Social Media Content Calendar – How-to Guide with Template and Examples

Looking for a social media content online writing service? Maybe you are a marketer trying to create a social media content calendar to boost your brand’s visibility? Whatever the case, it is important to appreciate that social media is the future of online marketing.

Social media calendar examples have emerged as one of the most powerful digital marketing tools. Social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, and Twitter started out as tools to connect family and friends. Today, they have changed into must-have business tools.

The number of social media users today stands at 3.484 billion, with Facebook and Instagram leading the way. It is no wonder then that 92 percent of online marketers today rely on social media for content distribution.

Unlocking Potential with Social Media Content Calendar

But how do you leverage social media for your brand? Most businesses use a trial and error approach to social media marketing and inevitably fail. 

To leverage the growing social media numbers, you need a social media content calendar. It is the most crucial tool you need in your social media marketing toolkit for scheduling your social media content. 

With this social media calendar, it is now possible to plan, create, and schedule all your social content before any special dates. It is just like a normal calendar with important dates, only that the focus is on your social media content.

On your calendar, you will include what and when to publish and at the same time, specify where to publish the content. You can learn this from social media calendar examples by the best brands.

Want to get the best out of your social media campaigns? It is time to learn how a social media content calendar figures into your marketing plans.

When using this social media calendar examples,

You’ll never miss important dates relevant to your brand

 It is impossible to remember every important date on the calendar. With a social media calendar, this is no longer a problem. You have all the important dates marked on your content calendar.

You avoid cross-platform errors

The biggest blunder in digital marketing is to post the same message across multiple platforms. It gets worse when such messaging has errors.

Imagine asking your Facebook fans to retweet your posts, and you understand how damaging this can get. With a content calendar, it is easy to designate specific content for particular social media calendar examples. You will write platform-specific captions beforehand and copy them on the right platform at the right time. 

You can easily track performing content

A good digital marketer appreciates the importance of evaluating the performance of every campaign. For social media marketing, you need to track content and identify what works and what doesn’t. With a content calendar, this is easier, and you can get better results from your efforts.

It’s easier to allocate resources effectively

 A good content plan makes it easier for marketers to plan and allocate resources effectively. It contrasts sharply with a rushed content publishing campaign with teams cobbled up quickly. 

You will also find it easier to build consistency in your posts

With a content calendar for your social media campaigns, it is easier to know what you published earlier.  Your team will gradually develop a consistent voice and tone in all posts. A social media calendar examples guide you through the steps necessary to make your own business.

Your followers will also enjoy such consistency, and you will also earn new fans by consistently posting fresh content. If you can’t tell what you last published on your Facebook page, there’s a risk of losing followers. Consistency is one of the important qualities of a successful content marketing campaign. 

You can mix up diverse content throughout the year

As a social media content manager, it is not easy to find that ideal mix of content for your platforms. However, a social media content calendar can solve this problem. 

During research for the best content, you’ll find diverse options ranging from videos, user-generated content, interviews, case studies, news stories, among others. 

On your social media calendar examples, you can plan which content to post on which platform in advance. In the end, you’ll have a diverse content mix throughout the year.

Time-Saving

Time is of the essence in your social media campaigns.  You need to create content, determine when and where to post it, and all this takes time. If you have no plan for the same, this will affect the productivity of your team.

Random social media posts waste a lot of time and resources. With a content calendar, you can create content in advance and schedule its posting on your social media networks. You won’t have to withdraw team members form other duties to create and publish content when the need arises.

Social Media Calendar Examples

A content calendar can make or break your content strategy. The successful implementation of your social media campaigns depends on how good your content calendar is. 

This tool is no longer an option but a necessity for the social media marketer. With this marketing tool, you can now stay on top of your content publishing schedule.

However, most marketers find it hard to get started on the process of creating their content calendars. This is where examples come in handy.

The following are some social media content calendar samples to help you get insight into this essential marketing tool:

Condé Nast Traveler content calendar

This content calendar includes the content type, the scheduled date for publishing the content, day, and time.   With such social media calendar examples, you enjoy peace of mind knowing your social media marketing schedule is under control. You will only copy and paste the content on your social media pages when the day comes.

National Geographic

National Geographic remains one of the most influential scientific and historical publications in the world. It boasts readers from across the globe, but this also makes things hard for the marketing team. They have to create high-quality content and determine how to share it best on digital platforms.

