This post was originally published on October 19, 2021 and updated on May 10, 2024.

Information for this blog post was obtained from HubSpot, SocialPilot, and Buffer Library.

Creating a social media content calendar is a very important tool for having successful social media platforms. By creating a social media content calendar you can organize and plan out posts on all social media platforms. Some of the benefits of having a social media content calendar are maintaining consistency on platforms, keeping the audience engaged, and executing your social media marketing strategy (Nina, 2024). Many different websites and apps can help someone with creating their content calendar, so examples are Google Calendar, Evernote, Hootsuite, and HubSpot (Bernazzani, 2024).

What is a Content Calendar?

A content calendar is a rundown of all your social media upcoming posts organized by date and time. This can be done in a spreadsheet, paper calendar, or interactive dashboard. A content calendar may include the date and time a post will be posted, the social media account each post will go to, and materials such as copy, hashtags, links, and graphics. All of these can help a marketer stay organized and prepared when working on social media.

Benefits of a Content Calendar

A content calendar is an important tool for maintaining consistency, creating variety, improving efficiency, and ultimately creating better results in your content marketing efforts. Here are a few benefits of using a content calendar:

1. Organization and Planning: It helps organize content creation efforts by providing a structured plan for what content will be created, when, and for which platforms. This prevents last-minute rushes and ensures a steady stream of content.
   

2. Consistency: A content calendar ensures consistency in posting frequency, which is crucial for maintaining audience engagement and loyalty. Regular posting keeps your audience interested and informed.

3. Content Variety: By planning ahead, you can ensure a diverse range of content types, such as blog posts, videos, infographics, podcasts, etc. This variety keeps your audience engaged and caters to different preferences.
   

4. Opportunity for Collaboration: It allows multiple team members to collaborate more effectively. Everyone can see what content is being created and when, which helps in coordinating efforts and avoiding overlaps or gaps in content coverage.
   

5. Time-Saving: Ultimately, a content calendar saves time. By planning ahead, you reduce the time spent on brainstorming, researching, and creating content on the fly. This allows you to focus more on quality and strategic planning rather than constantly reacting to deadlines.
   

To create an organized and helpful content calendar follow these few simple steps:

Choose a Calendar

Creating a social media calendar can be a lot of work but it will be very beneficial in the end. Find the best calendar template that works for you and your social media account. You can use a Google Calendar template or Excel to create your calendar or you can use something more focused on posting on social media. Some sites that are great resources for a calendar template are Hubspot, Hootsuite, Loomly, Trello, SproutSocial, Evernote, and many more. Trying different templates to find which one fits you best is a great option for creating a successful content calendar.

Create Categories

Create a list of different types of posts that you would like to share on your social media regularly. Examples of different post types could include blog posts, re-shares of content, quotes, tips, images, videos, promotions, and events. After you create categories you should determine which days you want the different types of posts.

Find or Create Content

Curating or creating original content is the next important step in creating a successful social media content calendar. Spend a day or two to collect images, videos, gifs, or any other content you need to post for the upcoming months. If you are promoting an event make sure you have all the information you need for the specific event. Some information that could be helpful to collect is the date and time of events, text to post, links, sources, and multimedia links. Remember when collecting content that you should follow the 80 to 20 curated content rule. 80% of content can be curated and 20% can be original content.

Fill in Calendar

Once you have all your content and details it is now time to fill in your calendar template! This step might take the longest because you have to plug all the information in. Just remember that once you do this you won't have to worry about it for a while, or until your calendar runs out. I would suggest filling in content for one or two months at a time. This will allow you to look at what posts were successful and what posts weren’t and how you can change them for the next month.

A social media content calendar is a great way to keep your social media and content organized as well as allow you to plan out your social media and track the engagement.

To learn more about how to make engaging Instagram content for your content calendar check out Timothy's blog post here.

Resources:

Bernazzani, S. (2024, April 11). 13 social media calendars, tools, & templates to plan your content. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved May 10, 2024, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/social-media-calendar-tools.

Nina. (2024, January 7). Why should you be using a content calendar? SocialPilot. Retrieved May 10, 2024, from https://www.socialpilot.co/blog/using-a-social-media-content-calendar.

Sahakians, S. (2020, June 30). The Ultimate Guide to Creating Your Social Media Calendar. Buffer Library. Retrieved May 10, 2024, from https://buffer.com/library/social-media-calendar-guide/.