How to Create a Social Media Content Calendar: Step-by-Step Guide

Planning is an important part of any successful business strategy. Content Calendars help you better organize your content publishing strategy with useful tips and tricks. If you are a marketer, you would better understand the frustration of managing multiple social media accounts, from selection of topics to publishing them or reviewing their performance. It can create a mess if you are not doing it with a proper pre-made plan sheet, and a social media content calendar certainly helps you in this regard.

What is a Social Media Content Calendar?

A social media planning calendar is a strategic tool used by marketers, businesses, and influencers to plan, organize, and schedule their future content over a specific period of time. This calendar, sometimes also called a social media content planner, outlines what content will be posted, when it will be posted, and on which platforms.

Making a calendar and setting up posts in advance help to maintain consistency in posting content for better visibility and avoid a last-minute scramble for ideas. It aligns your content publishing strategy with important dates, times, trends, and product launches.

According to the Semrush report of 2024, around 71% of the companies integrate a documented content strategy that highlights the growing reliance on organized social media planning calendars for success in the digital era. A content calendar for social media generally includes the following essentials:

★ Type of content (visual or textual)

★ Date and time of publishing

★ Name of the platform

★ Format of the post (reel, post, story, event, etc.)

★ Hashtags or keywords

★ Demographics of the audience

Benefits of Using Social Media Editorial Calendar

Everyone is busy in today’s world, and a lot of things are planned in their heads for the next day, but they suddenly slip away. So, making a pre-plan of things and having a record of them can make things easy to execute with fewer chances of missing those tasks. Similarly, media social media calendar planners benefits in many ways; let’s uncheck some of them:

➤ Improved Organization and Consistency

One of the key benefits of using a content calendar for social media is improved organization. By planning content in advance, businesses and brands can align their content strategy with future product launches, public holidays, or industry events. 

This reduces the pressure of creating content at the last minute for upcoming events, and well-planned content ensures that every post serves a purpose. A social media planning calendar offers a comprehensive view of all the content you will publish for a specific time period. This way, you can easily identify gaps or opportunities for additional content.

➤ Better Time Management

Instead of always brainstorming for new ideas for content creation, content creation can be scheduled in advance, freeing up time for other important tasks such as reviewing engagement and analytics. In this way, brands can also make adjustments if needed without disrupting the overall strategy.

In fact, Hootsuite suggests that businesses that plan their content in advance are 3.5 times more likely to meet their goals.

➤ Enhanced Content Quality

When content is planned earlier, teams preparing it have a better opportunity to craft high-quality content for the scheduled posts. They have more time to research the latest trends and create visuals that resonate better with targeted audiences.

For example, if this piece of content is already mentioned, it will be published on Instagram. This clearly directs them to craft content that suits visual platforms. Similarly, the Twitter audience wants to consume quotes and quick sounds, so you can better craft your content.

➤ Streamlined Collaborations

For larger teams, a social media content calendar serves as a central hub for collaboration. It allows everyone from content creators to publishers and managers to stay on the same page about what will be posted, when, and where. It provides access to intra-team members and stakeholders to review progress and future plans and helps everyone understand what tasks are on their end.

With a shared calendar, tasks can be easily delegated, feedback can be incorporated before time, and deadlines are clear. This eliminates the chances of duplicated efforts or missed posts and improves overall workflow and team efficiency.

➤ Data Driven Adjustments

Using a social media content planner makes it easier to track the performance of social media strategies. You can regularly review the success of previous posts, whether through engagement rates, conversions, or demographics. Based on these metrics, you can easily craft your future campaigns. This data-driven approach is crucial, as social media platforms continuously update their algorithms.

Around 76% of businesses reported to have improved return on investment (ROI) on content marketing when using strategic tools like content calendars, advocating that this practice is certainly effective.

➤ Alignment with Business Goals

Social media editorial calendar helps ensure that social media efforts align with broader business goals. By mapping out posts that align with product launches, sales campaigns, or company announcements, marketers can ensure their social presence supports overall marketing objectives.

Additionally, the calendar serves as a constant reminder of key dates and ensures that important opportunities do not get missed.

How to Create a Content Calendar for Social Media in Simple Steps

Creating a social media planning calendar is essential today. It helps you maintain consistency, improve organization, and align your social efforts with broader business goals. Here is an in-depth guide on how to create a content calendar for social media from scratch:

➤ Define Your Goals & Audience

The most important step of creating a content calendar is to identify your target audience and establish overall objectives. First, evaluate these questions:

♦ What are you expecting from social media, and what are your goals? (e.g., brand awareness, lead generation, or sales)

♦ Where is your target audience?

