How to Create a Social Media Calendar in 5 Easy Steps (with Template)

A social media calendar is an essential organizational tool for any marketer.

Posting as soon as an idea strikes can be tricky. You’re more likely to make mistakes and typos. Plus, you’ll miss out on opportunities to collaborate with other teams.

Social media calendars are the perfect solution. They provide social media marketers with dedicated time to create, edit, collaborate on, and schedule posts.

And you’ll never miss posting about obscure holidays like National Pizza Day again.

In this post, we’ll show you how to build an effective calendar filled with content that engages audiences on all of your platforms.

What Is a Social Media Content Calendar?

A social media content calendar is a spreadsheet or app used to plan, organize, and track social media posts.

Like a traditional calendar, a social media calendar provides a big-picture view of the coming weeks and months. It helps you coordinate content so you don’t miss big events or deadlines.

A good social media calendar tells you the following about each scheduled post:

• The time and date you plan to publish
• The social media platform and account you will share it on
• Post format (in-feed post, story, etc.)
• Content materials (e.g., copy, photos, or video)
• Hashtags and links to use

You can create a social content calendar with many tools. Or use a simple spreadsheet, like our free template:

Download our free social media content calendar template below and follow along to learn how to fill it out.

Think of a social...