If you lead a busy life, you most likely rely on a calendar. Whether it’s on your phone, in a diary or hanging up in your kitchen with pictures of firemen holding baby animals each month (just an example, I’ve definitely never owned one of these). The point is, we need our day to day lives mapped out somewhere, otherwise, an important phone call, meeting or even a lunch date will inevitably slip into the “forgotten pit” deep in our minds. Similarly, if you’re using social media for your business, there’s a lot to remember and think about each day, from the content you’re posting, to the engagement and analytics. Having a social media content calendar is vital, and I’m here to tell you why…

First thing’s first, what is a social media content calendar? They can range from a spreadsheet to a software service or even a physical calendar if you want to do it the old fashioned way. There’s no right or wrong way, however, opting for an online calendar or app could equip you with extra organisational features. Having a social media calendar can benefit just about anyone, whether you’re a global brand with a big following or a small startup business. 

So, what are the benefits? 

1. Save valuable time

Being successful on social media isn’t likely to happen overnight. Think of your social media as a baby – it requires constant attention, feeding and looking after, in order to grow. If you want to be consistent on your social media, you’ve got to regularly come up with content, post frequently and aim for the right time of day. Having a calendar means you can plan your content weeks or even months in advance and in some cases they’ll even do the posting for you too. The likelihood is, if you’re working in or running a business, you’re probably pretty busy as it is, so having a social media page to update every day is going to take up a huge chunk of your time. Consequently, this could lead to neglecting other aspects of your business and missing out on potential customers. 

2. Keep up consistency

Having a consistent social media presence is extremely important for appearing in your audiences’ feed and creating brand trust. Your social media calendar will guarantee consistency because you’ll always be at least one step ahead with your content. It also means that you won’t be panicking on a daily basis because you can’t think of what quote to post next. Consistency is vital to your social media success for a few reasons. Firstly, regular content is more likely to appear for your audience, which means you’ll build engagement levels and form relationships with them. It also creates brand trust and awareness, if you’re leaving months between your posts, this can make your audience question your brand’s authenticity and ultimately send them straight into your competitors’ arms. 

3. Never miss a date

Have you ever posted content and then realised it’s actually National Cookie Day (4th December if you were wondering) and you could’ve posted something epic? It’s happened to the best of us. Luckily, when you’ve got a social media calendar you can schedule in relevant content and never miss a special event again. Even if you somehow forget that December 4th is all about cookies, you have enough time on your hands to come up with something on the spot, because the rest of your social media is already planned. It also means that you can cover any breaking news that is relevant to your business, without having to feel stressed because you don’t have enough time to post it. 

4. Up your strategy

As your social media and content is up to date and taken care of with the calendar, you’ve got more time to check your analytics. This means you’ll be up to speed with what’s working and what’s not, so you can focus on improving and updating your strategy. Nowadays we have so much access to data and analytics surrounding our target audience, that it can be used to shape your strategy. You have to remember that you probably won’t get it right the first or every single time, so you can test the waters with content and see what works, your data will soon tell you whether it’s a hit or a miss! 

5. Better content

There’s no shortage of content out there to choose from. However, there’s also a lot of people competing to have theirs seen, so somehow you’ve got to stand out. This means you might have to stray away from having too many cute dog videos (I personally love them) and opt for something that’s crafted and tailored to your target audience. Creating quality content can be time-consuming and sometimes require various team members to produce it. If you’re using an online social media calendar such as Hootsuite, you can delegate responsibilities to different team members allowing you to work as a team and monitor what individuals are working on. 

As you can see, there are many benefits to having a social media content calendar. Not only will it save you from the stress of scrambling to find a motivational quote on a Monday morning, but it frees up your time to focus on other important aspects of your business that could become neglected if you’re trying to keep up with social media every day. However, if you’re still finding yourself struggling to fill in your calendar and keep on top of your social media, why not put it into the hands of someone else? I’ve heard Maverrik have an amazing team for that…