♦ What platform do they use?

♦ What type of content do they engage with the most?

A clear understanding of your goals and these questions will help you determine what kind of content you should create and how frequently you should post. For example, if the goal is merely increasing brand awareness, you might focus on creating content that people love to share on their social media handles, which will draw your traffic and, in return, increase brand awareness.

➤ Review Your Current Social Media Content Performance  

If you are already running a social media account, what do you do to improve their performance? It is important to review your current content’s performance. Use different social media tools to evaluate how your current content is performing with respect to the following metrics:

♦ Engagement Rates: It helps you understand which type of content is performing better on which platform. It includes reviewing a number of likes, comments, and shares. Once you have done with the review, you are now in a better position to streamline future content planning.

♦ Conversion Rates: If your goal is to enhance lead generation and improve conversion rates, look for the content that is already helping you achieve this. Create more such content pieces and publish on the right platform at the right time, which will further improve your conversion rates.

♦ Click Through Rates: This is the key sign indicating how much your content is engaging. If more people read your content and click on the internal links in the content, it is a clear sign of compelling content. And if you are getting this, make sure you improve your content.

➤ Select Post Types and the Right Social Media Platform

Every social media platform comes with its own fan base and content format. Therefore, it is important to decide which platforms you will prioritize in your calendar. Selection of a right social media network will also help you to create content that better aligns with the format of the network.

Once the network is finalized, decide what kind of content you will post there. For example, if you select Instagram and TikTok, your posts must be a mix of images, videos, articles, and gifs. Further, enhance your content calendar by keeping these points in mind:

Holidays: See the holidays in the areas you are targeting and streamline your content calendar so that you never miss any opportunity to reach the right audience

New Product Launch: If your brand is about to launch a new product or service, it is great to build excitement on social media, and the content calendar helps you in this regard

Sale Events: Some events take place annually and monthly. It’s better to add them to your social media content calendar and post content targeting those events, such as Black Friday, Green Monday, Singles’ Day, Buy Nothing Day, and religious events like Christmas and Easter.

Different platforms help you target these events in different ways, diversifying the chances of getting leads. The most popular platforms for businesses in 2024 include:

♦ Facebook: Works best for community engagement and customer interaction

♦ Instagram: Suits brands targeting visually appealing content like images and stories

♦ TikTok: A short-form video content platform, better for brands targeting video content like travel agencies

♦ LinkedIn: Helps in professional networking and Business-to-Business (B2B) marketing

If your content suits users of multiple social media platforms, do not waste your money because you do not need to be active on every platform. Choose the one that better aligns with your business and audience.

➤ Decide on Posting Frequency

Now, with a clear idea of where to post and what to post, it is time to learn when to post and how much to post based on your audience and platform choice. You should be posting content in a way that it does not appear to be spam. For that, you need to be posting content in an optimal range to stay away from the red radar of social media algorithms. Different platforms have a range of optimal posting, which is given below:

Instagram Stories: 1-2 Stories a day

Instagram Posts: 3-5 posts a week

Facebook: 1-2 posts a day

TikTok: 1-4 posts a day

 X (formerly Twitter): 2-3 posts a day

LinkedIn: 1 post every two to three days

Pinterest: 15-25 pins a day

YouTube: 1 video a week

However, these optimal scheduling limits are highly variable and can be adjusted based on engagement metrics. Ensure that you maintain a posting frequency that balances visibility without overwhelming your audience and social media algorithms.

➤ Create a Mix Content

Your content should be diverse, and it should be a mix of high-quality images. Videos, infographics, and text. It should be appealing to a broad range of audiences. Here are some common types of social media content include:

♦ Promotional posts: It highlights your products or services

♦ Educational Content: Sharing how-to guides, industry insights, and tips

♦ Engagement Posts: Polls, quizzes, and questions to encourages interaction

♦ User-generated content: It features reviews or posts from your followers

Your content should maintain a balance between different types of posts. Many brands follow the 80/20 rules, where 80% of the content is informative and 20 % is promotional.

Create A Social Media Content Calendar Template

You can use pre-made templates or create your own. Building a social media content calendar is straightforward but essential to organize and optimize your social media strategy. Here are some steps and elements you should include while creating a template for a social media content calendar:

➤ Selection of the Format

The first step in creating a social media planning calendar is selecting a format that will work best for you and your team. Some popular options are:

♦ Excel or Google Sheets

♦ Trello or Asana

♦ Dedicated social media tools

If you are starting from zero, Google Sheets templates will be easy to use since they are easy to set up and can be easily modified over time.

