Social Media Content Calendar Examples and Templates

It's vital that you take some time to plan out your content in advance in a social media content calendar. There's nothing worse than sitting in front of the computer to connect with your audience and having nothing to say. One of the biggest parts of your content marketing strategy is having something to share on a consistent basis.

At Bright Vessel, we love our community and what started out as a passion for our surroundings, turned into a great tool to use for content. Jupiter Florida Fans is a social space we use to help small businesses grow. What has been a critical role in growing this page organically is a social media content calendar.

To share consistently, it's important to sit down and plan out months worth of content for your blog as well as the content you plan on sharing on social media platforms. If you can create a plan a few weeks to a few months in advance, you'll be more consistent, engage your audience and attract new visitors and followers.

What is a Social Media Content Calendar?

A content calendar is a place to organize, create and curate content you'd like to share across your brand, whether it's on your blog, website or social media accounts. Some companies like to create a separate social media content calendar, but it can help to keep all sharing to one editorial calendar to ensure nothing is forgotten.

Here are some social media content calendar templates you can use to get started:

PDF Example of Social Media Content Calendar

Excel Example of Social Media Content Calendar

We use Google Drive to manage ours, it is the best way to share a master spreadsheet across team members.

Why Should You Utilize One?

• Often, companies use an editorial calendar to see their content in advance. At a glance, you can see how content is laid out throughout the weeks and months. Gaps will be more obvious.
• It's an effective way to keep yourself organized. If you have an industry event, sales plan or product launch, the content can be scheduled in advance to ensure that it's being covered correctly.
• If you have a marketing or writing team, an editorial calendar keeps everyone on the same page. You can distribute assignments to the correct member while keeping track of other content being crafted.
• With all content and social media sharing being done from one central location, you can adapt plans without having to inform the team individually. They'll all see the changes to the calendar.

What to Put on the Social Media Content Calendar

There are some decisions to make before you start filling in your calendar. When it comes to content marketing, you need a solid strategy for sharing your own content plus industry news that will be valuable to your audience.

First, decide the goal of your content marketing strategy. Do you want to increase clicks on your website? Are you trying to increase the number of followers? After you've figured out your goals, you'll have a better idea of where the content needs to take you.

Second, you should identify your topics as well as your audience. For example, if you're a distributor of widgets, you'll need to figure out how much content you need to write about widgets to attract new customers, and how much you'll need to repurpose for existing customers. You might want to attract new customers, inform existing ones and bring in new employees.

Lastly, you'll need to figure out what you have for current content, what topics you'll need to cover in the future and how much you can repurpose into a new format. Along with this, it's vital to assess how much content you can produce each month to ensure you're not being too ambitious.

How to Build a Process for Your Socia Media Content Calendar

It's important that everyone involved in the content marketing for your company is able to give input into the process. Some companies use a simple spreadsheet for their content needs while others use a plugin for WordPress if they have that platform.

Companies with remote workers can use a simple project management software like Asana for their content creation needs. Google calendar is a great way to remind yourself to create the content for your marketing needs.

You'll need to schedule your own content for the next few months. It's essential that you vary the type of content to be shared. Some examples might include:

• Testimonials from happy customers
• Webinars for your product or service
• Tutorials for your product or service
• Webinars or tutorials for a related service
• InfographicsPress releasesBuying guides
• Tips and tricks
• Financial advice
• Information about product releases
• Events in your industry
• Videos

Don't forget to pepper your own content with news and shares related to your industry from an authority. Make sure you're providing useful content to your followers that isn't exclusively promotional.

Find Great Content to Share

BuzzSumo is a platform that allows you to type in keywords to find the most shared content on social media regarding those keywords. With the free version, you can only find a few of the top bits of content to be shared though.

Ways to Share the Content of Others

An app like Buffer will allow you to collect all your social media platforms into one process. As you're surfing the web, you can schedule shares and links for a later date. It can be integrated with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest. You can also use Buffer to share your content so it'll be scheduled in advance.

A content marketing strategy should include ways to plan ahead when it comes to your content as well as the links you'll be sharing that are relevant to your audience.

If you need help managing your social presence and brand online, Bright Vessel can help you achieve your goals.

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