What are the best ways to create an Instagram content calendar?

The first thing I do, is to check my customer persona (buyer persona is a fictional representation of your ideal customers with real life data) This, Identifying my audience My step is to locate the type of content pillars that will resonate with them. I do this my creating different content bucket from already existing content ideas.. So for you, start by answering this question . What are your target customers interested in? What topics can you provide expertise on? What kind of content will help you achieve your business goals? Once you have a good understanding of your audience and content pillars, you can start to brainstorm post ideas. I hope this is helpful.

Having gone through the highs and lows of Instagram as a verified Social Media influencer, Life coach and content creator, here are my top tips for creating an Instagram content calendar. 1. Know thy Instagram- What would you create - a reel, a carousel post, stories or broadcast group? Your style, timing, and comm will change based on the medium you choose on Instagram, so plan for each individually. 2. Figure out the days you post-. If you are like me, I post three reels and two static posts a week without fail. I also post 2 to 3 stories per day but take a break every ten days. 3. Be authentic : Trend works, and copying can get you more views - but it is vital to create your authentic voice, style, and messaging that makes you stand out

To have a good Instagram and a general online profile, you need to have well-defined objectives as a brand to serve as a guide on your branding journey. Based on your objectives, you will make informed decisions on what type of post to make. I have worked with brands where we knew some of our pages weren't for sales generation but rather increasing awareness. Due to this, our content on each page differed a bit in terms of flyers, captions, and hashtags. It is essential to have well-defined objectives

Knowing how building an Instagram following serves your goals/objectives is important, but, as far as content is concerned, your aspirations are secondary to your audience’s aspirations. Understanding how and why your audience uses the platform is paramount. What kind of accounts have individuals in your target audience started following recently? What do those accounts post and how do they engage with their audience? How can you do serve this audience in a similar but unique way? Instagram is a place to make a top-of-funnel introduction to a brand. Your objective, therefore, is to create content that meets your target audience where they are with what they’re interested in right now in a consistently “on brand” way.

Creating an effective Instagram content calendar involves defining your goals, knowing your audience, establishing content themes, and balancing content types, such as photos, videos, Stories and Reels. Utilise an editorial calendar to plan and schedule posts consistently, and consider posting frequency, optimal times, and engaging captions with relevant hashtags. Maintain a visually consistent feed, engage with your audience, and monitor performance with Instagram's Insights. Plan content around holidays, events, and collaborations while being flexible to adapt as necessary. Repurpose content, coordinate with ad campaigns, and regularly review and adapt your calendar for optimal results.

Know your audience. Find their problems. And give them the solutions. If someone wants to lose their weight, make your content based on the tips to healthy weight loss. If someone wants to stay healthy by eating organic food but they do not have any idea what to eat. Make reels based on sharing organic recipes. Share polls on stories with quick and short healthy snack ideas. After posting your content, see what kind of audience is following your content. Gather the data and set a target audience.

Market and consumer research will always outperform trends for business objectives in the long term. Know who you want to reach... their psychographics matter a lot more than their demographics do.

"Sell the hole, not the drill" – Theodore Levitt Understanding audience's true needs is crucial in creating a customer-centric strategy, and there's no better way to do that than primary and secondary research. - Dive deep into what problems your audience faces. Your content should offer solutions or relief to these issues. - Use your findings to create personas to segment your audience into detailed profiles for each group. This will help tailor your content to specific needs. - Use polls, Q&A sessions, and DMs to directly ask your followers what they want to see or learn about and validate assumptions. - Regularly review and adjust. As you post, gather feedback, and refine your strategy based on what's working and what's not.

