2 Ways to Create Easy (and Free!) Social Media Content Calendars
A one-layer cake isn’t that hard to make and decorate: you prepare a box of that Betty Crocker cake mix, slap a layer of frosting on it, and you’re set. But let’s say you want to make a two-layer 8” round cake. Now it’s more complicated. Make that layered cake a TIERED cake? You’re now dealing with an intricate process that requires solid know-how and a workflow that holds up to the pressures of baking at that level.
Posting on social media is easy. Where it gets more complicated is every point at which there is an added layer. You might be dealing with a layered social media “cake” that looks kind of like this:
It’s not your social media account, it’s a brand’s social media account
It’s not your brand’s social media account, it’s a client’s social media account
You need to plan posts out a couple weeks or even a month or more in advance
You can’t just post willy-nilly, you need approvals from an internal contact
That internal contact is really a team of people
So with all these layers making your job trickier and trickier, how do you stay on top of everything—and make sure your layers stay stacked, too?
Today, I’m going to be sharing two different ways I handle content calendars and social media planning with clients, as well as some ideas for content and brainstorming and a free Google Sheets content calendar template! Let’s dig in!
Content Calendar Solution #1: Google Sheets
Google products in general, but especially Google Sheets, continue to evolve and with every adaptation, they become an even better tool for collaboration across teams. Here’s a screenshot of one of my client’s Google Sheets content calendar and approvals setup:
As you can see, in this Google Sheets content calendar, there are columns for platform, post type, content type, posting date, creative direction, and approvals.
Customizable dropdown menus help make loading the Google Sheet a breeze–just select the applicable platform or type of content with two clicks versus having to type it out. You can also color-code them to help keep them visually distinct for good content calendar organization.
Google Sheets checkboxes are easy for clients to click if they approve, and if they have an edit or additional guidance, it’s easy to leave a comment on that cell with their remarks. Within those comments, you can @ people. Mentioning someone sends them a notification, and you can even assign the comment to someone—particularly useful if there’s a team of people using the Google Sheets content calendar to collaborate on social media content and planning.
Once the content is designed and ready to be posted, it can be dropped in the appropriate columns.
Links to Google Drive uploads go in their cells and the caption goes into its cell, all neat and tidy and organized. Just make sure the links are accessible to everyone who needs to put eyes on the content (pro tip: usually just put all content in a folder that is shared with all the right people because anything put in that Google Drive folder will then be accessible to them automatically).
Depending on the point at which you and your client do approvals, there can be checkboxes on either side of the content—checkboxes for concept approval and then checkboxes for final approval once the visual and caption is complete. It’s completely up to you and the process you have set up.
Like this Google Sheets-style content calendar and social media planner? Good news! I’m sharing my free Google Sheets Content Calendar and Social Media Planner template with you so you can play around with it. Do me a favor, though, and be sure to make a copy before making edits! Keep this one plain and empty so that everyone gets a clean slate—also, you might lose your work when someone else (like me) overwrites it again.
What are the benefits to using Google Sheets for social media content planning?
When the settings are right, you don’t even need a Google account to access it, so there’s not another service or website for you/your clients to sign into. A lot of people use Gmail now and even non-Gmail users can create Google accounts.
Plus, it’s a spreadsheet layout that most people are familiar with due to its similarities to Excel. Everything is pretty clearly laid out and it’s highly organized—exactly what you need for an effective content calendar and social media planner.
Content Calendar Solution #2: Trello
Trello is similar to Asana and probably to a bunch of other project management tools out there. I just happen to use the free version of Trello because it’s free and it’s fun to set custom backgrounds and blah blah blah…BUT it’s also great for handling approvals if you can get your client’s team to sign into another app or website.
Below is a real-life screen cap of how I use Trello for my own social media content. Now, it’s not ideal, but everyone knows that social media managers are so busy managing everyone else’s social media that their own accounts go unnoticed. I do what I can to post regularly, but my personal scope isn’t that big and sometimes I don’t hit my own goals. All that to say—don’t judge the state of this content planning Trello board! I’m being vulnerable here, okay?
In Trello, you create “Lists” and “Cards” within those lists. So for me, I create a list for my social media content scope, and then I create lists for each stage a piece of content goes through from the start and you move the cards through the lists as they go through your workflow.
Each individual piece of content gets its own card, and as that piece of content moves through the workflow it gets moved through the lists until it reaches the end of your content planning workflow.
