7 Best Tips To Create A Content Calendar
Content is King—but Every King Needs a Strategy
You might have heard the phrase “Content is the king” hundreds of times. While it’s true, even a king needs a strong foundation and strategy to reign effectively. In the digital world, that strategy is a content calendar.
With businesses of all sizes competing for attention on social media and maintaining websites to strengthen their online presence, managing content has become increasingly challenging—especially for small businesses. The rise of multiple platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and blogs adds to the complexity.
A well-crafted content calendar is the solution, offering a streamlined way to plan, organize, and execute content across various platforms. It ensures consistency, saves time, and allows businesses to focus on creating impactful, audience-centered content. In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, a content calendar isn’t just helpful—it’s essential.
In this article, we will explore what is content calendar, and how to create a content calendar in detail.
What is a Content Calendar?
A content calendar is a valuable document that can be used to organize, schedule, and track content creation and publication process over a specific period. It’s commonly used in content marketing, social media management, blogging, and other forms of digital marketing to maintain consistency and streamline the content creation process.
Key Features of a Content Calendar:
- Topics and Themes: Specifies what topics or themes will be covered.
- Formats: Defines the type of content (e.g., blog posts, videos, infographics, reels, podcasts).
- Publication Dates: Highlights when the content will go live.
- Channels: Identifies where the content will be published (e.g., Instagram, website, email).
- Goals and Metrics: Connects each piece of content to objectives, such as driving engagement, traffic, or sales.
- Status Tracking: Keeps track of whether content is in progress, completed, scheduled, or published.
How to Create a Content Calendar?
Here are a few steps for creating a content calendar (for social media, blogs, etc.).
1. Define your goals
The first step of creating a content calendar is to define your goals. Defining the goals helps you provide a better understanding of your achievements and outcomes. For example, if you want to increase your followers on social media, you must create a social media calendar in detail about what days and at what time will you post and other important details. Once the goal is defined, you can create a content calendar, with the right strategy that aligns with your business goals.
2. Create a template
After defining your goals, you need to create a content calendar template. A content template is a layout, pre-designed to organize the content ideas and plans. It includes the type of content (image, video, text, infographics, etc.), defining a target audience for which content is created, the date and time of publishing the content, and the channels to publish it. For example: A social media content calendar might look something similar to this:

A well-designed template can streamline your plan and be well organized. Creating a content calendar is an essential step for content marketing strategy.
You can manage your workflow efficiently by creating a template in a spreadsheet tool like Google Sheets or Excel. Spreadsheets make excellent content calendar tools, allowing you to organize, sort, date, and color-code your content in a clear, user-friendly format that’s easy for anyone on your team to understand.
If you prefer a calendar view for planning, consider using Google Calendar. It’s perfect for organizing content by due dates or publication schedules, and you can easily share it with your marketing team or freelancers to ensure everyone stays on the same page.
For a more automated approach, try a social media management tool like Adobe Express’ free content scheduler. Automation streamlines your workflow, saving you time and enhancing functionality. With Adobe Express’ integrated project management features, you can create, schedule, and publish content all in one platform.
Choose the content calendar tool that best suits your team’s needs and aligns with your social media strategy to stay organized and productive.
3. Select Your Channels
Once you’ve set your goals and created a content calendar template, it’s time to decide which platforms and networks are best for distributing your content.
Based on your target audience and marketing objectives, you might prioritize social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, or TikTok. Alternatively, you may choose other distribution channels such as email marketing, YouTube, or podcasts.
Selecting the right platforms ensures your content reaches your audience where they are most active and engaged. It also allows you to plan content more effectively, tailoring it to the unique requirements, formats, and preferences of each channel for maximum impact.
4. Plan Around the Calendar Year
The fourth step in creating a social media content calendar is to align your strategy with the calendar year. This involves planning content around major holidays and events, such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or Independence Day. It completely depends on your business type and your target audience.
By starting with the calendar year, your content is created and posted timely and is relevant to your audience. It also allows you to map out your strategy effectively, providing a clear overview of upcoming events and helping you prepare in advance. Additionally, aligning your content with key dates ensures variety in your posts, keeping your audience engaged and your brand stand out.
5. Incorporate Fresh Content
The fifth step in creating a content calendar is to ensure your content remains fresh and engaging. While planning around major events and holidays is essential, consistently delivering new and relevant content keeps your audience interested and connected to your brand.
This involves brainstorming creative ideas, researching trending topics, and staying informed about industry updates. By regularly adding fresh content to your calendar, you can maintain relevance and engage your audience effectively.
Fresh content also supports your marketing goals by allowing you to target specific audience segments or promote new products and services. Explore opportunities like live streams, reels, or other emerging formats to keep your strategy dynamic and up-to-date.
