How I finally created a social media content calendar

I usually plan my content for my blog a week in advance. I know some folks are on their monthly thing or 3 month thing or 6 month thing. Look I can’t do all that. I am one person running this blog so I gotta do what I am comfortable doing.  I never created a social media content calendar because well…I’m lazy and I would just post whatever came to mind whenever I wanted. Then I came across Loomly which gave a content calendar for you to use to help you plan content out for various national holidays or things that are going on in the world or prompts to help you become more social. I did the free trial and loved it but I can’t be spending money on a monthly basis just to have a content calendar. So I said to myself how can I create one that fits who I am so I took this summer to do just that. Here are my easy tips to create a social media content calendar. I will also run down what my calendar looks like for the week so you can get your own ideas popping!

Easy tips to create a social media content calendar

First I use google keep. It’s free and it’s very easy to use. I do my planning on Sundays for the week. Now Evernote works for this too but Google keep is my jam already so I use what I have.  So I plan for my week and put down the date and then I put what I’m posting for the week below is one from last week.

So I start with what I will post on Monday for Tuesday. I do post randomly on Mondays from Sundays just to keep it spicy but I start with FB.

As you can see above I share 4 things on Facebook so on Monday I will create something from the 4 things I shared. Keep in mind I want to always promote the post that I put up on Friday or the post I shared last so I can keep my content current. I will also share a post based on a national holiday that I may have on my blog. For example, if Tuesday was national donut day I would share a post that I wrote last year about making your own donut holes to keep up with the national calendar.  I also want to promote my photography or my shop page so I will always promote one or the other during the week. I always ask a question on my facebook because those posts get the most engagements so I try to keep a question that is related to my blog post that day or something via the national holiday. I keep everything within content for that day. Am I making sense?

Ok, let’s move on to Instagram…

I am not a huge fan of Instagram but it’s a necessary evil. I take pics all the time and I just keep them in my phone so I can pull a pic when needed to go with the post for the day just so I can put something up. My instagram is very rarely in real time so while I may post a beach pic my ass will probably be at home on my couch. The pic could have been taken the week before, a few months ago, or even last year. Last week I shared a weird house with a little caption and then I also shared a pic that would help me promote my blog post for the day. My blog post for the day was, “places to cool off in Atlanta”. Now I didn’t use the aquarium post because I forgot I actually had a pic of my daughter at the beach in my phone so I used that instead.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzG6yftAjtC/

Notice the caption that leads back to the blog post. (also I share my insta in my stories with a caption to get people to click the actual feed because folks love to be in the stories but not the feed which is weird because the feed stays, the stories go but I digress)

Twitter is my favorite platform! I start with some fun stuff on twitter and then I always promote an older blog post twice so people can see it. Notice how I have the question on twitter about how to stay cool during the summer?  Remember that goes back to my post that I will promote that Tuesday on twitter so I tied that in with a question. Here is a tip…I have my Facebook feed going to twitter but I don’t have twitter going to facebook. Meaning I will post something on Facebook and it will show up on twitter. I try to keep the content on twitter and facebook fresh and not post a lot of the same things.

Here is a breakdown of my content calendar example

Blog 3 days a week (no less than 2 unless I take a break)

Tweet 10 times per day at the same time per day. Notice on my Twitter my tweeis are the exact same time everyday be consistent! I post in 2 hour intervals. 8, 10, 12, 2, etc.

Share on Facebook 4 times a day again at the same time. Twice in the morning and twice in the evening.

Twice on Instagram for the day. Now it doesn’t matter what time I post on Insta because I never get more than 50 likes no matter what time of day I post I have tried following the analytics and yeah….it’s whatever.

The main things I want to share weekly are…

1. My blog posts for the week. I can break down one blog post 5 different ways to get eyes back on that blog post using Insta, twitter, and Facebook.
2. I want to share others. What did I buy for the week? What small business am I supporting? Maybe a quote from someone I admire.
3. Asking a question. I try to ask fun questions that get people talking if you notice my Facebook page you will see a question on there almost daily
4. Find out what the national holiday is and use that content for the day.
5. I love Jasmine Star she has this thing called social curator that I was a part of but again I didn’t want to spend the money but hers was nice as it gave you a breakdown of what to post and questions to ask your audience. She also includes pics or ideas for pics for the day so you won’t be lost as to what to post.
6. Some days are broken down for you in a nice way. Man crush monday…put a post up of your man, travel Tuesday if you have travel content utilize that on Tuesdays, #happymonday is a great way to share something inspiring for the week to kick the week off right, Friday favorites maybe on one of your platforms breakdown your favorite products that you came across for the week, etc. Make each thing unique to who you are
7. My newsletter info and how to sign up maybe a snippet from one of my newsletters
8. My other websites. I own a photography company so I share that on twitter and Facebook because I’m not creating a different platform for those Insta is enough for that.
9. Michelle shares a content calendar that you can use also
10. Pics of my t-shirts that I sell

Also, a bonus tip create a series that you can stick to on social media so that you can always know what you will put up. For example, I know I do my #kitainthedark at night on instastories. If you talk about 3 things on your blog pick 3 days a week to talk about those things and stick to that weekly. 

So there is my breakdown of how I am creating a calendar that fits who I am. If you want to brainstorm on a weekly calendar contact me and let’s get to work! Do you plan out social content? How do you plan your social media calendar? What tools do you use?