Charity Digital – Topics – How to create a content calendar
Creating a calendar for your social media activity may not be high on your priority list, but it will save you time in the long run. A content planner provides an overview of your upcoming social media posts, allowing you to plan and schedule content in advance. So you don’t have to crawl around every day looking for something to post.
By scheduling posts in advance, you can check your work and avoid mistakes. It builds a safety net into your workflow, with time to fact-check and seek approval from relevant peers when necessary.
If you use more than one social media channel, a calendar will help you keep track of your content. It can help you manage multiple versions of each post and decide what to post to each account.
Here is a step-by-step guide to setting up a content calendar:
Produce content for your audience
Before creating a content calendar, it’s important to think about your primary audience and your social media audience. This will help you decide what content to publish.
Decide which channels to use
Once you are clear about who your target audience is, you can figure out which social media channels to use.
Run an exam
Review your existing content so you know where you started. Asana recommends looking at metrics such as: B. The types of posts that get the most engagement and your most successful post by channel.
Choose a format for your calendar
There are several tools you can use to create your content calendar. You might want to pick something simple to create your planner, such as: B. an Excel spreadsheet or a Google spreadsheet.
Or you could use a social media management, scheduling, and publishing tool to draw posts on a calendar. Options include Hootsuite, Buffer, and Sprout Social.
In the content calendar, consider using the following headings to help you plan your posts:
- Date and time of publication
- Social media channel you post to
- Copy – what you want to say in your posts
- photos and videos
- Links and tags to include
- Paid or organic content
Hootsuite recommends creating a new tab or section for each month and then planning your editorial content week by week.
Create an image library
Build your image library so you have plenty of photos and videos to use with your posts. A social media calendar will help you decide what graphics you need, and you can then source them from across the organization. There’s nothing worse than looking for photos at the last minute.
You can also use stock photos from image libraries.
Decide what content to post
You should apply the 80-20 rule to your content: eight out of ten of your posts should inform, educate, or entertain people, and two out of ten should be promotional posts. Too many promotional posts can alienate followers.
You should include user-generated content, such as stories from people your charity supports. Supporters love hearing from other people — not just employees — about the difference charities make.
Using curated content — content from other sources that you share with your social media accounts — helps you stay visible on social media without having to create new posts. Keep an eye out for interesting content to share in your feeds.
You can also look out for relevant awareness days and important dates and plan content around them.
Talk to colleagues
Social media should not be operated in isolation. Talk to colleagues on different teams to give them more ideas on what to post on your social media accounts. Your colleagues can share news and updates from across the charity. For example, they can share how much has been raised at a fundraiser or let you know about the latest campaign work they are doing.
Check your content
It’s important to review the content you post on social media to see how it’s resonating with your audience. You can use either the analytics tools on any social networking channel or scheduling apps like Hootsuite to monitor your posts.
Track your posts as you go and record the analytics on your calendar. You can use this information to track what’s working and adjust your content based on what you learn.