Some ways to get started: -Meet with your client and relevant stakeholders to learn about their business goals and target audiences -Map out their top 2-3 target audiences and research their demographics, psychographics, interests, buying habits, and other characteristics -Research social platform user trends -Based on this information, you can match the right platforms and formats of your client's target audience to their behaviors. -Then, meet them where they're at. Begin crafting a social media strategy that addresses the pain points of your target audience on the platforms they're on -Test your assumptions regularly by looking at your new followers and spot-checking the accounts regularly engaging with your accounts

The more you know your audience, the better content you create. On Instagram for example, you need to understand the algorithm and your audience. I suggest a test run for the first month to figure out your most engaging audience and then perform a consumer persona profile of them in order to find out what their interests are to help you make informed decisions. Not understanding your audience and posting content is a recipe for disaster

One of the interesting benefits of clearly stating your theme and category is that this approach allows you to plan and schedule content in advance, ensuring a balanced mix of posts that align with your brand's message and resonate with your target audience. Additionally, it helps maintain a distinctive visual aesthetic, enhancing your brand's identity and engagement with your audience over time.

If this is your first time making a content calendar, consider having themes for each day of the week. They don't need to be explicitly (like #ThrowbackThursday or #WorkoutWednesday), but can be more like on Wednesdays we post a new workout move and on Mondays we post a fan photo. It's an easy way to start building out a calendar that has a nice variety, but stays on brand.

Selecting themes and categories for your content is like crafting the menu for a restaurant. Your themes are like the main courses – they define the big picture, setting the tone for your brand. Think of them as the enticing categories on the menu, like lifestyle, education, or inspiration. They need to be appealing and relatable, just like the dishes on a menu that customers are eager to try.

Crafting an Instagram content calendar is like curating a gallery of captivating stories. Start by choosing themes and categories that reflect your brand's personality. Think beyond the usual: mix in 'Behind-the-Scenes' peeks, 'User-Generated Content' showcases, and 'Trivia Tuesdays' to add variety. Diversifying your content not only keeps your audience engaged but also gives your feed a distinct, dynamic charm. It's all about painting a vivid and ever-evolving picture that keeps your followers coming back for more.

When crafting your content calendar and choosing a posting frequency, it’s crucial to choose a rhythm that you can effectively manage. Consistency is key. If you can commit to two quality posts weekly, that's great. Social media success is a long-term endeavor, so avoid planning daily posts that may lead to frustration and abandonment due to content scarcity. Instead, choose a frequency that aligns with your resources and capabilities. Moreover, in large corporations with lengthy approval processes, hopping on trends can be tricky due to timing, and by the time you gain approval to post, the trend may have lost its relevance. Consider this when deciding which trends to follow, focusing on those aligning with your approval timelines.

Embrace flexibility and carve out extra time to capitalize on relevant social conversations that spontaneously arise and align with your brand and audience. We try to follow an ~80/20 rule with our content calendar. By planning about 80 percent of the content ahead of time, it allows us space and time to develop content related to current events as we see fit for our audience and brand goals. That way, when unexpected content opportunity pops up, you can jump on it without it affecting your other deliverables and deadlines.

One thing I’ve found helpful is to research the online behaviour of your target audience and create a consumer profile. This is the key to gaining insight into how frequently your audience uses Instagram and when is it most active. Try and test different frequency and timing strategies based on this insight till you find the perfect strategy that sings to your tunes.

Play around with posting cadence for each platform. Being realistic with what you can be consistent with is key, but also keep in mind algorithm and audience behavior. If you can only keep to a 2-post a week schedule on all platforms, but let's say IG performs better with 5, it may be time to see if you need to bring in additional help in order to maximize performance.

Crafting a compelling Instagram content calendar is a cornerstone of a successful social media strategy. The art of timing and frequency in your posts is pivotal for sustaining audience engagement and expanding your reach. By maintaining a consistent posting schedule, you keep your followers eagerly awaiting your content, but without overwhelming them. Tailoring your posting times to when your audience is most active is the secret sauce. Experimenting with different schedules, driven by data insights, is the key to refining your approach. Your online presence and connection with your target audience can be transformed into a potent force through this thoughtful strategy.

