Social network content calendar

A social network content calendar is one of the best methods for social media managers. When you produce content quickly, you are prone to typos, tone, and writing problems. For this reason, it is better to compile the content calendar of the social network before starting anything. A content calendar for social networks helps you plan well for different projects and proceed according to this plan.

Proper planning allows for opportunities to amplify social signals across a variety of platforms. Also, you can adjust the timing of the posts based on reaching the largest number of audiences. In this article, we have included some free social network calendar templates so that you can get a suitable boost for yourself by checking them.

What is a social media calendar?

A social media calendar is an overview of what posts are scheduled to be published on your social platforms. The best way to manage this calendar is to use Google Sheets or Excel. A social media calendar usually includes the following combinations for a post:

• Post-publication date and time
• Social network and account where the post will be published
• Creating text, image, and video content required for the post
• Tags and links that should be in the post
• The importance of using a social network content calendar

Planning and saving time

Creating and publishing social media content requires review every day. The social media calendar allows you to plan and organize your tasks into different categories. Avoid multitasking and jot down your content ideas in one section.

Social media management tools allow you to schedule your desired posts ahead of time to be published automatically. So every day you can publish the content you want without logging in! A user uses about 7.5 social media. For social media managers, the number may be much higher. This has made predetermined organization using the social network content calendar and predetermined posting an important part of page activities.

You can include time in your planning to use valuable skills such as brainstorming for social campaigns.

2. Simplifying post placement

There is no set rule about how many times a week you should post on social media. However, some strategies have been tested and their performance evaluated.

The most important rule is that you should post regularly and it doesn’t matter how many posts you will post per week. Sticking to a regular schedule lets your followers know what to expect from you. With proper planning, you can also use weekly hashtags like #MondayMotivation.

A neat framework gives you one less thing to think about each week when creating your posts. A social media content calendar like a schedule allows you to stick to a posting schedule and ensure that quality content is lined up and ready to post.

3. Avoid big mistakes with social network calendar

Once you have a predetermined schedule for your posts, you can review the posts you’ve made. As a result, the quality of this type of posts will increase compared to other posts.

A social media calendar, especially one that a team has worked on and everyone approves of, is the best way to avoid common social media mistakes.

4. Creating high-quality content and consistent campaigns

Social media content production has become much more important than the first methods. Today, it is not unusual for a quality Instagram post to have a great team behind its page. Copywriters, designers, editors, video editors, photographers, and many others strive for a post. Ask your team to put everything aside and have dedicated time to create posts on Instagram or other social networks. The social network calendar allows you to correctly consider the budget and team required for this work. A long-term plan allows you to have a consistent brand voice and content.

5. Creating content for holidays and important days

Scheduling social network content and having a social content calendar allows you to keep track of all aspects of the week and month. For this reason, you can prepare pre-planned content for all special days of the year.

You can use Google Calendar to have a suitable template for scheduling social network posts.

6. Finding opportunities for more user involvement

Aside from scheduling using social media calendars, planning content allows you to think about partnerships with other brands. Or send content creation suggestions to influencers. This will establish proper coordination between your content and you will get the best return from advertising.

Don’t forget that having a content strategy is also an important part of social network planning. If you are not familiar with developing a content strategy, it is better to watch the content strategy tutorial.

7. Check social network calendar activities

What is planned will be done and what is done must be evaluated. Analyzing your social media activity can have many benefits. Social media content calendar allows you to collect data and analyze them. Then the information obtained will help you to optimize the content creation process and also to continue in the cases where you saw a good return.

Use a good performance testing calendar to get the frequency of posting, type of content, time of posting, etc. for each platform.

Learning how to make a social network calendar

Creating a social media calendar consists of several steps that you can follow step by step.

Checking the content of social networks and evaluating the account

Before you start building your social media content calendar, you need to have a clear picture of your social media account. Consider the following to properly evaluate existing content:

• Check account and password security
• Account goals and KPIs by platform
• Examining the audience and their personas
• Determining the duties of each person in the social network content production team
• The most successful posts, campaigns, and tactics
• Optimizing gaps, poor results, and opportunities for improvement
• Key metrics to measure future success on any platform

As part of your audit, make a note of how many posts you currently publish per week. Also, look at your analytics for clues about how your posting frequencies or timing are impacting engagement and conversions.

2. Select social channels

Deciding what type of content to post is a key part of your social media content strategy. There are a few standard formulas for building a social media content calendar that you can use to get started:

• The rule of one-third of social media
• The rule of one-third

A third of your posts promote your business or attract customers.

A third of your posts will feature curated content from industry leaders.

A third of your posts include personal interaction with your followers.

Rule 20-80

• 80% of your posts are designed to inform, entertain and educate.
• 20% of your posts directly promote your business and convert.

You should also determine which social networks you use for which type of content and which may not be necessary for you at all. Don’t forget to include user-generated content and self-generated content in the app so you don’t do it all yourself.

3. Decide on the content of the social network calendar

Your social media calendar shouldn’t look exactly like other businesses’ calendars. Consider that a small business owner should have a simpler calendar than a large business. To get the most out of your social network calendar, we have listed important information and functions for you.

Of course, it is better to start with basic details like the following:

• Platform
• Date
• Time
• Type of content
• Required links
• Links to published posts

You may also need to specify more advanced details:

• Platform-specific format (for example, you can use posts, stories, reels, polls, etc. to manage Instagram pages)
• Launching a campaign, competition, and…
• Geographic targeting
• Paid or organic (if paid, budget details may be helpful)

You can start with a Google SHEET page and put the information in tabular form in these sections. But sometimes these tables may not meet your needs, that’s why we put suitable programs for the social network content calendar site at the end of this article.

4. Checking and improving the social network content calendar

A social media content calendar is effective when the entire team can use it well. It is better to get feedback from your team after compiling the social network calendar and if necessary, optimize your calendar until the needs of all team members are considered.

After starting the activities, ask your team to provide their feedback regularly. At the end of this process, you should have a strong document in hand so that new people on the team can understand it well.