How to Create A Social Media Calendar in 7 Steps

Crave for being a successful manager or business marketer? Want to set your chicks in a row? If yes, then you must make the most of a robust social media calendar.

Looking through the successful managers’ lives indicates that discipline and diligence are the main reason for their victory. Also, many popular influencers and public figures on social media post frequently and consistently to keep in touch with followers and enhance their social growth. So it’s very tempting for us to follow their steps and make big bucks. However, managing all your accounts simultaneously is a hard nut to crack when it comes to social media. Therefore, if you are a social media rookie and want to build your brand there, you need a content planner. 

This article will guide you on making a calendar for social media in 7 simple steps to help you be a public figure in your industry. Then, you’ll read about some social media scheduler templates and examples.

What Is A Social Media Calendar?

A social media calendar is a plan of your future social media posts. It can be designed in a chart in excel or Google calendar. Also, if you’re using a social media marketing tool, you can use an interactive dashboard.

Your social media calendar involves some combination of the following elements:

• The date and time you want to publish the post 
• The social media that the post will be published on
• The post’s content, like photos or videos
• Links and tags that you wish to include in the post
• Any additional related information

Your social media calendar can incorporate one or many social networks, depending on your social media strategy.

How to Make A Calendar for Social Media

Whatever we practice on social media is for the aim of boosting ROI and revenue. A social media content calendar helps you schedule posts and drive traffic. 

In the following, there are seven steps to creating an effective social media calendar.

#1 Monitor Social Media Channels

As the first step and warming up, let’s look at the social media content you created before. Are they satisfactory? Do your followers love your posts?

To answer this question, you need to monitor the social media you are currently active on. In this case, you can leverage behavioral marketing to grow your enterprise. For instance, you will find out the best strategies to take in your company and industry using email marketing KPIs and metrics. Therefore, you’ll identify if you must keep on your previous post strategy or require posting more high-quality content. This is how you can identify the best time to post and consider it on your social media posting calendar. Also, you can figure out the budget you need for a successful plan for your future. 

For example, as you see in the picture, you can use a competitor analysis like AiSchedul’s website to monitor your Instagram followers and competitors. 

#2 Select Your Social Network

If you are new on social media or want to extend your territory, you need to evaluate all social media channels to grow your business. Undoubtedly, each country and industry has its own favorite time and content to post, depending on its culture and habits. As a result of your previous step and valuable data in your hands, you can pick your proper social media to get more sales with social proof. For instance, with 2,6 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the leading social network in 154 out of 167 countries (92%). However, WeChat reigns in China and VKontakte in Russia. On the other hand, Instagram is the second popular social channel and a fantastic platform for growing businesses. Also, TikTok is a Gen Z favorite and a blooming area for creating short-form videos. 

Consequently, by knowing your target audience and market, you can select the best place to plant your seed. 

#3 Decide What Your Social Media Calendar Needs to Track

After choosing your social channel, now it’s time to decide what to mention and track in your social media planning calendar. So make a list of the details like:

• Date
• Time
• Content-type
• Links to your posts
• Hashtags
• Geotags
• Your references
• Ads
• Budget for each process
• Report of your analytics
• Your cooperators like your team members or influencers 

#4 Create a Content Library for Your Data

It is essential to organize and classify all your data and information in an online library. Keep in mind not to accumulate your content on your phone or PC as it may crash all of a sudden, and you lose what you have gathered for a long time. Therefore, cash in on a reliable social media content library like database software, Google Drive, or Dropbox. Also, check if it has enough space for all your files and it’s easy to use. 

#5 Design A Workflow

Now, it is time to take your pencil and start sketching your art to make it ready to paint. So you must bring all your data into a chart and workflow. Accordingly, mention all the aspects of your strategy in your workflow to get a precise overview.

Clarify the time you want to post each day and who is in charge of creating and uploading them. It would be best if you explain what other sources you are using in your process. For instance, you can write down the photo tools and video creators you usually utilize.

After making your workflow, go back to step 5 and save it in your library. If you are going to outsource any part of your procedure, mention it and the approximate time in your workflow.

#6 Craft Engaging Content

Now, it’s time to make the most of your creativity and skills to produce high-quality content like creating an awesome LinkedIn post. Furthermore, if you have an Instagram account, do your best to make engaging reels and videos collage. Then, you can add music to your post to boost engagement and draw followers. On the other hand, if you have any other social media account like YouTube, you can link them and share your YouTube video on Instagram. 

#7 Schedule Your Posts

Last but not least! This step is an essential part of the process as you must construct what you have gathered in previous procedures. Indeed, what matters on social media is to be in touch with your audience and prove your presence and availability to them. However, to post frequently on social media is a toughie, and you need a social media planning calendar. Therefore you can take advantage of some top tools to schedule your social media posts. For instance, if you are an Instagram marketer, make the most of the best Instagram scheduler to manage your multiple accounts on Instagram. Luckily, AiSchedul is a multi-tasking Instagram management tool that will plan and schedule your content using a specific content calendar and scheduler.

Social Media Content Calendar Templates

After going through all the steps to make a calendar for social media, it would be helpful to discuss some content calendar examples. There are many social media content calendar templates on the market that you can download for free. Now, let’s see some examples.

1- Social Media Planning Calendar Template

It is an essential tool to include in your social media toolkit.

A social media planning calendar enables you to plan and schedule your social media content in advance to get the highest result. 

Having a National Day Calendar will also help you record important dates and events and ensure your content is performing well. Moreover, you can recognize and fill gaps in publishing and effectively allocate resources, and cooperate with your teammates.

2- Social Media Posting Strategy Calendar

If you desire to promote your current social marketing posting strategy or start from scratch, you need this vital social media posting calendar. In this case, you can easily:

• Clarify your social media goals
• Recognize your target customer
• Mention if your posts include photo or video
• Create a cheat sheet for hashtags and image sizes for each network
• Add the content that helps you stand out in the competition 
• Observe which content is already working and what’s not
• Promote your social media profiles
• Establish a responsive content strategy
• Set a publishing schedule for your posts
• Trace your growth and alter your plan as needed

3- Social Media Editorial Calendar Template

The social media editorial calendar collects all your content projects into a document to help you plan and schedule each statement. Indeed, they are in three formats:

• Printed paper
• Spreadsheets (Google Sheets or Excel spreadsheet)
• Software services

The best way to organize a content calendar is using a spreadsheet and make a tab for each month. Then, you can split activities by day or hour, depending on the volume and cadence of your publishing schedule.

You must include basic information of your projects in your social media editorial calendar like:

• Title and description of the content
• Links to the content 
• Writer(s)
• Time table and deadline
• Social networks you want to publish your post on

Bottom Line

Planning and organizing your posts is the best way to optimize your social media strategy. Also, a social media content calendar enables you to share high-quality posts and curate evergreen content at relevant and vital times.