How To Plan Social Media Content in 2022

Social Media is no longer new. In fact, we’re in an interesting time right now where we could see the next generation of ‘social media’ very soon within the Metaverse… But that’s a topic for another day.

For now, let’s focus on what we do have and what we do know today, because this is your business we’re talking about!

If you’re reading this article, you may be navigating the early stages of your businesses Social Media Strategy, or maybe just re-approaching it for a fresh start.

Either way, in this article you’ll find some resources that will surely help provide some structure to all of these thoughts and ideas you have. Let’s get into how to plan social media content in 2022.

Why do you need a Social Media Strategy?

So, again, we’re over a decade into Social Media for business, so we don’t need to hound on this one much.

You need a Social Media Strategy for the same reason you need a Business Plan (Strategy) when you start your business. Without it, your brain will surely give in after time and you will start losing focus, forgetting goals, and just essentially start falling apart.

It’s really the same reason you need a plan to accomplish anything considerable in this life.

Remember, failing to plan is planning to fail.

Make it easier on yourself and declutter your mind by writing down your ideas, goals and overall plan. Everyone’s brain will eventually become bogged down if you try and store everything up there.

Think of it like a computer’s harddrive. If the primary drive is too full, your computer will slow down trying to perform everyday tasks. So instead, push some things to another drive and free up space in your primary drive and VOILA! You will notice an improved performance.

Furthermore, if you don’t have a good place to write this stuff down, it will end up everywhere (trust me). Instead, please read on and check out the document we have for you. It’s not something you can’t create yourself, but why would you? We already have!

How to Choose The Best Platforms For Your Business

There are many new social media platforms these days, however the Original Big 3 are still the top spot when it comes to most business’s marketing and overall audience reach.

When I say 3, I actually mean Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp), Twitter, and Google (Business Profile & YouTube).

Of course, LinkedIn is another massive one we can’t forget, however I don’t consider it an original and the Original Big 4 just doesn’t have the same ring to it… Agreed?

Agreed.

Ok… So with that out of the way, let’s get into more of the platforms that exist today.

Ok, great. So now how do you choose which platform to use?

Well you need to go back to that Business Plan we mentioned above and find the Target Market section, and that’s where you’ll find the answer to this question.

There are so many social media platforms nowadays because we all fit into different categories when it comes to preferred methods of communication, preferred types of entertainment, and preferred sources of information.

That’s what social media is now. It’s not just about adding people you know to a list so you can wish them a happy birthday.

Each social media platform has evolved into different communities built up of people who are similar in some way. Of course there is always some overlap, but these platforms do a better job of creating relationships now than just sustaining them.

In fact, you could say that Facebook basically started this with Facebook groups which are now essentially forums or small communities of people with similar niche interests.

As someone who was an avid forum user in the 2000’s, it was interesting to see them transition to Facebook. Or now, Facebook, Reddit, Tumblr, Discord, etc.

It’s my understanding that your traditional forum type websites struggle these days due to the changes to social media, however the audiences have not really changed.

Now that you (hopefully) have found your Target Market summary or Audience Personas, and you’re equipped with a little more information on the different social media platforms, it’s time to put those pieces together and choose 1-3 platforms to focus on to start.

You don’t have to be everywhere, and trust me, you won’t want to be, but pick a few to focus on and you should be able to get a great reach without the burnout.

Get your own FREE Social Media Content Calendar Template

Now that you’ve got a refresher on the Social Media landscape for 2022, it’s time for the practical part.

We’ve put together a FREE Social Media Content Calendar Template for you to use which we hope helps you get some thoughts down on ‘paper’. This template will surely help you learn how to plan social media content in 2022.

But, if nothing else, this free download will undoubtedly save you time in creating your own, so go ahead and grab yours by filling out the form below.

This calendar template allows you to fill in three pieces of content for each platform, on each day, along with the associated image to post and time to post.

You can swap out the platforms with whatever platforms your business uses, and of course make any other changes to the template that you wish like adding more post spaces or just removing them. It’s yours to make your own!

How to Use Your FREE Social Media Content Calendar Template

To make things as simple as possible and universally available for all, we’ve built this template using Google Sheets.

If you’re not familiar, Google Sheets is an online spreadsheet application very similar to Microsoft Excel, but all you need to use it is an active Google Account, which we can assume you already have. If not, you should create one for your business as you’ll need it down the road very soon.

1. Save A Copy or Export If You Wish

To use and customize the Social Media Content Calendar you need to “Save a copy” for your own use, and then you’re welcome to do with it as you wish. You can export an Excel compatible file if you prefer to use Excel, but otherwise you can make your edits all within Google Sheets.

2. Add or Replace Your Chosen Platforms

The template comes pre-loaded with sections for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Tumblr. If you don’t use Tumblr, and instead use YouTube (for example), simply click and replace the text in those sections. You can even change the background colour of each cell to match the platforms you’re adding.

3. Add monthly notes, ideas, goals or events

Each month’s sheet has a section for Important Notes on the right side of your screen. Use this section to jot down any notes, ideas, goals, events or other tidbits as they arise. This section gives you a nice organized area for each month, so don’t forget to use it!

4. Edit The Colour Key

To further organize your dates and content, we’ve included a Colour Key section that you can use to identify holidays, theme days, or special events in your calendar. Of course, this section can also be modified however you need to make it work better for your business.

5. Use Your Imagination!

Finally, just use your imagination! No one knows your business, goals and process quite like you, so as you begin to use this template, I’m confident you will start to get some new ideas or tactics. If you can adapt this template to those ideas, by all means – go for it!

General Content Tips & Tricks

This template is primarily to help you plan your days on each platform, but with the nature of social media, some things can not be planned or pre-made.

Using Instagram as an example, you can easily schedule Feed posts with this template but Stories are a little harder to pre-make and schedule with any template. In these situations, I would instead give yourself a reminder in the appropriate content slot.

Make a note on what the story will be about, the caption, or the particular audience interaction feature you plan on using, then when the day and time arrive, you will know exactly what to post.

Instagram is consistently releasing new features to help drive more engagement through its platform, much like every other platform, so it’s important to pay attention to these changes.

Don’t live a life of FOMO, but do look into these features when they’re released. You never know, they might be perfect for your audience!

If they release something half way through the year, of course it will be tough to have a plan for it. So instead, plan to explore it, but use this template to do so and you won’t forget!

Summary

Social Media is an area of Digital Marketing that every business needs to understand and put effort towards today.

We have decided to release this Social Media Calendar Template because a lot of businesses struggle with consistent social media content strategies, and truth be told, hiring a Social Media Coordinator can be a big ask for them.

A lot of times business owners, especially ones that have had success for a while, don’t see the true potential value of social media.

We hope this free template can get your feet wet and if nothing else, you can see how a professional Social Media Coordinator works if you ever decide to hire one, in house or not.

So on that note, of course we do offer Social Media Marketing as well if you’re at the point of hiring it out.

We can help with Profile Optimization, Strategy Consultation, Content Creation, and even complete management depending on your goals and budget. If this sounds interesting to you, feel free to reach out and we can begin discussing your plan!