How to create an effective annual social media calendar for your company's marketing.

Many people tell us having the FREE Content Ideas Notebook in conjunction with an online tool is the ideal scenario.

The way you create your annual social media calendar is not as important as making sure you use it consistently. You should find the best way for you and your team if you have one.

It can be a grid, list, table, or any other format you find easy to follow… It could be done on a simple Microsoft Excel sheet or Word document. It could even be a paper document you hang on the wall. 

But an online tool is much more effective for collaboration within teams, as multiple people can access your social media calendar. Google Docs is good as it’s based online. The tool I personally use, and recommend others to, is Trello.

Using Trello for your social content calendar

Trello is an online project management tool. You can add different users and it’s accessed through your desktop and a handy mobile app. Your content ideas will only ever be a few clicks away. You can upload documents, links, and text all to one place with Trello.

You can set up columns for each month, listing all the meaningful ideas and their relevant information and documentation. You can even set an automatic reminder on the day of each content idea, so you will never forget about your social media content plan. 

There are many other similar platforms out there to help make your project management tasks simple with multiple users. Try them out for yourself to find the best way for you and your team.

Things to include in an annual social media calendar 

Once you have your format decided, start filling in each month with key themes and ideas for your social media content.

This is your opportunity to cover all bases with your annual social media calendar, making sure it’s relevant to your company, your goals and any special events/dates. 

Social media content ideas for your annual calendar include:

• Your company’s trading anniversary 
• Staff anniversaries (number of years with the company)
• Topical awareness days, including holidays 
• Daily hashtags, such as #tiptuesday
• Upcoming events you’re attending or hosting
• Seasonal topics relevant to your industry 
• Special offers or seasonal changeovers 

Now, this is not an exhaustive list. But let’s dive into some of these a little more… 

Topical awareness days and annual holidays 

Topical awareness days are a great way to fill your annual social media calendar. You can pick suitable topics and plan your content in advance. For more on this, read my previous blog post ‘why it’s great to use topical awareness days for your content marketing’. 

Using common holidays can also be a prompt for you to share how your company and team works. People like to see what’s going on in your business, so setting reminders on your social media calendar means you won’t let another year go by where you forget to post anything.

For example, does your team have an annual Christmas jumper day? Take a picture! Or do you send out gifts to your clients for Christmas? Show a behind-the-scenes shot of your staff wrapping the gifts. 

Daily hashtags, like #TipTuesday, can be a great way to create consistent social media content around a planned theme. You could plan these in advance and put them in each week/month to your annual social media calendar to make sure you have enough relevant content to share. 

Seasonal offers to promote in your social media content 

Your company might have seasonal offers or changeovers in your products. For example, you could offer items that lend themselves to be natural gifts. Using your annual social media calendar, you can highlight certain products to push on the run up. Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day… they’re all perfect examples of buying trends that can appear every year. 

Another example would be if you offer services that tend to be more popular at certain times of the year than another. If you’re an accountant, you will have key accountancy dates that come up every year. Or if you work with people who need to plan around school holidays, you can mark these down and use it to your advantage. 

Use your annual social media calendar to plan your content around any of these opportunities, raising awareness of the dates and encouraging people to get your help. By catching people at the right time with your social media content, you have the potential to generate more leads and clients. 

Get started with your annual social media calendar now 

The best way to get started with your content plan is to start simple. It won’t be a perfect or polished list of topics to begin with, and that’s ok…

Your content calendar’s aim is to keep your company social media activity thriving throughout the year, even when you’re busy. If you plan your content themes in advance, you’ll never run out of things to say. 

When you feel inspired throughout the year, you can add in more detail. Think of your social media calendar as a continual work in progress... 

For more inspiration on how to create interesting and impactful content to fill your annual social media calendar with, listen to ‘The Impact Sessions 46 – podcast with Nick Bramley’. I was a guest on the show talking about all things relating to social media content. You can also order your FREE Content Ideas Notebook to get you started.