Their content calendar is simple and straightforward. For each month, the calendar highlights the key articles for publishing. Crucial areas of focus for the editorial team also form part of the schedule.

Red Bull

From the Red Bull content schedule sample, it is obvious that there’s nothing random about the company’s social media campaigns. It is one of the most interesting brands on social media with thousands of followers.

They always post entertaining stuff, but in the background, there’s a schedule followed by the social media marketing team.

There’s a great content mix on the company’s social media platforms, and this distinguishes them from any other brand. The use of video and photos guarantees followers share the company’s posts, and this maintains their brand’s visibility.

Reverb Social Media Content Schedule

Reverb is a leading eCommerce platform dealing with musical instruments. In the highly competitive e-commerce industry, brands have to do everything possible to stay visible.

Reverb leverages social media in an organized manner to connect with its target audience. The above content schedule shows how the marketing team schedules content creation and publishing on different platforms. 

Their social media posts and blog posts are not reactive but rather planned. They tailor the content to the audience, and this is one reason for the popularity of the brand. With a social media content calendar, you can also achieve such an impact by preparing your content beforehand and scheduling it.

Harper’s Bazaar

Fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar remains one of the most influential publications in the industry. While most traditional print companies have fallen by the wayside due to the digital onslaught, Harper’s Bazaar has remained relevant due to its innovative digital marketing strategy.

On their social media, the magazine has a large and engaged following. Their social content calendar gives a hint as to why the brand is a success on digital platforms.

It is a simple calendar guiding the team on what to expect in the coming months. This content calendar is ideal if you need approval from the top office. You will show the managers what you have in mind. A glance over the calendar gives an overview of your content publishing in the future.

  1. Disney Parks

Disney is one of the most famous bands in the entertainment industry. The company embraced digital media early, and this has helped it continue connecting with its global followers.

Due to the nature of its business, Disney produces a lot of content. As a business owner, you can learn a lot from their approach to content publishing.

The company’s content schedule has key takeaways for every social media marketer. Their content shows rather than tells. Fans know what they will experience at Disney Theme Parks by checking videos and photos on social media.

There’s a lot of user-generated content as fans share their experiences at Disney parks. Despite access to so much content, the company doesn’t bombard their followers. Instead, they have a clear-cut publishing schedule on their blog and social media platforms.

Creating a Social Media Content Calendar

  1. Social media audit: Take stock of your company’s social media use. Consider the platforms you use, goals for each network, the best performing networks, any improvements needed, people responsible for the content updates.
  2. Set Monthly Social Media Goals: Every piece of content you publish must come with its own set of goals. It makes it easier to track performing and non-performing content in the month. You need both long-term and short-term goals.
  3. Content Mix for Your Social Channels: What content matters? Carry out a content audit using the best social media analytics tool. Checking out social media content calendar examples helps you understand the types of content you can use.
  4. Learn your audience: Every network targets a specific audience. You have to understand the demographics of this audience to tailor your content and the content calendar.
  5. Content categorization: Categorize your content and use different types (user-generated, self-promotional, or curated) in your social media content calendar. 
  6. Determine the frequency of posting: You have to consider your business model, the social media network, and the type of audience. Avoid bombarding your audience with posts. On Facebook, post 3 to 10 times each week, LinkedIn 2 to 5 times per week, and Twitter 5 times daily.
  7. Select the calendar template: You should choose what details to include in the social media content calendar template.
  8. Create your content calendar: Input the content using other social media content calendar examples as a guide.
  9. Customize the calendar: You need to customize the content calendar to suit your content strategy and frequency. Include specific times for posting, add distribution channels such as email and highlight important dates and events.
  10. Get objective reviews: Let other people look at your content calendar.
  11. Leveraging technology: You can now use different applications to build a social media calendar. From Trello, Google Drive, Hootsuite Planner to Evernote, these tools will make your life easier.

If you are after a simple and easy to use social media content calendar template, these samples are a good place to start. They are easy to customize to fit your brand’s social media strategy.  

Wrapping Up

Creating a social media content calendar is a crucial step if you want to harness the immense power of social media marketing. It is the only way to offer fresh, relevant, and appropriate content consistently.  With a content calendar, you will always stay on top of your social media campaigns. It is also easier to know what and when to publish or update your content. You will never miss any important dates, and it becomes easier to manage your social media campaigns.  Simply put, this is one of the essentials in social media marketing.

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