It might seem OTT to start with, but this is an organisational essential for any content creator
You’re brimming with ideas. You’ve got so many cool things you want to try, and a whole folder of inspiration saved on your desktop – but how to figure out what to post, and when?
Life is messy and unplanned. Even if you have the best intentions in your head about your content creation and your upcoming posts, without some semblance of a content calendar, you might find it hard to keep consistent, quality content coming out across your platforms. It’s easy when you’re in the zone creatively, but when you’re in a rut, you might wish you’d held onto some of those good ideas. Likewise, a content calendar can help you stay on top of any big global events (be that Mother’s Day or a cultural holiday) and make sure you’re releasing your content in step with these moments. It’s partly to help you maintain regular posting (which we all know is crucial to success) and partly to help you release content with the maximum possible momentum.
Here’s how to start your content calendar…
Decide your content frequency
Decide how often you want to post. Are you aiming for a video every week, and a main feed post every other day? What about TikTok, or Instagram Stories? Group together every medium you use, and decide how often to post. Then, think about factoring in the time to create the content into the calendar. It’s not always going to be as easy as “I’ll just film something quickly and then send it out” – life often gets in the way and filming or shooting can often be more time-consuming than you expect.
Maybe you need to carve out a day or an afternoon each week to create and bank content, maybe you can work in shorter sprints. No matter what, make sure you’re clear what your posting frequency will be, and factor in research time, acquiring props and editing.
Establish your content slots
What’s going to be your bread and butter? Are you going to do quick, TikTok-worthy hack videos? Are you more about long, in-depth tutorials? Fashion or beauty hauls? Whatever it is, or whatever combination you’re going for, make sure you’re clear which days belong to which type of content. Lots of big content creators have regular franchises, whether that’s doing a Q&A video on a Friday, responding to comments videos on a Wednesday or always dropping a new tutorial for Saturday nights. It might take some trial and error to establish what works for you and for your audience, but this kind of structure can be really helpful for mapping out long-term planning.
Take a wider view
When building out your content calendar, make sure to note down any events that might resonate with your community. Globally, that might be national or international holidays, events like Mother’s Day or International Women’s Day or any religious holiday, and within your community it could be something like Earth Day or A-List birthdays, or even film or music video releases. Be ready to be responsive but taking a longer view of upcoming events can ensure you’re always hitting the right note. Scope it out in advance, book in some time to create some dedicated content and you’ll enjoy easy momentum.
