If you are the type of writer or business person who likes to organize their week ahead of time, keep a calendar of all your appointments, then a social media calendar should not be too difficult to grasp!
Even if you are disorganized and live in chaos, when it comes to your work and using social media to reach your audience, a social media calendar is mandatory.
Professional marketers and writers usually do not function without a social media calendar, and this is why implementing one is amongst our top content writing tips for 2020.
What is a Social Media Calendar?
A social media calendar is usually a spreadsheet you can design yourself, or buy as a ready-made template. You will use a social media calendar to organize and schedule all your posts in advance. You can also use it to organize more than just your social media. For example, if you are running a blog you can organize and schedule all your articles in advance. Social media calendars are great to help you plan when a post will be shared, manage your campaigns, and keep your deadlines. Although a social media calendar is typically built on a spreadsheet such as Google Docs or Excel, there are many apps and software that are designed to optimize the process. Generally speaking, using a software solution would make a lot of sense if you are handling the social media accounts of many companies, etc.
What Does a Social Media Calendar Include?
On your social media calendar, you will place all the posts you are planning to publish for that month. It’s best to color-code your social media calendar. Use one color for each category of content you plan to tackle. For example, blog posts can be orange, Facebook posts can be blue, and Twitter posts can be yellow, etc.
If you are looking for ideas for your calendar then consider the following content writing tips for 2020:
Inspirational quotes
Fun facts
Ask your audience a question
Create polls
Listicles
Quick tips and other advice
Testimonials
Answer client questions publicly
Promote your services
Sales and promotions
Competitions
Infographics
Longer posts/stories
Share blog articles
Breaking news relevant to your industry
Behind the scenes pictures
Memes
Statistics
Ask for input from your audience
Product pics
Thank you posts
You can do everything on the above list, or pick what is most relevant and start with that. If you are having a hard time deciding on what would work best for your company, a little experimentation never hurt anyone!
Content writing tips for 2020 for your social media calendar:
Ask yourself what does your audience cares mostly about?
Perform a content audit of your company and see how much content you can already.
Place all major upcoming events on your calendar and make sure you create special posts for those events (including major holidays, etc)
Plan each calendar well ahead of time (prefer to have the following’s months calendar two weeks prior)
According to Sprout Social, around 74% of consumers will make a purchasing decision based on what they see in their social media accounts.
Why Should You Use a Social Media Calendar?
There are many reasons why you should be using a social media calendar.
Organize your online activity. Utilizing social media calendars will free up huge chunks of your time that you can use for other activities. Depending on the manpower you have at hand, you might be able to plan your calendars months in advance.
Imagine not worrying about your blog posts and your social posts for months at a time?
Segregate your content. With a social media calendar, you will be able to create different posts for each platform, instead of spamming all platforms with the same post.
Your followers on one platform are very likely to follow you on the rest of the platforms as well. It can be quite annoying to see the same post x 5 a day! Not only that but when followers see the same post on all platforms, it feels very impersonal.
Calendars can be a great way to measure performance. Without a social media calendar you are publishing posts away! A calendar allows you to see the big picture or at least the monthly picture! By having a calendar in place you will be able to see if you are repeating yourself or publish the same old stuff over and over. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 72% of marketers predict their content strategy successes to having a social media calendar in place along with a proper content strategy.
How to Create a Social Media Calendar?
If you are using a normal spreadsheet like Excel or Google Docs it should be fairly easy. You just create a table and then customize it to look like a calendar. If you prefer to use apps or software we have accumulated some suggestions here for you.
Google Drive
Microsoft Excel
There are many other software and apps out there. Some are free, while others come with a price. If you are working alone it might be best to use a simple, free solution. If you are working with a team it might be best to use a software tool or an app.
Are Social Media Calendars Just for Social Media?
The simple answer is no. You can use the calendar to plan any type of content.
Blog articles
Newsletters
Social media posts
EBooks
Any other type of content you are creating
Final Thoughts
Being organized is key in all areas of life, especially if you are dealing with content.
Without a solid plan in place, you will be swimming in information without knowing what to do with it. If you are working with a large team make sure to only assign one person to be in charge. Too many people changing things around will cause confusion.
Are you currently using a social media calendar?
How did you create one?
What are the benefits you have seen so far?
Remember sharing is caring. Comment below and let us know.