How To Plan Your Social Media Content Calendar
November 7, 2025 - 11 minutes read
The time when social media was optional for businesses has long since passed. To succeed, your business needs to have an online presence.
Though finding time to post while running daily operations and managing your team can be overwhelming, a social media content calendar can help. It acts as a roadmap that will help you stay organized, remain consistent, and get strategic with your social media.
Why A Content Calendar Matters
As of 2025, there are approximately 5.45 billion social media users worldwide, representing around 67.1% of the global population. Think of how many opportunities that number is for people to discover your business!
But for that to happen, you need to show up on people’s feeds consistently. Research shows that posting consistently leads to higher engagement, and businesses that post on a regular schedule achieve better results. Even moderately consistent posters get 4x the engagement per post over businesses that post inconsistently!
You can only post consistently with a plan in mind. Many small business owners spend six hours per week on their social media and still feel like they’re spinning their wheels without a clear direction. A calendar clears up that issue.
“Creating content without a plan might work for the short-term, but it’s tough to maintain,” says Melissa Weirick, a social media specialist at Federated Digital Solutions. “It’s like trying to drive somewhere new without a map. You may eventually get where you’re going, but there could be a lot of detours that use up your time and energy. A content calendar gives you direction and purpose.”
Building Your Calendar
Building a good calendar takes time, and it includes a handful of steps.
The Foundation: Your Goals And Audience
Before you think about creating content, you need to understand who that content is for. This might sound basic, but it’s true – many business owners post what they themselves think is interesting, and that’s not content their customers necessarily want to see.
“We always tell people to stop thinking like a business owner and start thinking like a customer,” Weirick says. “Your feed shouldn’t be a sales pitch. In fact, it shouldn’t include too much promotional material at all. Instead, it should provide value, answer questions, and build relationships with your audience. The sales will come naturally then.”
To create your ideal customer persona, answer these questions about them:
- What problems are they trying to solve?
- What questions do they have about your industry?
- What time of day are they likely to be scrolling on social media?
- Audiences on Instagram engage more in the evening, while Facebook users stay active throughout the workday, from around 9 a.m. to 5 or 6 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays.
Brainstorming Content Ideas
Whether you’re a writer or not, you’ve likely had writer’s block, or idea block, or just a simple brain blank. Coming up with ideas is often the hardest part of posting on social media. Staring at that blank calendar can be intimidating!
Take away the daunting feeling by creating content pillars, which are the core themes or topics your business will focus on during the creation process.
For example, a local dog groomer might have content pillars that include behind-the-scenes grooming videos, dog spotlights, seasonal haircut showcases, grooming tips, meet the team, and community involvement. These pillars provide structure and prevent that paralyzing feeling of having no idea what to post.
Breaking into resources you already have can be a huge help. If you have a business blog on your website, you already have a treasure trove full of ideas for social media posts. The same can be said for customer testimonials! Additionally, user-generated content (UGC) performs great on social media, so those behind-the-scenes photos that are taking up space in your camera roll can finally be put to good use.
It’s also important to take note of what your competitors and industry leaders are doing, not to copy their exact strategy, but to see what works. What posts get the most engagement? What conversations gain traction? This type of research is how you find out what kinds of posts resonate with your audience.
Post Consistency And Timing
Like we mentioned earlier, consistent users get more engagement than those who post sporadically, but maintaining that consistency can be tough. When a business gets busy, social media is often the first thing to drift to the back of their mind.
“A lot of the time, business owners start strong with social media. They’re posting daily, engaging with their customers, and trying out new things,” Weirick says. “But then life gets busy and they miss a few days, then a week, then a month. Before they know it, they’ve gone dark online. Getting back into the swing of things after a slump like that is super challenging.”
Hiring an agency like Federated Digital Solutions as a partner can ease your mind and let you concentrate on running your business offline while we handle it online.
Social media is about more than consistency; it’s also the time of day at which you post. The peak times are generally weekday mornings, with 8 to 11 a.m. being the prime time for most platforms. This could vary based on your audience, though, so it’s important to research to find out just when your customer base spends the most time online.
“Figuring out the right posting frequency and timing takes some experimenting,” Weirick says. “Every business’s audience is different. You need to test it out, track your results, and adjust as you go.”
Investing Your Time
Running your business’s social media takes a lot more time, dedication, and energy than running your own personal page. Your personal Facebook page is probably concentrated on keeping up with family/friends and sharing funny memes. Your business’s page is focused on fostering a community, building relationships within that community, and consistently engaging with potential customers. It is easily a full-time job.
Research shows you shouldn’t be spending less than 10 hours per week on your professional page(s). If you are, results won’t be easy to see, especially if you have tough competitors.
What do tasks related to managing your social presence look like in a week? Here’s the rundown:
- Creating original content, including graphics, videos, and captions
- Finding images and videos
- Videos get about 2.3x more engagement than static images, but editing them takes more time
- Writing engaging copy
- Scheduling posts across each platform
- Monitoring/replying to comments and messages
- Engaging with other accounts
- Staying on top of current trends and algorithm changes
“One of the biggest misconceptions about social media is that anyone can do it quickly and easily,” Weirick says. “It’s not about throwing a post together in five minutes and logging off for the day. Creating content that stops people as they’re scrolling and catches their attention consistently takes time and expertise.”
Making It Work
Creating a social media content calendar helps your business by requiring strategic thinking, consistency, and regular optimization. You need to understand your audience and what content resonates with them, create content, and post it multiple times. From there, you need to engage authentically and refine your approach based on the results you’re getting.
We get it. For small business owners who are already spinning 10 plates, this can feel impossible. But the good news is that when you have a system in place, it starts to feel a whole lot more manageable. A well-structured content calendar can take the fear out of social media and turn it into something enjoyable.
Creating Your Social Media Presence
Remember: the average person spends about 2 hours and 24 minutes on social media per day, and that includes your customers. Do you have the time, expertise, and resources to reach them? That’s a question only you can answer.
While some small business owners benefit from a content calendar strategy, many are just too busy, and that’s where a partnership with a social media specialist comes in.
Working together, we at FDS can get a deep understanding of your audience and what content resonates with them, and we’ll do all the work for you — from creating the content to engaging with your audience and building a community for your business. Think of us as your sidekick!
If you’d like to learn more about a social media partnership with FDS, reach out to one of our experts today.