Last Updated on September 3, 2022
Social Media is an important part of your brand presence. To establish a brand identity in the market, then a social media calendar is a must. It helps in giving you a clear idea about what you want to present to your audience.
Many companies use their pre-defined Social Media Calendar Template to create similar content again and again. It is indeed a good strategy to have social media content that is already working well for you. But, this is not everything.
You need to keep in mind that posting only one or two kinds of content pieces will not be enough. If you want to cater to a larger audience, then you must have different pieces of content in your content marketing strategy. Now, let’s see how to make an amazing Social Media strategy while planning your social media calendar.
In this blog, we’ll learn how to effectively make use of the social media platforms for your brand. Along with this, we’ll also see if any social media management tools may help us in this process.
What is a Social Media Calendar
A Social Media Calendar is a calendar which has the following tables: Days, Content, Description, and Hashtags.
There are two types of calendars that you can use…
If you’re a completely digitally operated company, then you must use Google Spreadsheets.
You can use a similar format to make a social media calendar for yourself as well. There is one more type of social media calendar you may make which is a physical one. But, the only problem with a physical calendar is that you won’t be able to access it anytime you want.
The spreadsheet is a free and helpful tool that can allow you to work and collaborate with different people. The changes are reflected instantly and you can see which changes are made by whom in the See Version History option.
Therefore, in case of collaborating with freelancers or your team, you must use Google Spreadsheet for creating your Social Media Calendar.
Who must use a Social Media Calendar
There is not a defined label that says this person must use a Social Media calendar or this person can not. If you are on social media – be it Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest – then you must have a Social media calendar. So, these are the people who must create a social media strategy with a calendar.
1. Influencers
Influencers are one of those first people that the audience follows. In a survey, it was found that influencer marketing had an impact of about a 70% increase in sales. But, it’s not easy to be an influencer if you don’t have a proper flow of content running through your social media handles.
To have people keep following you and not unfollow you, you must have an engaging content marketing strategy. This way, your audience would have some content that you’ve pre made.
Being an influencer is tough! We agree. But, that doesn’t mean that you’ll take your social media lightly. It is reported that once you stop posting for a week on Instagram, your expected reach gets reduced by almost 50%. And this can’t be affordable for an influencer. Therefore, you must have a content plan ready at all times.
2. Digital Marketing Agencies
Some digital marketing agencies keep social media calendars made for their clients in advance. They take approvals and make creatives for the next month(s) or so. But, not many Digital marketing agencies are making use of Social Media calendars. This means that there is a scope for this strategy.
Once you start supporting your content marketing strategies with a well planned social media calendar, you can expect your clients to have a huge margin in their profits.
A well organized and structured social media calendar helps in understanding how your creatives, videos, and other rich media content are performing. By having a bird’s eye view of your performance based on the content you have created, you can well understand what needs to be continued and what needs to be stopped.
But if you’re not having a social media calendar, it will become difficult for you to understand how certain segments of content are performing.
3. Content Producers
Whether you are a social media content producer or a blogger or a vlogger, you need to have a social media calendar. Content creation is not just everything. The term itself embodies a lot of other things like Content editing etc. So, before your content gets uploaded on the internet or social media, you get to edit it so that your audience likes it.
Therefore, you need to have some sort of content that you can post when you’re out of content ideas. Or when your produced content is not edited yet. Now, let’s see what are the ways in which a Social Media Calendar helps you.
Benefits of Social Media Calendar
A social media calendar for platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter helps you in having some content when you don’t know what to post.
1. Worry-free work
There are times when you can be stuck in some ‘urgent’ work at some point of time. This means that when you are busy with some other work, you might miss out on the chances of posting on your social media.
This problem is something which only you can understand, but nobody else would understand this problem. So, in order to save yourself from such situations, a well organized social media calendar can save you.
2. Time is not an issue
As per Gary Vaynerchuk, there are some specific times of the day when you should be preferably posting. And you must try not to skip posting at these times. According to him, he says that you must post at least twice on your Instagram and post multiple stories throughout the day.
Therefore, no matter what Content Marketing strategy you create, you must post on social media accordingly. These two are some of the best reasons why you should be using a social media calendar.
Now, let’s see some of the best social media management tools that will help you a lot throughout your Social Media Optimization journey.
Social Media Management Tools
There are a lot of tools available on the Google Playstore and Apple Store that claim to help you with managing and publishing your social media posts. But, unfortunately, they compromise a lot on your security.
If you are a social media agency, then you can’t afford to use social media management tools that don’t take care of your client’s social media calendar. Therefore, below is a list of all the social media management tools that we have used and can recommend to you.
1. Buffer
Buffer is a free tool that comes with the ability to schedule your social media posts. This tool comes with two variants – free and paid. The free version can add up to 3 social media accounts. And the paid version can help you add more.
On the other hand, there are some competitors to Buffer which also offer you the same features.
2. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is also a free tool that helps you schedule social media posts. This tool also comes with two variants – free and paid.
The free version can add up to 3 social media accounts per user ID. But, in case you wish to add more than three accounts, then you need to pay Hootsuite to integrate 10 accounts. You can also schedule up to 10 messages. Along with this, you can do it all with just one User ID.
The paid version comes in two price options…
INR 1680/month which becomes INR 20,160 per year. This plan will be charged monthly.
There’s another plan for which you have to pay one amount for the entire year.
Here you’ll have to pay INR 15,120 per year which is a one time payment. And here, you can save about 25% as compared to the monthly package.
3. Canva
Canva is a tool that helps you create infographics, icons, logos, creatives, and much more. With an easy to navigate interface, Canva helps you do a lot more. This social media management tool makes it easier for you to make creatives that appeal to your audience.
It also has an in-built shop from which you can download and use them in your social media posts. The tool also boasts of different sections depending on different social media platforms.
For example, the aspect ratio of creatives on Twitter is different from other platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Along with this, you can use Canva to make creatives based on your Social media strategy. Once it’s done, you can share or schedule the creatives with Hootsuite or Buffer.
