A social media content calendar showing a mix of special event posts and evergreen content.

Creating a Social Media Calendar: Master Your Content Marketing Strategy

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If your small business isn’t on social media, it’s virtually invisible. You know this.

But managing social posts across different networks can be overwhelming — especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. Remembering where and when to post which type of content and keeping a regular posting frequency, all while juggling your regular business operations can be enough to make you want to unplug completely and just give up on your social media presence.

Before you go off the grid, let us teach you how to simplify your social media marketing strategy with one simple tool: a content calendar.

What Is a Social Media Content Calendar?

A social media content calendar is where you plan and schedule posts for your different social profiles.

“Well, duh,” you’re probably saying right now, “I can guess that much from the name.”

We get it – maybe that makes it seem a little simplistic. But it actually should hold a wealth of information such as:

  • Any hashtags or mentions
  • What social network it will be published to
  • The publish date and time
  • What type of content it will be (image carousel, graphic, reel, gif, etc.)
  • Where it is in the process of creation
  • What copy and creative it will use
  • A mix of evergreen social media posts and special events like holidays or product launches

A good social media content calendar holds a wealth of information, making content planning and publishing much, much easier.

Benefits of Using a Calendar for Social Media Planning

Now, you may feel like creating a social calendar is just another step that complicates your social media management — leading to even more stress headaches. But taking the time to build out a calendar simplifies your workflow and lightens the load. Plus, it can help you grow your social media accounts (by more than just a few spare followers).

1. Consistency Across Social Media Channels

Having a calendar as part of your digital marketing strategy means that you can keep a consistent and precise posting schedule.

Your target audience is more likely to visit different social media sites at different times of the day. You may get better engagement on LinkedIn in the morning and TikTok in the evening. An editorial calendar allows you to plan out when you post to different social media platforms so that they can shine.

A consistent schedule is also important for gaining – and retaining – followers. To run a successful social media campaign, you regularly need to be producing new content. If you go long stretches of time without it, or post all of it all at once and then let your social channels sit dry, you risk losing the attention of your target audience. They may even unfollow — and you don’t need to be a social media expert to know that’s bad.

2. Save Time

You might think that adding a new step to your content creation will take up more time, and sure, logically, that seems like it should be true. But by planning ahead, you can use time more efficiently.

3. Streamline Workflow

Part of the way a social media calendar helps you save time is by better coordinating your marketing team. Your team members have the same calendar view to act as a reference so they know when there are any changes to the social media scheduling, how the post is progressing, and what they need to do and when. Having a calendar shared among your social media team is essential for effective project management.

4. Better Team Collaboration

When you plan ahead, your team has more time for brainstorming content ideas and providing feedback on proposed social media posts. This can lead to a more creative content strategy that can give a much needed boost to your social media marketing efforts.

5. Automation

Once you have posts planned out, you can basically automate the process. You can batch film and edit your posts, then schedule them to come out on your various social media channels. Instead of struggling to remember when to post and where, you can devote your time to actually running your business.

Several social media sites like Facebook and Instagram allow you to schedule posts across platforms, and there are also dedicated social media management tools that will handle scheduling for you.

How to Create a Social Media Content Calendar

How exactly do you go about making a social media calendar? Well, there’s actually quite a bit of flexibility there. You can make your own using Excel, Google Sheets, or even Google Calendar.

Editorial Calendar Tools

Plenty of sites like HootSuite and CoSchedule offer calendar tools that not only schedule posts for you, but can give you automated metrics that show how your social media efforts are paying off. These are great options if pricing is no problem.

If you’re looking for something on the cheaper side of things (read: free) but aren’t sure how to even begin managing a content calendar, never fear. There are also plenty of free social media calendar templates you can use online that just require you to drag-and-drop your info over.

Social Media Marketing and Content Creation Made Easy

Still not sure you have the confidence to take on the initiative of creating your own social media calendar? We get it. Even with social media content calendar templates and automated software, it can all feel like a lot.

But you don’t have to give up on optimal social media marketing. You just have to call in the experts. We can help. From influencers to brand messaging, we know all there is to know about digital marketing. If you want to curate a list of brand new followers and make a splash across social media channels with your new product launch post, give us a call. We’ll get you the heart reacts you need to help your business succeed.