This particular board is for my own content, so there’s no need to have an approvals stage, but if you were working with a client, you can move the card to a list where they can approve it and move it to a list where it’s ready to schedule.
When you click on each card, it opens up to show this view. In this view, you can upload your content to be attached to the card, and this is where you can assign it to different people with deadlines and when they complete it they can check it off and then move it to the next list.
What are the benefits of using Trello for social media content planning?
If you benefit from having a more tactile experience when planning your social media content, there’s something really satisfying about moving cards from list to list in Trello. While it’s more complex to navigate than a spreadsheet, it’s cleaner, because instead of having comments sprinkled throughout the document, everything has a “home” that’s programmed into the app.
It’s also really beneficial that you can attach deadlines to cards. As deadlines approach, users who are assigned to the card receive reminder emails and there’s less nagging needed on your end as you try to move the content from the content calendar to the feed.
Other planning aids when scheduling out your content calendar
Canva
Canva isn’t just a great resource for accessible content design, it can be a great tool for content planning. It’s no secret that people look at Instagram Grids in particular as an indicator of a brand’s aesthetic quality.
There are a lot of apps or services like Later, for example, that offer grid planning within their platform, so not everyone has this need, but if you’re looking for a quick and easily managed way to plan your IG grid, Canva is a great option, allowing you to drop your images into the square frames and detach and reattach them as needed!
If you like this idea but don’t want to go to the hassle of making a content planning Instagram grid on Canva, I got you! Here’s a really simple Canva template for you. There’s a Canva-created IG grid template available as well that has the whole shebang from profile pic and highlights to follower counts and tab icons, so if you want something more detailed, search their Template collection for that!
National Today
National Today is the site I use for all things holiday. Every month, when I’m planning content and filling out my content calendar I take a little scroll through the month on National Today and pull out anything that’s relevant to my niche. Here are some random fun ones (tried not to pick major/already well-known ones) coming up for June 2024 (see them all here):
June - all month: National Candy Month, National Homeownership Month, National PTSD Awareness Month
June 1: Dinosaur Day
June 2: National I Love My Dentist Day
June 3: National Egg Day
June 4: National Cheese Day
June 5: World Environment Day
June 6: National Eyewear Day
June 7: National Donut Day
June 8: National Best Friends Day
June 9: National Cancer Thriver Day
June 10: National Iced Tea Day
June 11: Say Hi Day
June 12: National Peanut Butter Cookie Day
June 13: CNA Day
June 14: National Bourbon Day
June 15: National Dog Dad Day
June 16: (Father’s Day and) Fresh Veggies Day
June 17: National Mascot Day
June 18: National Fishing Day
June 19: National Watch Day (also Juneteenth, but unless your org publicly embodies the spirit of Juneteenth year-long, do not—I repeat, do not—use Juneteenth as a marketing holiday!!)
June 20: National Vanilla Milkshake Day
June 21: International Yoga Day
June 22: National Onion Ring Day
June 23: National Pink Day
June 24: Upcycling Day
June 25: National Strawberry Parfait Day
June 26: National Beautician Day
June 27: National Bingo Day
June 28: National Food Truck Day
June 29: National Camera Day
June 30: Social Media Day
Anyway, keep these weird little marketing holidays in mind when planning your content calendar for next month! They help as fillers and often provide excuses for sharing behind-the-scenes images and other content that you might otherwise have a hard time fitting in.
Google News Searches
I have certain bookmarked Google News searches that I turn to again and again for new inspiration when I have slots to fill in my content calendar. For example, when writing content for a sports brand, having a saved Google News search of “high school sports inspiring” or “women’s sports” that you can click to share industry news or feel-good stories that have relevance to your target audience can be a huge time-saver.
All you have to do is click the little star in the navigation bar to bookmark that page and it’ll bookmark the search and the settings—I always change mine from most relevant to most recent so I have the most up to date stories at the top. Google will tend to leave out smaller, local news reporting when filtering for “most relevant,” so another benefit is seeing reporting from those little local papers and TV stations that often have the best stories to fill out my content calendar for social media posting.
Well there it is—my top tips and tricks for content planning and scheduling social media content. I hope you take advantage of these templates and “hacks” and find them useful when planning out your content calendar! Where do you pull inspiration for content? I’d love to hear from you—let me know on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram!
