Introduction
Having a strategic approach to social media is key for businesses today. With so many platforms competing for attention, a social media calendar allows you to effectively plan your posts in advance.
What is a Social Media Calendar?
A social media calendar is a tool that helps organize your social media posting schedule. It maps out what type of content you will share each day/week/month on channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. This ensures consistent, thoughtful messaging instead of scattered posting.
Benefits of a Social Media Calendar
Planning with a calendar provides several key benefits. It allows dedicating more time to content creation versus last minute posts. Pre-planning prevents duplicate or random content as well. Calendars also facilitate measuring and refining performance over time. Integrated scheduling tools automate posting.
How to Create a Social Media Calendar in 4 Steps
Step 1: Audit Your Social Networks and Content Examine your current accounts, demographics, top posts and gaps to inform your strategy.
Step 2: Choose a Calendar Tool
Select from free options like Google Sheets, Canva, or Hootsuite to customize views and features.
Step 3: Populate Your Calendar
Block out time frames to add details for each planned post including topic, format, hashtags and scheduled date/time. Schedule recurring promotions.
Step 4: Schedule Your Posts
Use the calendar’s scheduling feature to queue approved content to the right channels while staying engaged.
Free Social Media Calendar Templates
Google Sheets, Canva layouts, free Trello boards and Hootsuite’s
Conclusion
In conclusion, a social media calendar streamlines an important marketing component. Careful pre-planning through consistent templates means better consistency, engagement and results over the long run. Businesses should incorporate these best practices for an optimized digital strategy.