easy. And you need to see which types of content will work best for your customers or followers.
Having a social media calendar in place allows you to see the variety of your content and diversify it. What do I mean?
For example, you’re creating social media posts for September. Then you notice that for 5 straight days, you’re only promoting your products.
Now, you need to break up your promotional postings instead of posting them 5 days in a row.
You can insert relatable or informational content in between. Just so your audience wouldn’t feel tired of seeing promotional posts.
Next is, you can…
3. Keep track of all your social media content
In the future, you might need to remove or edit some posts from your social media channels. Having social media content calendars will keep track of your posts.
This is a must, especially if you're handling multiple social media accounts.
That's why you need to have the things I mentioned above in your calendar. This will also serve as a guide for your next social media campaigns.
If you noticed that your engagement rate went up in a specific month, you can analyze the calendar and apply what worked on your next social media content strategy.
Social media calendars are also an excellent way to...
4. Collaborate with your marketing team
You need different people to contribute their ideas to have an effective social media marketing strategy. In this case, it can be your team.
Having a social media calendar is an easy way to collaborate with your team. You can share the link to the calendar, and everyone can share their thoughts.
Lastly, social media calendars can...
5. Save time in social media planning
Social media content creation takes time. You need to have a social media strategy per post and create the actual content. It might take a lot of your time if you're going to do it every day.
But with a content calendar, you can set aside a few hours to sit down and plan ahead. You don't have to do it per day because you plan ahead and batch-create your content for a whole month.
These benefits sound amazing, right? I'm sure you're wondering...
Where to create a social media content calendar template?
There are many social media calendar tools you can use. Three of them are:
1. Google Calendar
Google Calendar serves more purposes other than your meetings and personal appointments. You can turn it into a social media calendar!
You can create a content schedule by choosing the date, time, and title for your social media post. This is a great option if you want something simple.
Another one is...
2. Google Sheets
If you want to customize it according to what exactly works for you, Google Sheets can be your friend. Just go to Google Sheets and customize the table with the lists I gave you above.
You can also use this photo as a reference. You can see that this example has time, content title, copy, images, social platforms, and more.
Google Sheets is an uncomplicated tool for creating your social media calendar. It's also free.
But if you want more features, you can use...
3. Project Management Tools
If you want to centralize your business and marketing documentation and to-dos, you can create your social media calendars through project management tools.
Of course, it depends on what tool you're currently using.
And to make your life easier, here are...
3 Free social media calendar templates to use
You don't need to create your own. You can customize these social media calendar templates for your marketing campaigns.
So, here are some free content calendar templates for you.
1. HubSpot's Social Media Content Calendar
This content calendar gives you an overview of your month in an organized way. These are customizable color codings for each campaign.
There are separate sheets where you can see and edit the details of the posts for your social channels.
You can see there's a tab for the day, date, time, message, link, campaign type, image, etc. This makes it easier for you to input the important details of your social media posts.
Another content calendar template that will make your life easier is...
2. Tactyc's Content Calendar
Tactyc's calendar is made of an Excel spreadsheet. They said it's created to save you some time.
What I like about this calendar is you can have a calendar view of your posts but there are different sheets for each category.
For example, you can have separate sheets for your advertising, Facebook posts, Instagram posts, etc. It's also divided weekly, which makes it easy to follow the schedule.
The next free content calendar is...
3. Asana's Social Media Calendar
This is a social media calendar template from Asana. Since it's a project management tool, you can do many things besides a calendar.
It also gives you a list view of your content, which can serve as a checklist to make sure you're on track with posting. You can also customize the statuses and keep in touch with your team.
Since you already know how to create your social media calendar...
Be consistent in your posting and make content planning easier with these social media calendar templates!
While you can create your editorial calendar, it's still great to have templates on hand to make planning more convenient and enjoyable.
You can use these calendars to keep your content diverse and consistent. These will help you create more efficient content that your audience will enjoy.
But to create a social media calendar filled with valuable, you need to create a social media marketing strategy to make successful content. So, learn how to...
Ricky Hayes
