It’s not just for brands! How you can use a social media calendar

The fact is, anyone trying to connect with a group of people via social media for whatever reason can benefit from using a calendar to help stay organized and keep everyone engaged and in the loop.

First, let’s take a look at what a social media calendar is—and then we’ll show you some examples of how you can use it to effortlessly stay connected.

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What is a social media calendar?

Basically, it’s a calendar that you can create and use to plan, schedule and keep track of what you post on your social media page—whether it’s on Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram and beyond. Many times, these posts are scheduled around holidays or around certain themes with key dates.

Social media calendars can serve many different types of functions. Here, we’ll take a look at a few different scenarios and show you how everyday people can use social media calendars to simplify their lives:

The family who wants to stay connected.

Gone are the days that families live right down the street—or even in the same city, state or country, for that matter. A recent survey found that by the time people turn about 50, their children, grandchildren and siblings live far away. While most parents (71%) have a child living within an hour’s drive of them, many live five or more hours away. When it comes to siblings, 60% don’t have any within an hour’s drive, with 55% living five or more hours away. That said, social media has become an important way for families to keep in touch. Here are some examples of how to stay connected on a more personal level via a social media calendar:

• Create your calendar around important dates (family birthdays, graduations, weddings, births and other significant events) so no one ever forgets those big days. You can include some cherished family pics, videos, event invitations and more. Get advice on event planning (e.g. seating charts at the wedding reception, feedback on the bridesmaid dresses, etc.).
• Make the holidays extra special by engaging everyone in conversation. For example, schedule a post that asks everyone to share a favorite holiday memory, goofy gift or ugly sweater. Post recipe ideas or ask grandma to share her favorite recipes. Create a fun holiday poll or survey (e.g. Homemade cranberry sauce vs. canned?).
• Schedule invites and reminders for (weekly, monthly, etc.) family video chats.

The company softball team.

So, you’ve been named “team captain” or maybe you’re the coach and need a great way to keep everyone connected and in-the-know about upcoming events. By utilizing a content calendar, you can:

• Easily schedule and share all the upcoming game dates, post-game events, community sponsor efforts and beyond.
• Keep everyone engaged by scheduling regular posts relating to softball (e.g. funny sports bloopers, game highlights, softball party snacks, or relevant news stories). Be sure to ask others to share, as well.
• Schedule and share fun factoids and other evergreen content (e.g. Did you know that before the term “softball” was coined in 1926, other names up for grabs included “kitten ball”, “mush ball” and “pumpkin ball”?) It’s sure to illicit a lot of good feedback.
• Create a calendar pertaining to all-things softball and post accordingly (e.g. World Softball Day, National Softball Day, Softball World Series and beyond).

The stalled side hustle.

If you’re like a lot of people these days, you’re doing a little something on the side to earn extra money. Whether it’s making jewelry, dog sitting or scooping poop—your gig needs a bit of a boost. One way to do that is to create a social media page for your business and then keep current, past and future customers in the loop! For example, if dog sitting is your thing:

• Schedule and post reminders for people to book ahead of time for upcoming holidays, summer vacations and other times when you’re likely to fill up fast. Allow for online bookings right there on your page, if possible.
• Be sure to add pictures and/or videos of some of your favorite furry clients doing what they love. This will show past, present and future customers how much you cherish their pets.
• Schedule and post contests (e.g. BOGO day of pet sitting by posting a funny video of you and your pet).
• Stay aware of relevant “holidays” and you’ll never miss an opportunity to mark those special days by sharing content, including surveys, videos, polls, factoids and more (e.g. National Pug Day, National Cat Lady Day, National Dog Rescue Day).

So, now that you’ve seen just a few examples of how a social media content calendar can work for you—how do you get started? If you need some ideas, but don’t want to start from scratch, there are a lot of great (and free!) social media templates out there. Just find one that fits your situation best, download it and customize it to your needs.

You can also use one of the many social media management platforms available. One way to choose the best one for you is to see if it integrates with the content source you already use. For example, if you use OneDrive, choosing a popular one like Hootsuite that already integrates OneDrive into its publishing platform can save you tons of time and energy. Imagine safely, quickly and easily accessing all the photos, gifs, and other digital assets you want to share directly from your cloud within Hootsuite, making publishing a breeze. And following a daily social media checklist will also help you keep up with scheduled and just-published content so you can respond and interact quickly and consistently to your audience.

So, yes, it is businesses, celebs and big brands that tend to use social media calendars more often than not. But it’s also a great way to stay connected and build an online community no matter who you’re trying to reach. Just find a good template or app and—before you know it—you’ll be effortlessly building, strengthening and maintaining connections the fun, easy way.