{"id":2991,"date":"2021-02-10T18:53:40","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T18:53:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/project.co\/?p=2991"},"modified":"2024-06-26T14:43:31","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T14:43:31","slug":"ultimate-social-media-content-calendar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/project.co\/ultimate-social-media-content-calendar\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Steps to the Ultimate Social Media Content Calendar [with FREE TEMPLATE]"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last updated 26th June 2024<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social media is so much more than it used to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s where we go to get our news. Organise events. Talk to friends. Promote things. Buy things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s why it’s essential for your brand to have a consistent presence on social media platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way to ensure consistency is to create a calendar that will help you track and schedule your social media content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in this article we\u2019re going to take you through 7 steps to do just that! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Do your research<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before you do anything, pause and look around at where you\u2019re at right now. By doing a full audit of your current social media channels you can remove any posts that lack relevancy or no longer align with your message. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important for your social media profiles to be an extension of your brand. They should look professional and be instantly recognisable as an extension of your company. Here\u2019s a great example from Native:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Native<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Native<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On both the homepage of their website and their Instagram page they use similar colours and patterns, and also display their products in the same way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While you\u2019re auditing your channels, take note of what your audience liked and didn\u2019t like. If you have a business account (which you should!), then most social media platforms will allow you to view the posts that got the most engagement and likes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This information can help your social media efforts going forward. And you may also find that engagement changes depending on the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your X engagement is really high but your posts seem to fall flat on Facebook, maybe it\u2019s time to give up on Facebook and put more of your efforts into X.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t need to be on all<\/em> social media sites. It\u2019s highly unlikely that your customers are.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n <\/i>Statistic\n<\/div>\n
\n According to research, People from the UK and USA have roughly 7 social media accounts<\/strong>.\n
\n Source: <\/strong>Backlinko<\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re active daily on all of them. All you need to do is show up in the same places as your customers and make an impact there.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

\n <\/i>Expert Tip\n<\/div>\n
\n While doing your research, don’t forget to check out your competitors! Find out what they\u2019re posting, what works for them, and what doesn\u2019t. All of this data will go towards helping you build a better social media presence in the future.\u00a0\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

2. Lay out some ground rules<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After sifting through the social media of your past, it\u2019s time to focus on your future. In order for your social media channels to be professional, uniform, and well-organised you need to lay out some ground rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A brand guidelines document can help you keep all of your ground rules in one place – and this can cover all types of media that you post on your social accounts, from the tone-of-voice and hashtags to use in your LinkedIn posts, to the colours you want to use in your Instagram images.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By opening a project on Project.co<\/a>, you can easily share your brand guidelines with your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone involved in your social media campaigns can be added to your project:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You can use the files tab to share your brand guidelines:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And discuss any changes on the discussions tab:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Or if collaboration is your jam then you can also embed live documents into Project.co. These can be edited by your team in real-time without ever leaving the project:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can also use the notes tab to post the login details for all of your platforms so that everyone has access to them when they need them: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

3. Decide when you want to post<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not all about what <\/em>you post, it also matters when<\/em> you post. Ideally, you should be posting during peak times on each social media platform in order to give you the best chance of engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each platform has different peak times, and you\u2019ll also find peak times within your specific audience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to new data from Sprout Social<\/a>, based on over 20,000 social media accounts, here are the best days and times to post on Facebook:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As you can see from the image, the weekend is when posts seem to get the least engagement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chart for Instagram looks quite similar:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The highest engagement seems to be in the middle of the day and the middle of the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, instead of looking at generic data, what about if you want to find out when the peak times for your <\/em>audience are?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, you could use a tool like Sprout\u2019s ViralPost<\/a>. This tool reviews your social media data and suggests optimal posting times based on user engagement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sprout<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And, of course, the amount of times you post matters too. Social media sites need to filter the most relevant posts for users every time they log on – and post frequency is one of the factors measured.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

\n <\/i>Statistic\n<\/div>\n
\n According to a study based on Facebook data from over 13,500 of their customers, pages with over 10,000 followers could increase engagement by posting more often<\/strong>. The study found that clicks per post peaked at around 31 – 60 posts per month.\u00a0\n
\n Source: <\/strong>Hubspot<\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

And that\u2019s another reason why it\u2019s so important to have a social media content calendar! If you\u2019re concerned that you\u2019re going to forget to post at peak times – or at all – why not set up alerts within your calendar? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Google Calendar, it\u2019s easy to set up reminders that pop up on your screen to remind you to post: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Google<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4. Craft your posts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now that you know when to post, you need to start thinking about what <\/em>to post. The reason for having a social media content calendar is so that you can remain consistent with your posting, and that means you\u2019ll need to craft your posts ahead of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it can be difficult to think about what to post 3 or 4 weeks from now – how do you know what\u2019s going to be popular?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, you don\u2019t need a crystal ball to find out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know how there\u2019s a day for everything now? International Ice Cream Day, National Dog Day, Kiss a Ginger Day\u2026 the list goes on and on! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good news is, you can use that to your advantage. These \u201cholidays\u201d are abundant, predictable, and usually trending on social media. So you can take a look at what\u2019s coming and plan interesting and witty posts that will hopefully help you gain traction on social media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it\u2019s important to use trending topics that align with your brand in some way, like this post from Morton\u2019s The Steakhouse:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our legendary Hot Chocolate Cake is the only way to celebrate #NationalChocolateCakeDay<\/a>! pic.twitter.com\/qfoGE9elJZ<\/a><\/p>— MortonsTheSteakhouse (@Mortons) January 27, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote>