Stay Organized With a Social Media Calendar

When it comes to social media strategy, one size doesn’t fit all. No matter how often you post or how many channels you belong to, a social media calendar is an easy way to plan your strategy and keep your content organized. Technology expert Burton Kelso offers insights into what exactly a social media calendar is and why you should be using one as part of your marketing tasks to stay consistent and build relationships.

Before you put together a social media calendar, it’s helpful to map out your goals for social media because your goals will shape your post content, Kelso says. Social media goals can include bringing traffic into your store and improving traffic online, increasing brand recognition, staying relevant and attracting new customers.

“When you don’t post on social media, it’s almost like having boards over the windows of your storefront,” Kelso says. “Posting regularly shows relevancy and legitimacy.”

At its essence, a social media calendar is a way to track what platforms you’re going to post on, when you’re going to post and what you’re going to post. A calendar can be done on pen and paper or digitally in Google Docs or Google Sheets. Numerous online templates are also available, including templates from Hubspot, Hootsuite and Smartsheet.

Regardless of the template you use, Kelso says the calendar should outline the copy and information needed for each post, including publishing date and time; social media platform you’re posting to; post format (Reels, Story, YouTube short, etc.); post copy; a visual (image, gif, video, etc.); hashtags and location if applicable.

“Social media and digital marketing is a marathon, it’s a long game and you have to stay consistent to find results,” Kelso says. “Social media helps build relationships and allows you to connect with people when you can’t connect physically.”

What to Post 

• Take advantage of common hashtags like #motivationalmonday, #techtuesday, #wellnesswednesday, #throwbackthursday and #friyay
• Find creative ways to use “national” days to get people interested in your brand and in your store (David Day, National Taco Day)
• Holidays and events
• Product launches, sales, new categories
• Company news
• Q&As
• Roundups of important content from the week

How Often to Post

• Instagram – 5-7 reels a week, 3-5 posts a week and 7-15 stories a week
• Facebook Posts – 3-5 posts a week
• X (Twitter) Posts – 10-20 posts a week
• LinkedIn Posts – 3-5 posts a week

How to Post

• Utilize artificial intelligence, like ChatGPT or Bard, as an aid for crafting content
• Take advantage of posting and planning tools like
  • Loomly – paid
  • Planable – paid
  • Hubspot – paid
  • Hootsuite – paid
  • Buffer – paid
  • Sprout Social – paid
  • Meta Business Suite – Facebook, Instagram and Threads – free
  • Canva – free