How to Create a Social Media Calendar and Why You Should

Social media is an invaluable tool for companies to engage with customers and build their brand. To have an effective social media strategy, you need to keep your efforts organized. 

Why You Should Use a Social Media Calendar

Social media marketing is not something you can do just one time and then forget about it. It requires daily attention and effort.

Stay on top of your daily social media activities by creating a social media calendar. It enables you to plan your time and organize your ideas so that you aren't scrambling at the last minute trying to figure out something to post. 

Organizing your social media posts with a calendar can save you time, help avoid mistakes, maximize the effectiveness of your posts, keep you consistent, help you avoid missing important dates and improve the quality of your content. 

Choose a Template

The first step in creating a social media calendar is to choose the tool you are going to use. You do not need to create a calendar format from scratch.

Most calendar tools have a variety of templates you can use. Pick one that works best with your organizational style and seems most intuitive to you. 

Set Goals

Your social media strategy won't be beneficial if you just randomly post whatever you feel like posting on that day.

All your posts should accomplish a specific goal. Begin by creating some overall long-term goals for your social media campaign. Then break those down into smaller goals that you want to achieve with each post.

Decide What to Post

You can start by reviewing your previous social media posts and determining which of them has received the most engagement.

Try to focus your strategy around posting similar content. If you're just getting started and don't have your own data to look at, you can research what your competitors are posting and model their most popular content. 

Don't be afraid to try out different types of content and see what works with your target audience.

Try mixing in some material related to your niche or industry that isn't strictly about your brand to keep your feed from looking too spammy and add value for your customer. 

Decide Where to Post

There are several different social media channels from which to choose. They each have their quirks and personalities that make them better suited for some content than others.

Popular social media channels include Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and others.

Which platforms are best for your content will depend upon your goals, the nature of your business and your target audience?

Decide When to Post

Start by recording any critical dates on your calendar. Examples might include new product release dates, press conferences, company events, and new ad campaigns.

Set some reminders, so that you don't forget to post relevant content on these dates. If you already know what you want to post, you can create that content ahead of time and schedule it to post on a future date.

The time of day that you post can also impact how successful your posts are. Pay attention to the time of day the users you want to reach are most active on the platforms you are using and schedule your posts for those times. 

Decide How Often to Post

You want to post frequently enough that your customers stay interested in your feed, but not so often that they get tired of seeing your posts and quit following your account.

The platform you are using should guide your posting frequency. Twitter lends itself more to frequent content, and it may be appropriate to post several times a day.

Other channels, such as Facebook or YouTube, may be more suited to daily or weekly content. You can get a feel for how often users on different platforms want to see your content by the level of engagement your posts are getting and whether your subscriber count is increasing or decreasing. 

Implementing an effective social media strategy can help you boost your brand and increase customer engagement.

Using a social media calendar can be an excellent way to maximize the effectiveness of your social media campaigns.