➤ Identify Key Columns and Categories

Your social media editorial calendar must contain the following categories to track relevant information

♦ Date & Time: When the content is scheduled to go live, you can add specifics like the exact time for platforms where timing is important

♦ Platform: The social media platform you are using for each post

♦ Content Type: Specify the type of content used for each post, e.g. video, image, infographic, or story). It helps to track the variety of content and avoid repetition

♦ Content Theme: Mention the type of content used e.g., informational, educational, entertaining, or promotional

♦ Media: Add a link to the visual assets like photos or videos that will accompany the post

♦ Link: If the post contains a URL, include the link here. Use shortened URLs for better organization

♦ Status: Track whether a post is drafted, scheduled, or published. This helps teams stay updated on the current state of the content

➤ Add Important Dates and Themes

Ensure your social media calendar planner includes a special column that mentions key events that need special attention from the team members. This column will mention public holidays, industrial events, and product launches. You can add special notes to each column if any kind of special customization is required.

Set a monthly review for content focused on these special events to ensure you stay relevant and on-trend.

➤ Add Space for Metrics

A good social media content calendar also includes a space to record post-performance metrics. It will guide you in making adjustments to future content. After the post has gone live, track engagement metrics such as likes, shares, comments, CTR (click-through rate), and conversations or leads generated.

For more advanced users, integrating Google Analytics or other social media tools can provide you deeper insights about your content performance.

Example Template Layout

Here is the outline of what your template might look like

Pre-Made Social Media Content Planner Tool

If you don’t have time to create your own content calendar for social media, there’s no need to worry. Many platforms provide premade calendar templates that are easily customizable according to your needs. These tools provide calendars with structured formats, where you only need to input your content, date and time, and other essential details.

By using these ready-to-use calendars, you can save your time and focus on creating engaging content rather than building the entire system. Tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, and Trello offer already-designed templates where you can simply add all the necessary information and follow it later. Let’s see what special features these tools offer:

1. Buffer

Buffer is a user-friendly tool that simplifies scheduling within the social media editorial calendar. It allows users to plan and schedule content on multiple social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Buffer focuses on providing a streamlined experience for smaller teams or individuals who need a simple way to maintain consistency in their social media planning.

Buffers provides its users with pre-made content calendar templates. You only need to add your media, post copy, links, and other important stuff into designated slots. Buffer is an affordable option with its Essential Plan starting at $6/month. It is the best option for individuals or businesses just getting started with social media planning.

2. Hootsuite

Unlike Buffer, Hootsuite provides a content calendar that better suits large firms and companies. It helps users build and maintain a social media content calendar across multiple platforms. Hootsuite offers a built-in content calendar that allows you to schedule posts, track performance, and organize content in an easy to use layout.

Hootsuite provides an excellent feature in the form of Bulk Composer. This tool helps to schedule hundreds of posts on multiple platforms in advance. This tool is especially useful for teams planning bulk content in advance, even months before.

Hootsuite provides detailed analytics, making it easier to assess the performance of your content and make adjustments to your content calendar based result oriented insights. Hootsuite’s pricing starts at $99 per month, which is slightly more expensive than Buffer. Still, it offers immense value for businesses that need more advanced scheduling and reporting systems integrated directly into their content calendar tool.

3. Trello

Trello offers great flexibility with its social media calendar planner. The tool operates with a board-and-card system that allows users to visually organize their content across different lists, such as To DO, In Progress, and Published. This makes it ideal for teams that prefer a project management approach, where tasks can be assigned, deadlines can be set, and progress can be tracked for each post.

Trello does not have built-in analytics tools such as Buffer and Hootsuite. So, you will need to integrate with a social media analytics tool to track the performance of your content. However, its strength lies in its ability to centralize content planning, brainstorming, and collaboration in one place.

For example, you can attach visuals, tag different team members, and add detailed checklists to each card, making your content creation journey an easy task. Trello also offers a free version and business plan starts at 10$ per month making it an economical content calendar for social media.

Conclusion

By integrating a social media content planner into your social media planning, you can streamline the process of scheduling and organizing content for your social media. A content calendar greatly enhances collaboration between the teams and aligns your social media strategy with business goals.

Whether you create a content calendar for social media on your own or use a pre-made template, the key is to organize and track performance to ensure long-term success. If you have no time to build your calendar, tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, and Trello help you build-in content calendars. In addition to providing a streamlined content flow, these tools offer in-depth analytics of your existing content performance.

So, if you want to improve your social media content planning, start using a content calendar. It can streamline the process, save time, and boost engagement across platforms.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)