We all know that social media and being present online is crucial. It is recommended to post 2-3 times a week or more. Some days, however, you might find your self struggling for new content or repeating past content. Content calendars can be a life saver on days where your inspiration is lacking. Whether you use Hootsuite, Google Calendars, or a plain Jane paper calendar, you will thank yourself in the long run.
Using a content calendar, allows you to spread out your material. Say that you have 5-6 topics you want to cover on social media: membership benefits, upcoming events, industry related news, website content, and member spotlights. Once you decide on these topics, you can look at a calendar and easily space them out to ensure content will not be redundant. You can post about one membership benefit every Monday. Dive into how that benefit can change the viewer’s experience. Tuesdays could be to update members on upcoming meetings or conferences, and so on. Having it organized will create a better flow for your content and keep your audience coming back for more.
Content calendars also keep you prepared. If there is a day you are lacking creativity, you will be appreciative that you planned ahead. It is best to sit down towards the end of the month and plan out the content you want to use in the next month. The amount of detail is up to your own preference. Maybe you want to write out exactly what you will say in each post or perhaps you prefer writing a topic in the calendar to give you something to work with later. Either way, the preparedness you will have from planning out your content will reduce your stress and make your significantly easier.
Of course when it comes to planning anything, there is always the possibility that things will change. A new event might pop up, something major might have occurred in your industry that you should cover, a transition in the Board of Directors might take place. These are all things that can be improvised into the calendar. It is not something you have to follow faithfully, simply there to ease the process of marketing your organization!