We have always been taught to plan, organize and be prepared in order to stay on top of our commitments. While we often dissociate social media from the likes of planning and management, these teachings remain more relevant than ever. Having a digital presence is essential, however it takes up a lot of time when it comes to creating content. With that being said, we wanted to create something to guide you through the seemingly daunting world of content management! Here, we have created a guide called social media content calendar 101, the social media holy grail for entrepreneurs!
What is a social media content calendar and how do I create one?
A social media content calendar is a planning tool to organize content for a range of social media platforms. In addition, it serves the dual purpose of helping visualize and schedule content. A content calendar can be created in a number of different ways:
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Old school! Write down content ideas and schedule on a printed calendar or organizational planner book
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Technology! Use softwares like Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel to plan your calendar. Having it all digital can be a big help in sharing with your co-workers too.
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Online management tools! There are many different online tools like Monday.com that can do all the work for you! These tools can schedule and post your content, saving you tons of time.
Why do I need a social media content calendar?
While it may sound like an extra piece of work, you get pretty used to it (and dependant!) after experiencing the benefits of a social media content calendar, some of these include:
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One stop planning! It is far better to have one calendar for all of your content that you can just sit down and update every week or month. This will save you loads of time in comparison to individually planning new post(s) everyday.
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Staying organized=not feeling overwhelmed! There is already so much anxiety that comes with managing a social media profile, or multiple profiles so, in pre-planning, you would be doing yourself a massive favour as you would be left with a lot more free time and the peace of knowing you have your content planned out.
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Opportunities! Instead of feeling bogged down by having to plan new content everyday, you can cultivate having a content calendar into a collaborative opportunity. Furthermore, try working and bouncing off ideas with your co-workers.
Tips for content calendar creation and upkeep!
Now that you know what a content calendar is and how to make one, lets dive into some pro tips:
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Trend analysis! Keep track of your social media activity trends and use them to plan out your new content. Monitor your analytics on different platforms and differentiate what worked and what didn’t. This will help you create and plan content that resonates well with your audience rather than anxiously posting new and somewhat irrelevant content each day.
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Use programmed tools! It would be wise to take advantage of different online tools to help with your content calendar in terms of not only content but also scheduling, management and updates. For example, you can add/use Google Calendar for scheduling certain events and conveniently set up direct meetings with other people on it (virtual or just reminders) and you can use platforms like Monday or Asana to assign and manage projects within your team to stay updated.
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Maintenance! This is the tip you keep freshest in your mind as after the initial challenge of creating and getting used to a content calendar is over, you now have to maintain it to reap the benefits. This means doing timed check ins and reviews to see that you still have a structured calendar that is relieving your plate rather than becoming messy and adding to it. A pro tip is to make it a personal goal to schedule time every month for calendar maintenance, that way you are forcing yourself to make time to ensure the efficiency of the content calendar.
And there you have it! A thorough, yet simple guide to the world of social media content calendars. If you would like to book a discovery call to chat about content calendars – click here!