By TLC Marketing Consultants

A social media content calendar is a created schedule in a document, spreadsheet, or dashboard that organizes upcoming social media posts by date and time. They help keep you on top of posting, ensure consistency for your digital marketing, and are very efficient by saving you time. Here are some tips that will aid you in creating a social media content calendar that is effective for your online presence.

Determine Your Goals

It is crucial to know what you are trying to accomplish before you start content creation. Whether it be to increase brand awareness, grow your online presence, drive website traffic, or boost sales, you need to know so you can tailor your content calendar for it. For example, you can use the specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goal-setting strategy to help you create realistic and attainable goals with your social media content calendar.

Strategically Plan Content Mix

To keep your audience engaged in your content, it is important to mix up the content you are posting. The audience will get bored if a business posts the same content repeatedly. You should switch up content such as promotional, educational, entertainment, or humorous content to name a few. If you cycle different types of content weekly, it ensures that your social media will be fresh, appealing, and cater to numerous audiences.

Differentiate Platforms

On your content calendar, you need to specify which social media platforms each post will be shared on. For example, Twitter and Instagram are much different than LinkedIn in terms of what type of content is posted on them. If you share a funny meme, it would best be suited on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, while something more informative is best for LinkedIn or Twitter. This is not to say you can’t post specific types of content on certain social media platforms, but knowing what content is best tailored to each social media app is valuable.

Create a Consistent Posting Schedule

Your posting schedule must make sense and be consistent for viewers. Researching the best time and days to post content for each platform is a good way to drive up engagement naturally. According to Sprout Social, the best times to post on social media are Tuesdays- Thursdays from about 9 AM to 4 PM, while Sunday is the worst day to post on social media. Posting consistently within the best hours on the best days will help maximize reach and engagement, while also increasing rankings in online directories.

Include Important Dates and Events

Emphasize important dates including holidays, and meaningful industry events. These posts provide timely and relevant content that is relatable to your audience. For example, if you are a coffee shop, sharing a post about National Coffee Day and even adding a special deal for that day, is a great strategy to increase customers and brand awareness. Hopping on current national trends is a good way to stay up-to-date and post relevant content.

We Are Here to Help

Having a social media content calendar that is clear and effective is crucial to digital marketing. It can be challenging to strategically schedule your content while also running a business of your own. That is why we are here to help you with social media scheduling. Visit our website at