Creating original content, like images, videos, captions, and hashtags, establishes your unique brand identity. Meanwhile, curating content from trusted sources adds variety and credibility to your profile. Remember to always give credit where it's due and seek permission when necessary (aka always check with your legal team!).

Efficiently managing an Instagram account goes far beyond just spontaneous posting; it requires strategic planning. ?? Setting clear objectives ensures that every post has a purpose, while truly understanding your audience ensures that content resonates and is valuable to them. The emphasis on research cannot be overstated—Instagram's in-built tools provide a treasure trove of insights, making the platform not just a broadcasting tool but also a feedback mechanism. By aligning objectives with audience insights, brands can cultivate genuine connections, resulting in more meaningful engagements.

Instagram content creation is like debuting an engaging story. For crafting your own content, let your creativity flow with original images, videos, and snappy captions, and those well-placed hashtags. Tools like Canva and Unsplash are your artistic sidekicks for this. Now, for the twist, curating is akin to discovering hidden gems; share captivating content from trusted sources, giving credit where it's due – apps like Repost can make it a breeze. Remember Instagram's content quality and format rules, they're like the guidelines of your creative playground. This blend of crafting and curating keeps your Instagram vibrant, insightful, and visually appealing, ready to tell your unique brand story.

One of my favorite content calendar tools for Instagram is Sprout Social. They have an Instagram Grid Planner feature that helps you visualize how your posts will appear to keep the layout visually appealing. First impressions are everything when someone is deciding whether or not to hit that follow button. Don't make the mistake of believing the grid layout doesn't matter. Some alternative options to help grid planning are Planoly and Plann.

Keep it simple with an excel calendar or tool like asana. I even like to use meta's creator studio for scheduling - it's the most reliable.

Now more than ever, automated posting is going to decrease your engagement. The platforms want a human engaging directly with their app and they are updating their algorithms accordingly. Therefore, many of the content management systems with automated posting features are not worth the investment, especially for smaller organizations/businesses. Airtable and Google Sheets have become some of my teams’ go-to content calendar tools. The real consideration we use for choosing content calendar tools is performance tracking and searchability.

It can be useful to have somewhere to organise your content, particularly if you have a multi-channel social media strategy. This doesn't need to be an expensive software. Some cheap and free options include: - Google Sheets - Excel - Notion

I love use Trello to plan out content, especially when doing it for clients, this really closing down the information gap and elides long email threads. Then for scheduling and plan out when to post I love Later. Later even tells you your accounts optimal times a day to post which I find super helpful!

Planning the Instagram content calendar is like making a jigsaw puzzle. You pick different pieces (like posts based on different content buckets) that create the full picture (your overall theme and tone). Putting them together in a regular way (being consistent) is important. And changing pieces when needed to keep the interest alive and the audience engaged. Always keep an eye on social media reputation to understand the mindset of the audience to prepare next plan/content calendar.

You may want to consider not having a content calendar at all. This article paints a highly formulaic view on successful social media marketing. But the reality is the best social marketing pushes against conformity. The more you have things planned out, the less you are focused on reacting to what is happening on the platform and in the world around you, not to mention the constantly changing (probably) priorities for your company. If you are going to have a content calendar, keep it highly fluid and with a ton of space for spontaneity.

Always leave room for the unexpected and on the fly trends and memes. It's great to have a skeleton calendar for launches, holidays that make sense for your brand and other company initiatives but keep space open for relevant, timely posts.

Make place for user generated content as well as ad-hoc posts such as observances or current affairs as may feel fit for your page and your audience.

Content pillars made a big difference for me. Once I chose my niche and content pillars, following the right folks in that space gave me loads of ideas. For me the content pillars are personal branding, start ups/entrepreneurship, social media management, the more I read the more ideas come. Sometimes I simply curate content but each day I do write atleast a post based on whatever inspires me and schedule it.