Michael Epps Utley 
Most business owners and marketers know that social media is central to an effective marketing program. Whether finding new customers or staying connected with current ones, you need to maintain an online social presence. But with so many social platforms available for companies to market and communicate through, it’s too easy to lose your bearings and eventually fall off a consistent posting schedule. That’s why it's essential to stay organized and plan for when and what you will share on different social media platforms.
Developing and maintaining a social media calendar lets you do just that. This article explains the basics of social media calendar creation and management, and why you need one.
What Is a Social Media Calendar?
A social media calendar is a document that lists your upcoming social media posts organized by platform, date, and time. It can take the form of a spreadsheet, digital calendar, software solution, or online application.
To get the most out of your social media calendar, it should include the following:
The date and time posts will go live
The social media network each post will go live on
Everything needed to post, including copy, hashtags, links, and graphics
Include any other relevant information, such as whether a post should appear as an Instagram feed post or an Instagram story.
A social media content calendar lets you track deadlines and better manage your social content development process.
Benefits of Using a Social Media Content Calendar
Here are the key reasons to develop a content calendar to manage your social media tactics.
Helps Ensure a Consistent Stream of Social Media Posts
Whether you want to grow your social following, increase post engagement, or promote an offering, it’s critical to maintain a consistent stream of relevant, valuable, and engaging content across all your social media properties.
Consistently being present on the social feeds of the people you’re targeting is a necessary component of effectively engaging them. By posting with a regular rhythm, you trigger social media algorithms to increase the organic reach of your content, meaning your posts will be shown to new people, expanding your reach to more prospective buyers.
By populating your social media calendar with posts for a period of time, your business is better positioned to maintain a consistent posting schedule, even during hectic times of the year.
Increases Content Quality
Social media production values have improved over the last few years, especially since the advent of Instagram and TikTok. Many posts require a team to develop them, including copywriters, designers, video editors, photographers, and graphic designers.
With these higher expectations, your followers and the people you’re targeting expect creative, eye-catching social content delivered regularly. Anything less could mean the difference between gaining a follower or sale or losing a follower or customer to a competitor. There’s still room for the occasional rough-and-ready post in between the more glamorous, thought-out ones, especially if your brand is positioned to keep it real with your audience. That said, a social media calendar helps you efficiently leverage your assets — both human and digital — avoiding last-minute crunches, which typically result in posts of lower quality.
In the end, a calendar will provide you and your team with everything needed to produce stellar posts consistently.
Staying Organized Saves Time
An effective social media strategy supporting your overall marketing goals takes time and careful planning. A social media content calendar allows you to streamline your content creation process by putting a structure around it.
For instance, if you are launching a new product in the future, a calendar helps you develop copy, collect visual assets, and do everything needed to post content in time for the campaign. By creating and scheduling social posts ahead of time, you lower the risk of a critical post getting dropped.
Reduces the Risk of Mistakes
Using a social media calendar to plan your social posts across all platforms ahead of time means you can build checks into the process before posts go live. A calendar gives you a central place to copy edit text, fact-check information, double-check images, and vet posts with critical stakeholders. Plus, it’s much more effective to do these things when you have days or weeks to accomplish them. A calendar also helps prevent embarrassing mistakes that could harm your brand, especially if the error goes viral.
Provides Added Bandwidth
Everyone wants their posts to stand out. A social media planning calendar provides you with the creative and logistical bandwidth to develop social posts aligned with social movements, significant holidays, and commemorations that have special meaning to your followers and the people you’re targeting in an on-brand way. It allows your business to prepare for events ahead of time, avoiding last-minute rushes to create social content.
Map Your Social Media Success
Are you ready to develop a social media calendar that keeps your brand top-of-mind online? This article explains how to get started.
