A social media content calendar is a strategic tool for managing the release of text or video material on your channel/blog. Developing a clear strategy and action plan can enhance your social media presence’s effectiveness. This article guides you on how to craft a beneficial social media content calendar, integrating essential elements like social media scheduling and content planning.
Why is content planning necessary?
Using a content calendar makes it easier to manage a company’s social media blogs. Special programs are used for this purpose, in which you can set up shared access.
Main reasons to use a posting calendar:
- regular content release;
- enhanced posting effectiveness;
- resource optimization;
- precise thematic preparation for posts;
- reduced reputational risks.
The calendar visually indicates necessary adjustments and optimal timing, allowing for a balanced mix of content types. For example, if there is too much entertainment content in the feed, you can dilute it with expert text.
How to create a social media content calendar?
Content planning and calendar creation involve several steps, such as:
- Choosing relevant platforms. To do this, you need to analyze social networks to identify the most appropriate audience. It is worth excluding obviously irrelevant sites.
- Research existing blogs. You will need to identify the target audience, preferred type of content, activity and response to posts.
- Selection of data for tracking. You can use the calendar to track posting time, hashtags, target audience, mentions.
- Creating a visual database. Collecting media files in one place allows you to create posts quickly without having to search for them before publishing. If a team is working on the content, it is better to put the database site in the cloud and set up shared access.
- Social media scheduling of posting times. Scheduling posts for a specific time allows you to adjust the rhythm of updating your social network feed. Before you do this, you need to analyze what time of day you get the most response.
- Control of content release. It is necessary to work every day according to the planned schedule. It is necessary to appoint a person responsible for the work.
The choice of calendar application should be noted separately. There are special services to work with:
- Trello. A feature-rich task planner with a built-in posting calendar. It is available for collaboration as well as setting deadlines for tasks.
- Asana. A handy service with a ready-made calendar template. You need to register to get started. The calendar is free to use on the service.
- Google Sheets. A simple and affordable cloud service where you can set up a visual planner. In a table you can create the required number of columns and cells, fill them with color, select the responsible person.
Conclusion
Planning your social media content release enables real-time tracking of all publications. A well-structured plan allows for the advanced creation of necessary articles or videos, preparing photo content. Reviewing past publications will help to compile analytics and see how effective the chosen plan is. And for professional advice you can contact Top4Smm.