Do you ever find yourself wondering, “What the heck should I post on social media today?” That’s a common struggle that all business owners face when it comes to marketing their small business! That’s why creating a social media content calendar is such a valuable tool. It allows you to create, plan, organize, and schedule your posts in advance which takes the last minute worrying away! Here’s my step-by-step guide for how to use a social media content calendar. 

Goals

As always, we’re going to start with your goals! What do you hope to achieve with your social media presence? Do you want to increase brand awareness? Drive traffic to your website? Maybe you want to boost engagement? Choosing a goal or two will make sure your content is aligned and will allow you to monitor and analyze your results.

Topics

Choose a handful of topics or “content pillars”. Your topics will be main themes that align with your brand and resonate with your audience. For example, if you sell home decor, your content pillars could be seasonal trends, home makeovers, and home styling tips. Consider creating a mix of educational, inspirational, and entertaining content.

Brainstorm

Now that you know your content pillars, it’s time to brainstorm ideas! This part can be overwhelming but I promise it can also be super fun. Open a new page in a notebook or in a doc on the computer. Then, write down every word or idea that relates to your content pillars. You don’t have to use all of them, so don’t be afraid to write down anything that comes to your mind. 

Calendar

It’s time to schedule your content using a content calendar! When choosing which content to post on which day, remember to switch it up. If you post a quote one day, try not to post a quote the next day. Instead, post a photo or some helpful tips. Keep in mind that you can use different content formats, such as video or carousel posts, too. This ensures that your feed is varied, and that all of your content pillars get used.

Grab My Free Content Calendar

My social media content calendar is perfect for business owners that want more structure to their content, but it’s also great for the creatives that don’t like to “schedule” or “auto-post” their content. Just because you don’t want to automate your social media postings, doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t benefit from having a plan. Use my free 1 week calendar to write down your different content ideas for each day so you can make sure you are touching the different topics you are intending to! Click here to get it!

Now that I’ve outlined exactly how to use a social media content calendar, here are some things to keep in mind. A social media content calendar should help you organize your posts while still allowing flexibility for spontaneous content. You can adjust your calendar as needed while meeting your goals and delivering amazing content to your audience.

Need help with your small business marketing strategy? Click here annikaframe.com/marketing-contact. For more small business marketing tips, read the blog annikaframe.com/blog.