Do you know that consistent posting on social media can drastically increase your audience engagement? You must have heard that consistency is everything; it’s not a cliché but a fact, especially on social media. But like every good thing, your online success needs a backbone: a content calendar.
A social media calendar keeps your message together and helps you plan your posts. It also saves you time, makes you consistent, and improves how you organize your content.
If you’re struggling with social media content creation, this article is for you. You’ll learn how to create a social media calendar that is easy to follow.
Steps to Create a Social Media Content Calendar
Follow these steps to grow your visibility on social media.
1. Determine Your Goals
First, you need a clear understanding of what you want to achieve. It could be an increase in engagement, brand awareness, or simply your business pre-launch.
Your objectives will guide and determine your content strategy. It will also help you create messages that will give you your desired result.
Also Read: Setting Clear Content Goals: The Secret to a Winning Strategy
2. Know Your Target Audience
Who is your ideal audience? The answer to this question determines your content. Knowing your audience helps you tailor your content to their needs, preferences, and even language. If you miss this step, you’re not likely going to achieve the results you desire.
3. Select Your Platforms
While all social media platforms share similarities, they have unique advantages over each other. Because they differ in content formats and demographics of users, be sure to focus on the ones that align with your goals and audience.
Also, understand how they work, their algorithms, and their policies.
4. Audit Your Previous Content
Your old posts can push you in the right direction; they will show you what has worked best before. The ones with higher engagement or conversion rates can help you identify what your audience wants. This is instrumental in developing your social media content strategy.
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5. Come up with Content Ideas
Now it’s time to collate your research and ideas together. This can be challenging when you’re just starting, but it gets better with practice.
You can use a theme to streamline the process of your content creation. Here’s an example of what I mean. Let’s say you have an organic skincare business. One of your goals may be to educate your audience about the benefits of plant-based ingredients.
You can create a monthly theme and break it down into weekly themes to keep your content fresh. For example, if you choose “Embrace Your Natural Glow” as your theme of the month, your weekly themes could include:
Another good source of content ideas is trends in your niche and industry. You’ll remember how much content was made about ChatGPT even within the non-tech niches in 2022.
Building some posts around trending topics positions you as an authority and drives engagement.
Social listening is yet another means of gathering content ideas. Pay attention to your comment sections and of others; it’s a landmine of ideas.
6. Build a Content Plan
With your long list of content ideas, it’s time to decide on what you want to share. This will include educational posts, promotions, interactive content, and others. So your content format could be infographics, reels, live sessions, or behind-the-scenes.
Your choice will depend on the preferred platforms and your goals. However, it’s best to have a content mix of different formats where possible.
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7. Fix Your Posting Schedule
If you’ve completed the previous steps, your content calendar is as good as ready. All that is left is your posting frequency.
Here you have to be sincere with yourself, your abilities, and your resources. Stick to a posting frequency that you can readily maintain. While at it, give room for unforeseen circumstances because they might disrupt your schedule.
Time of posting is also an important factor; share your posts when your audience is most active.
8. Complete Your Content Calendar
The final step is to make your plan concrete on a spreadsheet or a digital planner. Assign specific dates to each post, and include the texts, visuals, hashtags, and any necessary links.
If you think it’s overwhelming, you can do this in batches. Outline what you want to post, add dates, post descriptions, goals, hashtags, and content formats. Though incomplete, this can help you create a social media calendar and avoid last-minute rushes.
A calendar of one month is ideal, but you can start with a two-week plan and improve from there.
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9. Maintain and Adjust Your Content Calendar
Remember, your calendar is a guide; it’s not written in stone. As you post, track the performance, and be ready to adjust when necessary.
Conclusion
A strong social media presence requires dedication and consistency. The best way to achieve this is to create a social media calendar and follow through with it. With these steps, you’re on your way to smashing your social media goals.
Did you find this helpful? I’ve written other articles on content creation processes that might interest you.
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