Introduction

A social media content calendar is an integral element for streamlining social media management, it promotes cohesive messaging and advanced planning across multiple platforms. With the help of a content calendar marketing teams can successfully manage on-time content delivery, keep track of necessary updates and coordinate team members for cross-functional collaboration. Hence it is vital to have clear knowledge of the methods of developing a social media content calendar. It is highly effective in achieving a credible presence on social media, maintaining a consistent workflow and optimizing user engagement.

At present managing multiple social media accounts specifically for brand building is a challenging task. Marketers need to take account of new posts, internal company complexities, audience interactions, and more. Social media managers juggle between a series of tasks to keep social media accounts active across multiple channels. The introduction of a social media content calendar is proving to be highly beneficial in creating a strategic social media approach and streamlining tasks.

Social media content calendars serve as a cheat sheet for planning social media posts. Also, it helps in maintaining consistency in content quality. Whether marketers are planning for a month or for a year content calendars are an excellent way of generating quality content for the viewers. The below section provides a comprehensive guide to help readers understand the content calendar-making process in the form of a guide.

What is the purpose of a social media content calendar?

In simpler terms, a marketing calendar software is essentially a calendar for posting media content. Marketers create and curate content calendars as they serve as a central source for planning upcoming posts, tracking existing posts, and coordinating between cross-functional teams working with social media marketing.

Social media content calendars are specifically helpful if a person is managing different social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others. These automation saas tools allow brands to post unique and relevant content, manage varied iterations of the same post, and evaluate what type of content to post on each of the accounts.

Do brands truly need to make use of social media content calendars?

Marketers are often seen planning their posts using social media apps on the go. A content calendar is a must-have for social media marketing teams. Using it as a tool one can perform the below-mentioned tasks with ease.

1. Brainstorm ideas for social media posts

Working with multiple teams and brainstorming innovative ideas help add a new dimension to the social media presence of a brand.

2. Planning social media posts in advance

Marketers can stay ahead of their schedule by visualizing what they wish to add to their content plan.

3. Balance timely delivery of quality content

Planning and delivering the right content on time is a delight for the viewers, besides getting to simultaneously plan for the following posts.

4. Stay updated with ongoing trends

It is beneficial for keeping a running list of relevant hashtags and new ones can be put to use based on the post content.

5. Keeping track of important dates

Social media calendars are helpful in tracking relevant company dates like launching of new products, so the relevant content is also ready for posting.

6. Schedule and coordinate influencer posts

Working with social media influencers becomes easier. Marketers get to keep track of their engagement and contributions from a central source.

7. Reporting social media metrics

Analyzing how posts are doing and keeping engagement metrics on hand is essential so one can clearly set and achieve their social media marketing goals. For developing an efficient social media marketing calendar marketers must make use of  automation saas tools that will assist them with visualizing and organizing the posts. For beginners, a work management tool can be beneficial to get the hang of the different tasks and ways of working around them.

Steps for creating a content calendar

Now let us begin with the process of creating a social media calendar. It is always a wise decision to start with automation saas tools like ManagePlus. It allows the users to keep track of the processes, report past post cadence, publish schedules, provide visibility, and align team members for a smooth workflow.

Regardless of the starting point for a social media calendar, the below mentioned steps are critical for getting started:

1. Recognizing social media channels

It is one of the most critical steps for developing a social media posting schedule. Before focusing on individual posts and creating channel-specific strategies it is best to take a step back with the social media team for determining the social media channels.

It will also be beneficial in the identification of platforms that are relevant to the audience. Similarly, platforms that are popular with specific demographics prove to be more effective. Also, marketers need to reevaluate marketing calendar software that have remained unnoticed.

By addressing these points marketers are able to determine channels for active engagement of the audience. Also, it is helpful for streamlining the focus on social media platforms making way for platform-specific content. This approach makes certain that content regardless of the type aligns with the preferences of the audience.

2. Audit of preferred social media platform

The benefit of developing a social media content calendar is reporting progress so it is beneficial for the baseline and where to start with social media marketing. Hence auditing is an important step in defining social media profiles.

• Most effective social media post by channel
• Posts that generate maximum engagement
• Time when the most number of the target audience is active
• Performance metrics of different social media posts

3. Understanding of audience demographic on social media

Conducting a social media audit will certainly help in determining what is working and what is not. This will also be effective in the process of creating a social media calendar.

4. Defining metrics for tracking social media content

Now that marketers have a clear idea of the most suitable social media channel it is important to an eye on the performance of the posts. If one is using a social media marketing tool then they are likely to have a clear idea of the baseline to begin with. The next important step is the inclusion of metadata in the social media calendar for tracking additional details like hashtags, preferred social media channels, posting timelines, target audience, etc.

5. Planning a posting cadence

As a brand begins creating posts for social media they also need to decide on the frequency of posting and how far in advance they would plan for it. A clear idea of the cadence will help figure out the capacity and optimize the content development process.

For those who have not yet started, they must organize the post creating and posting schedule beforehand. It also helps with organizing team members for executing different tasks related to the process.

6. Keep a review schedule

At this stage of building a social media content calendar marketers must take some time to review the schedule with other members of the team. Also some posts require approval from legal teams or brands. The calendar aids in systematically developing the process. It is also beneficial for keeping track of content reviews through a single dashboard.

7. Monitoring the performance of published posts

Brands making use of a marketing calendar software can easily monitor the performance of published content. It essentially serves as an opportunity to observe trends and understand social media analytics. It serves as an opportunity to track what is working and refine campaigns in the process.

Conclusion

Crafting an efficient social media content calendar can effectively streamline digital marketing efforts. However one is likely to fall into a trap without the right knowledge or access to the right social media marketing tool. The tips and tricks discussed should be helpful in creating an effective social media content calendar and also determine its impact on a brand.