How to Build Your Content Calendar (& Why You Need One!)
Welcome to the masterplan behind every well executed social media page: the content calendar!
That may sound extreme, but I’m serious. Creating a content calendar can seem like unnecessary or extra work, but it will transform the way you approach social media.
First, let’s dive into why we think you NEED (not want, need) a content calendar, and then we’ll cover some details on how to make one.
WHY you need a content calendar
Take it from our own Chief Creative Officer, Hannah:
“A content calendar is both game-changing and life-saving in keeping your content fresh, organized, and impactful! For me personally, it structures my creative process by keeping me organized on the type of content I want to produce for a month and how I want that content to flow. While some find that a schedule or structure could hinder the ‘creative energy,’ I actually find I am able to be creative in a more meaningful way while working within that boundary! It keeps me from getting overwhelmed in the content planning process, and it helps me ensure that I’m not missing any important topics, content styles, or dates.”
Hannah hit on SO many key points about why you need a content calendar!
Keeps content organized
Ensures you cover a variety of content topics and types
Gives your creativity structure
Makes sure nothing important gets missed
Do you believe us now? I thought so. ;)
HOW to build your calendar
Ok, so how exactly does your content calendar keep you organized and creative at the same time?
Every calendar will look a little different, but there are two main views that we include in the calendars we create for our clients: monthly and daily:
First, we create a monthly view that includes all of our content topics for the month. We color code each topic or platform so we can easily distribute the various content types. Having a monthly plan also keeps us from overwhelming our audience with content one week and then disappearing the following week.
Below is an example of a client’s organization who has a lot of different topics and campaigns to talk about. The color coding keeps everything organized!
Second, we dive into more details in the daily view. Each piece of content gets its own line in our spreadsheet, and then we have columns for the following pieces of information:
Content type
Date & time of post
Caption
Link to drive audience to
Hashtags
Campaign
Images or video link
We follow this method for each platform that the client posts on. In this example, we were planning content for the brand’s TikTok!
Of course, if there is a detail you don’t need (i.e. maybe campaigns) just skip that on your own calendar.
Do you feel ready to one-up your social media game by implementing your own content calendar?
Just remember: the goal is to AID your creative process and keep your social media content organized and consistent! If you need any help with this, please reach out!
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