How to Create a Killer Social Media Calendar

You want to create a killer social media presence? Well, that will start with the formation of an ever more killer social media calendar. Today, we’re going to walk you through exactly how to make one.

Step 1: Decide What Social Platforms You’ll Use

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok — they all appeal to different people, which means you will have to pick and choose which platform(s) is best for your audience and business. You don’t have to be active on all of them, but you should be consistently active on the best ones. Get it? Let’s break it down further. Sport Social listed out key demographics for each social and paid media platform. Review them before you make your social media calendar so you know exactly where you should spend most of your time and effort. Here is the data Sprout Social compiled:

Facebook demographics

• Number of monthly active users: 2.91 billion
• Largest age group: 25-34 (31.5%)
• Gender: 43% female, 57% male (no data on other genders)
• Time spent per day: 33 minutes

Instagram demographics

• Number of monthly active users: 2 billion
• Largest age group: 25-34 (31.2%), with 18-24 close behind at 31%
• Gender: 48.4% female, 51.8% male (no data on other genders)
• Time spent per day: 29 minutes

TikTok demographics

• Number of monthly active users: 1 billion
• Largest age group: 10-19 (25%)
• Gender: 61% female, 39% male (no data on other genders)
• Time spent per day: 89 minutes per day

Twitter demographics

• Number of daily active users: 211 million (up from 187 million)
• Largest age group: 18-29 (42%)
• Gender: 38.4% female, 61.6% male (no data on other genders)
• Time spent per day: 31 minutes

Step 2: Decide on Your Post Frequency

Now that you know what platforms you want to post to, you’ll have to decide how much you want to post on each and if you’re cross-posting (posting the same content on each channel). Your post frequency depends on your limitations. Social media takes time to master, and you’ll want time to track the data and engage with those engaging with your posts. If you don’t have a lot of time during the week to do this, you shouldn’t be posting once every day. Also consider how much time you have to create the content. While you can use stock imagery or upload your own photos, you may want to edit the photos or create your own graphic from time to time. On top of that, you’ll have to write out every post and schedule them, which isn’t a negligible amount of time. If you’re making a monthly social media calendar, you’re likely going to need 1-3 hours to write your posts, as well as assign a photo to them. We recommend starting with 3 posts a week and seeing if that workload is sustainable.

Step 3: Make a Spreadsheet

Now that you have the two foundational pieces ready — the platforms and post frequency — you can make your social media calendar. We recommend using a spreadsheet. Here’s a suggestion for how to format it, though you can mess with the formatting to make it your own:Top Row: Platform | Post Date | Content Idea/Theme | Copy | Image | FeedbackWe also recommend group content by either post date (if you plan on cross posting) or by platform.

Step 4: Identify Main Content Themes

Next, identify what type of content you want to put out there. Do you want uplifting and fun posts? Do you want to be informative? Do you want to be witty or combative? Or do you want to be a mix of a couple themes?Whatever you pick, make sure it is on brand — make sure it reflects who your company is. The easiest way to do this is to assign days to different vibes/themes. For example:

• Monday - Blog post with link back to blog
• Tuesday - Employee/Customer highlight
• Wednesday - brand-related post
• Thursday - Off
• Friday - Signup/selling post
• Saturday - Fun weekend post
• Sunday - Off

Not only does this help give you a roadmap for your posts, it makes it so much easier to think of ideas. We also recommend trying the 80/20 rule: post things your customers will find value in 80% of the time, and then push your own internal marketing agenda 20% of the time.

Step 5: Pull Out Important Dates

There will be a few exceptions to your post frequency rule, such as holidays, birthdays, founding days, etc. Pull out those important days and add them to your spreadsheet calendar.

Step 6: Write Content

This is where you start filling out your social media calendar with your on-brand copy. Have fun, be conversational, and always leave an opening for your customers/followers to engage with a post. A good way to do this is to ask questions, play a game (like would you rather), or to highlight your employees or a customer/a service you did for a customer. We always recommend having someone else read over the content once you’ve completed it to check for errors, typos, or off-brand copy. If you can’t do this, do not edit your calendar the moment you finish it. Walk away for a day or so and look at it with fresh eyes. After you’ve edited it, all you need to do is find images (or make them), and then you’re done! If this calendar is for a client, you can send it to them for feedback. If it’s for yourself, you can rejoice and be happy that you have a full month of content done and ready to be scheduled. If you want expert help with your social media, give us a call (480-386-1686) or visit us online at Helix House. Our social media manager will be more than happy to help!