Boost Productivity with a Social Media Content Calendar

Social Media Content Calendar
Daniel Kelly

Daniel Kelly

Web Design & Digital Growth Specialist

Maintaining a social media platform can be stressful at times, especially if you are running multiple ones. You need to keep them updated so your audience will stick around. This is why you should use a social media calendar.

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Why a social media content calendar?

Red Bull, Disney Parks, National Geographic, and other big brands make use of a social media content calendar. Having one of your own will make your life easier. How? Let’s find out.

8 steps to creating a social media content calendar

Before filling your social media calendar with details, follow these simple steps to make them more effective:

1. Go through your social networks and content for fine-tuning.

Just like any business, your social platforms need to go through an audit. This can help you develop a clear picture of your current social media efforts, identify areas for improvement, and find opportunities for new strategies. You need to keep the following updated.

Keeping these updated will give you valuable information that’s unique to your audience, accounts, and brand. You can repeat your strategy for successful posts, campaigns, and tactics which can maximize your ROI.

2. Choose your social media channels

New social media platforms keep popping up on top of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. Find the time to stay on top of new developments and see which new social media platform your audience is getting on. This way, you’ll know if you need Instagram Threads or even TikTok. These will all depend on your audience’s demographics. Once you get the gist, review the best practices for each platform’s business marketing strategies so you’re up-to-date with new insights.

3. Map out data you need to track

As have mentioned earlier, you might have a number of people in your content creation team so this means you need more information output. These might include:

You might also want to add details about your content like one-time or multiple-use, approved or not, posted or not, and organic or paid. If paid, you may also want to add your budget.

4. Establish a workflow

Now, it’s time to get things done. You need to:

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5. Store your content in a reliable library

A lot of people will vouch that content and visuals should not only be accessible on one’s computer but also on mobile. Keep them orderly so you easily find them. They should be stored in a reliable content repository, media resource database, or digital asset bank as some people call them.

Whether you opt to use Dropbox, Google Drive, your company’s internal network, or made-to-purpose database software, your social media content library should have the following important features:

Set it up in a way that you can easily find what you’re looking for.

6. Start crafting your posts

If you want to get more ideas on what your posts should cover, you can consider:

7. Invite your team to review and use their feedback to improve

Ask the people who will be using your social media content calendar every day to check its functionality. Make sure they have the password and know how to find, download, and upload files. Set up a meeting and get their feedback so you can improve on it.

8. Start publishing and scheduling future posts

Once you’ve covered everything mentioned above, you can sit down and start publishing your content. If you are pressed for time to manually publish on a daily basis, a calendar with scheduling function will answer to your needs.

Useful social media content calendar apps and tools

If you are not yet familiar with the popular social media content calendar apps and tools that every content writing team uses, here are 3 favourites:

1. Google Sheets

Google’s productivity tools have saved a lot of people from losing their sanity. Use them to create your own personalised calendar or use a template.

2. Trello

Trello allows you to add as many cards and files as you want. You can also personalize your theme, get notifications, set due dates, and create calendar commands among other useful features.

3. Hootsuite Planner

Hootsuite Planner allows you to get your visual overview and all your assets such as copy, visuals, and links in one place. You can also schedule a post or publish directly from the calendar with just a click of a button.

Conclusion

Now that we have laid out the game plan, engage with your followers with a social media content calendar and watch your brand flourish!