Suppose you recorded an important video and decided to publish that on Instagram on the last day of the month. But what if! If you forget to publish that at the right time on that day?
The saddest truth is, in this busy world we often forget to do our work on time because we are not well at management.
There is a saying –
Strong management makes marketers feel comfortable.
For business, you actually need to know how to create an Instagram content calendar or content planner that will help you to maintain your content & keep your data organized.
In this blog, I have discussed how you can plan and make a content calendar for your business in the right way and I have also suggested some content publishing tools which will give you the most hassle-free organized calendar.
So let’s get started!
Why is Instagram Content Calendar Important?
An Instagram content calendar is an important tool for social media managers because
✔ A content calendar is a framework for your business.
✔ The content calendar will organize all your social media data.
✔ It will tell you when, where, and how to publish content.
✔ Without visiting social media you can easily know what content is published and when.
✔ You can reshare and republish your posts easily.
✔ It will give you a view of which content performs well on which social media.
✔ You can measure content performance and metrics.
✔ ️ Mostly, it will make your team work easy.
7 Steps to Follow on How to Create an Instagram Content Calendar for Business
So, now let’s go through the step-by-step process of creating an Instagram Content Calendar!
1. Choose the format that can be accessed by your team:
There are many online content planning and publishing tools on the internet. Choose the one that can be handled and operated by your whole team. Using an online content publishing tool is time-consuming, and makes teamwork easier.
If you don’t have the budget, you can use a google worksheet. Because it’s free and you can share it with the whole organization. Create a google sheet > allow your team members to edit and update the sheet from their own devices. It will reduce your own headache and make your work 2x easier.
2. Create a template for the calendar:
Desire your google sheet content calendar with putting the followings –
- The channels where the content will be published (use drop-down menu for easy selection)
- The topic or source line
- Form of contents (Blogs, articles, email campaigns, social media posts, infographics, etc)
- Put the drive link (Putting the google drive link of the original content)
- Description (Title, Body & Hashtags)
- The date and time for publishing
- The responsible person to publish content (use the drop-down menu for easy selection)
- Status of the content (has the content been published according to schedule?)
- Response (Monitor the amount of engagement the content brings to you)
- Publishing frequency and set time limits (when do you republish it?)
I’ve created a content calendar template for you. Have a look –
3. Schedule posts according to different time zones
Use a time zone converter to figure out the best time for your post to go live in different parts of the world. Always use catchy headlines and captions that will capture people’s attention! And last but not least, never forget to post regularly!
4. Plan and position your brands on a daily basis
Plan and position your brands in a way that maximizes engagement rates. Make sure to write effective and engaging content, use emoji, hashtags, and call to action buttons on every post of your content. Your calendar will save the captions as per the day you have scheduled. So even if you want you can reuse them for another post.
5. Include deadlines for Important content:
Set a deadline to your content calendar, especially for content (like new social campaigns, promotional content, giveaway, live, webinar, events, quiz). Setting deadlines might help you keep on track and guarantee that important contents are really implemented on time.
6. Start by formalizing your publishing process
Make sure your team or the person who handles your Instagram business account is responsible for updating the calendar regularly. This is an important step because it will help you know when, where, and what content is being published. You can analyze it and take necessary action to improve your content quality and engagement.
7. Monitor how your content calendar is working
Finally, Work smartly,
If you think that you are unable to understand which format will work best then test different formats. It would take a bit of time and money but the result will be good. You can find out a final and suitable content calendar for you & your team.
Tips for creating an Instagram Content Calendar for business
🟡 Decide your quarterly/monthly goal first:
Set your goal first. Decide what your goal for this quarter or month is. If you are a digital marketer and want to promote your blogs, videos, podcasts, and live on social media then plan which of your promotional content you would like to promote. If you are a print on demand product seller, select which t-shirt, mug, canvas, phone case, bottle, etc you want to sell in that quarter. Select some from your broad list and Categorize them. This includes everything from articles to videos to photos and includes what type of content you want to post. Finally, put together a template for posting your content on Instagram, and get ready to start seeing positive results from your social media marketing efforts!
🟡 Decide what type of content you want to post:
Before starting creating content, make sure to decide on the type of content you want to post for this month. If you are a digital marketer or Instagram influencer you can plan to post educational tips, tutorials, hacks, idea posts, motivational quotes, live, etc. If you are selling pod products you can plan for post reels, stories, giveaways, buy one get one posts, funny memes, super sale pots, fashion tips, fashion hacks, customer reviews, etc. So target first what type of content you want to share, then create those posts, organize them as per your selected time frame, and set the content calendar as per that.
If you are confused about what types of content you want to post on Instagram, then simply click this blog & get 26 Types of Instagram Content ideas. Once you have a plan in place, start posting regularly and see the amazing results!
