How to Create a Social Media Calendar That Works

A step-by-step guide on organizing and planning social media content effectively

Creating content for your firm’s social media presence can be an arduous task, especially if it’s one of many marketing responsibilities. It frequently gets pushed to the bottom of priority lists in lieu of deadline-driven projects. When social media becomes a weekly or daily question of what to post, it can become an overwhelming task. 

One of the best ways to make social content more manageable is by creating a content calendar, which will enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of your social media strategy.

To define your content strategy, the first step is to determine your communication goals. For most AEC firms, the goal will be to increase brand awareness by expanding the reach of your content to potential trade partners and clients, specifically decision makers in those organizations. 

Next, decide what you want to communicate. In other words, what do you want your audience to know about your firm? Again, most AEC firms will find it most effective to use social media to communicate:

• Firm capabilities

• Firm culture for recruiting purposes

• Firm news

• Industry news

• Project milestones

These communication goals can then be broken into content buckets, like project news, awards, firm events, industry events, staff announcements, etc. Once you’ve determined what kind of content you want to post, host a brainstorming session with members of the firm that are knowledgeable about projects, personnel and events. After gathering information on all of the content that can be shared, it’s time to create a calendar. Several tools like Google Calendar, Trello, Asana, or dedicated content management systems can be utilized, or even a simple  Excel spreadsheet.

First determine how often you want to publish content. This could be daily, weekly, bi-weekly, etc. Mark important dates like holidays, industry events, or project milestones and plan content around these dates to capitalize on relevant opportunities. Also take advantage of building campaigns around themes that are relevant to you, like Construction Safety Week or Hispanic Heritage Month. These themes could turn into multiple pieces of content spread out over the campaign period.

Once you have a list of content, create a long-term plan (3-6 months) with key themes, topics, and deadlines. We like to build quarterly calendars to have three months of content planned. One important note is to consider the content calendar a working document. Unexpected opportunities or changes might arise, so having a flexible approach will help you adapt without disrupting your overall plan.

Analytics are an important part of measuring social media success, regularly reviewing the performance of your content. Analyze metrics like engagement, traffic, and conversion rates to understand what’s working and what needs improvement, and adjust your calendar based on these insights. All social channels provide metrics, with social media management software consolidating analytics reports across networks.

By following these tips, you'll be able to create a structured and effective social media calendar that supports your content goals and keeps your production process running smoothly.

Take it to the next level by using social media scheduling software to plan and schedule posts ahead of time. Some of our recommendations include Social Pilot, Sprout Social and Hubspot.

If this sounds like too much of an organizational effort, we can help create a content calendar and execute the plan for you!