We're tired of the gatekeeping! It's time you know how to create one of the most valuable tools for your social media strategy. This guide is all you need to start setting up the content calendar of your dreams!
A social media content calendar has many benefits.
On the one hand, it makes life easier for you, the social media manager, because it takes at least one task off your desk in your everyday work routine. Additionally, it helps to establish a more cohesive and organised social media presence.
media update's Joreke Kleynhans gives you the step-by-step guide for creating your content calendar below.
Before You Begin
Before you can start creating your content calendar, you'll need to have a few things in order. Your content calendar forms the walls of this castle, so before we can get there, we need a strong foundation.
Use this as your checklist!
- Pick the social platforms that are suitable for your brand.
- Determine your target audience.
- Define your social media goals.
- Identify your competitors and get a good idea of their current strategy.
- If you have a social media team, assign roles and tasks to each member according to their skill set.
- Choose a system for your content calendar — for example, digital spreadsheets.
Step One: Determine Your Time Frame
Usually, a content calendar is planned over one calendar month, from the first to the last day. You can also create one for a longer period of time, especially if something like a multiple-month-long PR or marketing campaign is coming up and you need accompanying social media content.
One month is the industry standard and is a good starting point for perpetual content creation that needs some more structure.
Step Two: Draw Up Your Posting Budget
What is a posting budget? Glad you asked!
A posting budget is similar to a financial budget. You take what you have and determine:
- how much of it you want to spend
- how you want to distribute your spending, and
- which expenses you want to prioritise.
Only in this case, you are budgeting time and mental effort, not money.
Starting with how much you have and how much you want to spend, you need to think realistically about the amount of time and energy you have available each day to spend on social media.
If social media is your full-time job, congrats! You are loaded in terms of resources to spend. However, if you are a stay-at-home mom with a social media side hustle, you might only have your kids' nap times to work on content.
Based on what you have available, you can now decide how you want to distribute it. In other words, do you want to spend equal time on your TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, or would you rather focus on TikTok and repurpose that content for other platforms?
Lastly, you should evaluate which platform and content type will give you the most bang for your buck, or the highest ROI. This decision will be made based on your pre-established goals and almost serves as permission to give yourself a gap when the pressure gets too high.
Having a realistic posting budget is important for consistency on your social platforms. Posting at a consistent rate over a few weeks or months makes your audience more familiar with what they can expect from you, establishing loyalty and an engaged following.
Step Three: List the Formats and Topics You Want to Include
Different content types you can consider include:
- stories
- short-form videos
- long-form videos
- curated pictures
- photo dumps, and more.
The content topics you could include in your schedule will depend a lot on your brand, niche and audience. It also has a lot to do with the message you want to send to those who see your content.
A lifestyle influencer might post “Get ready with me” videos and daily vlogs. A personal finance creator might post personal finance tips, client testimonials and financial news. Having a template of what to post on which days and only having to change the contents of it will also help you save time and effort.
List your formats and topics from most to least important so you know what to prioritise in your posting budget.
Step Four: Distribute and Develop Content Throughout the Calendar
Once you know how often you want to post online and in what direction your content is heading, you can form a pattern according to which you will create content. Each week will have a certain number of content slots and you can fill them up using your pattern.
Once your slots have been assigned topics and formats, begin developing the content for each slot. Include the following in every slot for a comprehensive calendar:
- post format
- content topic
- copy to include in the graphic and caption
- relevant hashtags
- assigned team member, and
- two checkboxes: one for the post's approval and one for once it goes live.
Step Five: Determine Your Appetite For Change
Sometimes, the perfect trend gets popular, and it feels like you simply can't pass it up. Other times, life gets in the way, and you aren't able to post as often as you would like. Only one thing is guaranteed, and that is that nothing is guaranteed.
You need to prepare for times when the authority of your calendar comes into question. There isn't necessarily a right or wrong way to react, but it's important to have a game plan for when uncertainty arises.
Before you ride full steam ahead, decide what does and what does not warrant a change of plans. Have criteria that determine when a trend is worth jumping onto. And finally, be adaptable enough that you won't ever get left behind for the sake of sticking to the calendar.
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Have you made it your mission to become a social media guru? Find more social media tips in our article, How social media is more than just a numbers game.
*Image courtesy of Canva