How to Create a Content Calendar
Whether you’re a creative or a small business owner (or in my case, both) social media is a necessity to any marketing plan. For most, it’s the ONLY marketing plan. So what happens when things start to pick up (yay!) and you run out of time to do your daily post, or you’ve run out of ideas to post about? That’s when the content calendar comes in.
I am not saying I am an expert on this subject, I’ve just found it a very helpful tool, especially during the busy season.
So, what is a content calendar you ask? It’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like. It’s a calendar you write down what your planned out posts will be! You can either plug it directly in to your daily calendar on your phone, make a spreadsheet, or, you can use the good ‘ole fashioned method with a paper planner. Alternatively if you’re like me and you tend to forget things easily, you do all of the above.
Whether you’re a daily poster or you only post 2-3 times a week, here are some helpful tips we’ve learned over the last few years!
Plan out your content at least two weeks in advance. Every Monday, we get together and make sure everyone is on the same page about what will be posted that week, who will be tagged, appropriate hashtags and captions, etc. We then update our shared google calendar. Making sure there’s at least two weeks worth of content planned helps you stay ahead.
Pay attention to trends, but also know what works for you. Paying attention to what’s trending will help you figure out what will get the most attention towards your page but, not every trend is meant to be copied. For example, you will not see me trying to dance my way in to your algorithm. However, you will see me using trending audio or filters to try and get you to my page!
Be able to pivot. Say it with me, all my millennial friends - “PIVOT!” You may have something planned but you can’t get it looking the way you want or, the trend you were going to do has come and gone so fast you got whiplash trying to watch it. Come up with a few different ideas to keep in your social media back pocket and also don’t be afraid to shuffle things around should you need to!
Regularity is your friend! I mean this two fold. First off, posting regularly will help your algorithm in that the more you post, the more your chosen social media will “boost” your post as a reward for using their platform. It will also get more people outside of your audience to come visit your page. Secondly, having regular types of posts on certain days (For example: music minute Monday on Mondays for us, or New Music Friday) helps your audience understand what is going to be posted when so they come to expect it and therefore, look at it! It also helps take a lot of the brain work out of planning content.
Being a content creator can be a fun tool to help grow your business, it can also get overwhelming. Remember to take breaks regularly so that you can still enjoy creating and sharing what you do!