🟡 Choose the right time of day to publish:
You need to publish content that is interesting and engaging and of course at the right time. To maximize the impact of your posts, schedule them for the right time of day – morning, afternoon, or evening. Know who your target audience is, and research when they are available on Instagram. Based on the target market’s demography and segmentation, publish Instagram content.
I can give you some idea –
Publish motivational quotes, reels, and stories in the morning. Because people usually wake up in the morning and log in to Instagram just to check. During the morning hours, people are generally more positive and engaged with their surroundings. If you schedule some inspiring posts in the morning it will refresh their minds and will make their day energized.
Schedule entertainment posts like funny quotes, and memes in the afternoon. It will make your audience laugh and reduce the boredom of a regular hectic day.
People usually are free and scroll more on Instagram during the night. So give sales posts night or evening.
🟡 Put a mixture of contents in your Content Calendar:
When creating content for Instagram, it is important to think about how each post should be structured.
Don’t schedule the same type of content every day. Try to put a mixture of content. For example: Put educational video content on the first day, infographics on the next day, social infographics on the third day, and audience review on the fourth day. Souffle the post types. In your content calendar if you put one of your youtube video links on the first day, then share your blog on the next day, and share your Pinterest post on the third day. This is how you can create the audience’s attention easily.
🟡 Analyze engagement rates and likes:
Instagram is a platform that allows you to share photographs and short videos with your followers. This content can be anything from recipes to personal tips, and as a result, it is important for you to analyze your engagement rates and likes on the content calendar in order to keep things fresh. By understanding these metrics, you can determine which types of posts are doing well and make changes accordingly.
Additionally, using automation tools like Hootsuite or Sprout Social can help you manage all of this activity seamlessly without having to worry about pesky marketing tasks. Finally, stay focused on creating quality content that will engage your followers and help you reach your marketing goals.
🟡 Monitor, revise and reschedule as needed:
Monitoring and revising the Instagram content calendar can be a challenging task, but it is essential for maintaining high engagement rates on your account. Creating engaging posts that are timed perfectly to reach your target audience is key to success on Instagram.
Use tools like Hootsuite or Sprout Social, which allow you to schedule posts, add dates/times/locations for live media streaming, monitor analytics data, and more. These tools help you measure which of your posts are gaining more engagement on Instagram. Depending on the reaction, comment and share you can reschedule the posts after some months.
3 Best Online Content Publishing Tool
Buffer
Buffer is a content publishing tool where you can schedule content, or directly post the same content from 6 different channels at the same time (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and google business profiles.)
Buffer is more advanced than other social media planners. It has features like campaign, save ads, organic targeting, ad location, story scheduling, post analytics, bulk upload, hashtag manager, etc. You can plan, schedule, and organize your Instagram calendar, and easily reschedule any post date with the drop-down option. You can check posts by the weekly or monthly view. You can also check your posts arrangement into multiple views like grid view, feed view, calendar view, and list view.
It’s really amazing, try out the free plan to test a demo.
Pricing:
Free: $0/user
Basic: $11/user
Pro: $22/user
Enterprise: Depending on the organization type.
Social Champ
Social champ is similar to a buffer. With this tool, you can manage multiple accounts (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, youtube, etc).
You can create posts, edit, schedule, and reschedule posts at your desired time. Social champ is considered a powerful content planner for its dashboard setting. Social champ has features like – Track analytics, queue posts, bulk upload, generate reports, recycle posts, Auto RSS, etc.
It is upgrading its features on a regular basis. Recently social champ has included reels setting. You can give it a free trial.
Pricing:
Free: $0/user
Champion : $26/user
Business: $89/user
Agency: Contact the social champ team.
Canva
Why don’t you use a tool which gives the power to create a post and schedule it on the calendar from the same platform? Yes! Canva is mainly a graphics design tool but you can also schedule posts to your favorite social media sites through its calendar.
You can plan your content for the optimal time, edit posts, re-upload, and reschedule. Not only that, you can track engagement & impressions (like, comments, and clicks across your posts and improve your future performance. But all these features are available only in the pro version. The price is now $54.99.
Read more: Canva Review
Conclusion
An Instagram content calendar for business will help you stay organized. You can schedule a month’s worth of content together with a cup of coffee at a specific time and check in on a weekly or monthly basis whenever you want.
We lose an audience when there is a content gap on social media platforms. When you come to know how to create an Instagram content calendar it eliminates the possibility of content gaps and posting new content to your Instagram account each day will help you build a connection with your followers and expand your business over time. In order to expand your Instagram business or any other social media channel, employ a content calendar.
Thank you for reading! I hope now you know what is Instagram content calendar and how to create a content calendar for Instagram. Keep exploring my website for more information about your Instagram business. Don’t forget to leave a comment below with any questions you have about finding the perfect name for your Instagram account.
