The Benefits of a Social Media Calendar
A social media content calendar is the best way to stay organized, on trend and to learn what content your audience is engaging with, and what content is under performing. A social media calendar can streamline your entire social media strategy.
Whether it’s a simple calendar that only shows which themes you’ll be posting each day or a detailed dashboard that can plan out dozens of daily feeds, your social media content calendar
can be as simple or complex as your business needs it to be.
What is a Social Media Calendar?
A social media content calendar is an overview of your upcoming social media posts. It can be organized in the form of an excel spreadsheet, Google calendar or interactive dashboard (if you’re using a social media management app). Each entry in a social media calendar usually includes some combination of these elements:
– The exact data and time the post will be published
– The social network and account where the post will be published
– The post’s copy and creative assets (i.e. photos or videos)
– Links and tags to be included in the post
– Any additional relevant information (e.g. is this an Instagram feed post or a Story?)
Why Use a Social Media Calendar?
Your social media marketing goals take effort and attention every single day. Not just when you’re feeling inspired. Maintaining a social media content calendar lets you plan ahead, review your work and avoid multitasking. Even if you decide to post every day, maybe multiple times a day, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn all allow you to schedule your posts ahead of time without the need for a robust management system like HubSpot or Hootsuite.
Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn reporting also provides the most accurate data when it comes to reviewing your post performance and understanding what resonated with your audience. A social media content calendar provides the following:
– Saves you time and helps your business stay organized
– Allows you to post consistently and avoid typos/reduce the likelihood of making mistakes
– Capitalize on trends, holidays and viral fads
– Craft higher quality content by tracking what’s engaging, what’s not, and improving
How to Create Your Social Media Content Calendar?
There are 8 steps to creating an effective social media calendar:
– Audit your social networks and content
– Create a list of successful themes from past content
– Choose your social channels
– Decide what your calendar needs to track (KPI’s)
– Make a content library for your assets (images, videos etc.)
– Start crafting your posts, proofread and schedule
– Ask your team for input and to review
– Collect performance data and analyze