6. Publishing frequency
When deciding on publishing frequency and setting time limits for your content calendar, it’s essential to include specific details that streamline the process and keep your strategy organized. Here’s what to include:
What to Include:
A. Publishing Frequency
1. Decide how often you’ll post (e.g., daily, weekly 4 post, or monthly 27 posts, etc.).
2. Tailor the frequency for each platform, considering audience behavior and platform algorithms.
Example: Instagram – 5 posts/week, Blog – 2 posts/month, TikTok – 3 reels/week.
B. Deadlines for Each Stage
o Set clear deadlines for the different phases of content creation:
§ Ideation: Finalize content ideas (may be in 2 days)
§ Drafting: Create the initial version of the content (in 1-2 days).
§ Review: Conduct edits and approvals (in 1 day).
§ Scheduling/Publishing: Ensure content is ready to go live on the planned date. (it can be done in the same day when review is done).
Ø Content Type Allocation
o Assign specific days or weeks for certain types of content (e.g., promotional posts, educational content, user-generated content).
Ø Time and Date for Publishing
o Include specific times to post content based on audience engagement trends (e.g., 9 AM on weekdays for LinkedIn, 7 PM for Instagram).
Ø Approval Process
o Note key stakeholders responsible for reviewing and approving content.
o Add buffer time to accommodate feedback and revisions.
Ø Metrics and Tracking
o Plan how and when you’ll evaluate the performance of your published content (e.g., weekly or monthly reporting).
By organizing your publishing schedule with these elements, you can ensure consistent, timely, and high-quality content delivery across all platforms.
1. Repurpose Prior Content
The seventh step of creating a content calendar is to effectively reuse and repurpose prior or old content. This involves revisiting older content and adapting it to ensure you’re maximizing your resources and delivering consistent value to your audience.
Repurposing saves time and effort while keeping your content strategy fresh. For instance:
· Turn a successful blog post into an infographic or carousel for social media.
· Transform key points from a webinar into short video clips or reels.
· Compile related posts into an eBook or downloadable guide.
Additionally, sharing content in different formats or on new platforms can help you reach untapped audiences and cater to varied preferences.
By leveraging prior content, you enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of your content marketing while ensuring your audience receives valuable, engaging material in fresh ways.
Explaining the 80-20 rule while creating a content calendar
The 80/20 rule in content calendar creation is a widely used guideline that helps ensure a balanced and audience-focused content strategy. It suggests dividing your content into:
· 80% Value-Driven Content: Focused on educating, entertaining, or engaging your audience without directly promoting your brand or products.
· 20% Promotional Content: Focused on directly marketing your products, services, or business.
Why Use the 80/20 Rule?
1. Builds Trust and Engagement: By focusing 80% of your content on providing value, you position your brand as a helpful and reliable source, fostering trust and loyalty.
2. Avoids Overselling: Excessive promotional content can overwhelm and alienate your audience. The 80/20 rule ensures a subtle approach to self-promotion.
3. Encourages Interaction: Value-driven content is more likely to resonate with your audience, encouraging likes, shares, and comments.
How to Implement the 80/20 Rule
80% Value-Driven Content Examples:
· Educational Content: Tips, how-to guides, infographics, or industry news.
· Entertaining Content: Relatable memes, inspiring stories, or fun quizzes.
· Engaging Content: User-generated content, polls, or questions.
20% Promotional Content Examples:
· Product or Service Highlights: Announcements, demos, or feature highlights.
· Sales and Offers: Discounts, limited-time promotions, or bundle deals.
· Customer Testimonials: Reviews and success stories showcasing your brand.
Benefits of the 80/20 Rule
· Balances relationship building with revenue generation.
· Increases audience retention by focusing on their interests and needs.
· Enhances content diversity and appeal across platforms.
Incorporating this rule into your content calendar ensures a strategy that prioritizes value for your audience while still driving your business goals.
Best Tools for Creating Content Calendar
Here is a list of a few tools, that you can use for creating a content calendar:
Tool Key Features Ideal For
Trello User-friendly interface, customizable boards, color-coding, calendar view, task assignment Small and medium teams
Multiple views (list, calendar, timeline), collaborative workflows, automated processes Teams needing detailed project management
Basic scheduling, easy integration with other Google tools Individuals and small teams
Spreadsheet-based, color-coding, automated reminders, proofing collaboration Advanced organization needs
Asana
Google Calendar
Smartsheet
Endnote
Creating a content calendar is essential for organizing and streamlining your content strategy. By defining your goals, choosing the right channels, and aligning with the calendar year, you can ensure your content is timely and relevant. Incorporating fresh ideas, repurposing prior content, and maintaining a consistent publishing frequency keeps your audience engaged while maximizing efficiency.
Additionally, using the right tools—whether simple spreadsheets or advanced project management software—can simplify the process and enhance collaboration. By following best practices and staying adaptable, a well-planned content calendar becomes a powerful tool to achieve your marketing objectives and deliver consistent value to your audience.
Ready to streamline your content strategy and grow your online presence? Contact ThePitchPoint today for expert solutions tailored to your business needs!