7 tips to create a social media content calendar

“Share this news!” “Retweet this great testimonial!” “Pin our new infographic!” “Promote our contest!” “Get them to like us—really, really like us!”

It’s good to be popular. Once the forgotten bunch, social media managers are becoming increasingly popular as their brand and marketing colleagues clamor to get their babies some social media love.

Before you post, keep in mind that we’re publishers now, and with that comes great responsibility. It’s not just about keeping our internal clients happy, but our followers as well. It requires a careful balancing act.

Sure, there are serendipitous and random conversation opportunities you can’t plan in advance—after all, you want content that is disruptive and fun. But you need to supplement that with an organizational framework that ensures social media engagement efforts are tightly integrated with the organization’s marketing, PR and communications plans.

To do this effectively, you need to create, consult and maintain a content calendar (weekly or monthly) that serves as a roadmap for all social media efforts. What’s more, you need to share the calendar across the organization to get everyone onboard, and to improve and extend your social media reach and results.