Creating the schedule for your social media strategy [FREE TEMPLATE]

When I’m working freelance quite a few people have asked how social media managers plan their work for the coming months ahead or whether they just go with trends and don’t have a schedule.

The answer…

There is always a plan, if there wasn’t a plan it would be a lot like sitting in your dad’s car when you’re a kid, it’s fun and you feel grown up but it doesn’t mean much without the keys. They keys in this case is your calendar schedule.

Why do we need one?

There are a lot of reasons why a calendar schedule can come in handy when planning your social media strategy. Not only can you spot any mistakes earlier on in the plan and correct them before they go live. You can also then worry about other aspects of your business knowing that the social media plan is all finished and ready to be posted when the time comes.

How do I create a social media calendar?

Easy… Follow these steps below (they are brief as the template below explains all)

1. Create a foundation.

There are going to be a lot of elements to add into the schedule so make sure you have took into account public holidays, days you are unavailable, new product launches, offers and promotions etc.

2. Add the content.

The body!!! Add all of the information needed to fill the schedule (your posts). Be sure to include all hash tags, links and any information needed to give credit, as I know for me they are always something that I forget to add when posting. Avoid mistakes by adding them in.

3. Review.

The part nobody enjoys (except me for some odd reason) I enjoy the evaluation process of campaigns. The reports, tracking, reviewing etc. Its vital to add in a review section, I tend to track plans every 30 days. This is because some campaigns work month by month and for the ones that don’t it is important to keep on top of any abnormalities in the plan to fix immediately.

4. Enjoy posting and tracking…

Remember these are all very brief so that you can get the most from the template provided in the link below. The template is there as a guideline only but feel free to remove my information and use it as a guide for your business. Remember to change the personal parts to suit your needs.

*Before using the template click ‘File’ > ‘Download as’ > ‘Excel Spreadsheet’ FREE TEMPLATE: DOWNLOAD HERE