Plan ahead and get creative!
In a previous blog post, I addressed how to create and repurpose content for your social media channels. As I was writing, it occurred to me that my next post should be about one of the best ways to stay organized on social media: creating a content calendar that works for your organization.
Why create a content calendar? A content calendar is the best way to stay organized and plan ahead. It shows you what events are occurring, when, and how you can create content to celebrate with your audience. Creating and adhering to a content calendar allows your organization to:
- Plan content around key events and important dates in your field
- View gaps in your content plan, with plenty of time to add or switch content
- Confirm your content is ready to publish on time
Looking at the month or even year ahead, you might see several events or dates that you want to plan content around – the content calendar is the perfect place to store and manage that information. For example, if your organization focuses on music, you might want to create a blog post or a playlist for Jazz Appreciation Month (April). Taking advantage of celebrating holidays and events can also greatly increase the visIbility and shareability of your posts (remember to use proper tagging for your posts).
So how do you create your own content calendar?
- Research important events, meetings, dates, people, etc within your discipline and add them to your calendar.
- Identify content types. Utilize the resources you have to come up 3 or 4 consistent content types and use them throughout the year. If you have someone on your team that enjoys taking pictures, plan ahead for some photos that he or she can take that correspond with specific events and dates. If someone on your team enjoys music, create a playlist. It's not about coming up with entirely new content from scratch; it's about creating a presence in a fun and engaging way.
- Make sure that your content is published on time. The more time you have to plan ahead and visually see what’s coming your way, the more time you have to create content for it. It’s also a good idea to keep track of number of views or retweets and tweak your next content accordingly.
To help you get a head start, I've attached a content calendar template that you can download and use as a guide. Add in your own dates of interest, conferences, and commemorative months so that it works for your organization; make it work for you!
Bonus: Once or twice a month, gather your team and discuss important dates in the upcoming months. Does anyone have an idea for content for a significant day or event? Add it to the calendar. Once everyone has given their ideas and confirmed responsibility for seeing them through, add them to the calendar, and add in notes to clarify. Make sure you add in publish dates in the notes as well.
Creating a content calendar can be time consuming, I know, but if you update it consistently, and stay organizated with your content, you will never miss an opportunity to post images, quotes, and facts on important dates on social media!
I hope you find this post useful!
All my love,
Blondie
