It’s true that planning for social media is key to success on social media, and a structured content plan is essential. Whether you’re a small business, growing brand, or established organisation, knowing what you’re posting, why you’re posting it, and when is the key to building an engaged and loyal audience online. Join us as we take you through how to create a content plan for social media for the best results…
Why is a social media content plan important?
A well-thought-out content plan allows you to stay consistent, aligned with your business goals, and ahead of trends, instead of constantly scrambling for ideas or reacting last-minute.
With a content plan in place, you can:
- Maintain brand consistency across platforms
- Align content with marketing goals and seasonal campaigns
- Post strategically, not just spontaneously
- Drive higher engagement and ROI
- Save valuable time and reduce content creation stress
Now let’s break it down step-by-step so you can create a content plan that works for your brand and audience.
Step 1: Set clear social media goals
Before starting to brainstorm post ideas, define what you want to achieve with social media. Your goals should tie back to your overall marketing and business objectives and reflect your clients’ or brand’s current priorities.
Are you trying to raise brand awareness, increase audience engagement, drive website traffic or conversions, or perhaps generate bookings or purchases to a product/service?
Also, consider current industry trends and how your content can speak to what your audience cares about right now. Aligning your social goals with your business strategy is the first step toward a successful plan.
Step 2: Know your audience
When you start to understand how to create a content plan for social media, you’ll realise that you can’t create engaging content if you don’t know who you’re speaking to. Use insights, personas and platform analytics to identify your audience’s demographics, preferences, and behaviours.
Look at:
- Age, gender, location
- Content types they interact with most (videos, carousels, stories)
- Time of day they are most active
- Topics that spark the most engagement
Understanding what resonates with your audience helps you create content that’s not only relevant but more likely to perform well.
Step 3: Audit your current content and analyse competitors
Before creating new content, review what you’ve already posted and audit your current content.
- What types of posts performed best?
- Which formats drove the most engagement or conversions?
- What didn’t work and why?
Use this insight to replicate successes and avoid repeating what didn’t land.
Once you’ve done this, you should then take a look at what others in your industry are doing:
- Which platforms are they using?
- What themes and formats are they leaning into?
- What content resonates most with their audience?
You’re not here to copy, you’re here to learn, identify content gaps, and gain inspiration for what could work for your audience.
Step 4: Choose the right platforms
Each platform has its strengths, and you don’t need to be on them all. Focus on the platforms that align with:
- Your audience’s preferences
- Your business goals
- Your content type and available resources
For example:
- Instagram – visual storytelling, Reels, brand building
- Facebook – community engagement, local reach, events
- LinkedIn – B2B connections, professional content
- TikTok – creative, short-form video, trend-driven content
Focus your energy where it matters most.
Step 5: Develop content themes and pillars
When it comes to understanding how to create a content plan for social media, content pillars are your best friend, because they give your strategy structure. They help ensure variety, while still maintaining a consistent brand voice. Consider building your plan around 3–5 themes like:
- Product highlights – showcase what you sell
- Customer testimonials – social proof and trust
- Behind-the-Scenes – show the people and process
- User-Generated content (UGC) – build community
- Engagement posts – spark interaction and conversation
- Seasonal or promotional campaigns – stay relevant
These themes help ensure your content remains balanced and relevant throughout the month.
Step 6: Build a social media content calendar
Now it’s time to map your content out. A content calendar helps you stay organised and ensures you’re posting consistently.
When building your calendar, consider:
- Post types: Reels, images, carousels, Stories
- Posting frequency: How many times per week per platform
- Best times to post: Based on when your audience is most active
- Key dates: Awareness days, global holidays, and industry events. Don’t forget to check out our Social Media Calendar and our blog for calendar date inspiration
Step 7: Write and schedule your content
Once your plan is in place, it’s time to write your captions, gather visuals, and start scheduling.
There’s plenty of options for scheduling your posts including:
- Buffer, Hootsuite, or Later for multi-platform scheduling
- Meta Business Suite for Facebook & Instagram (desktop)
- Instagram in-app scheduling
- LinkedIn, TikTok, and X as native tools
Batch-creating and scheduling content in advance saves time and ensures consistency.
Ensure when writing your copy you think about your brand’s tone of voice. Your brand voice is how you express your personality, values, and tone across platforms. A clear and consistent voice builds familiarity and trust with your audience. A thoughtful caption can boost interaction, spark emotion, and guide your audience to take the next step.
Step 8: Monitor performance and optimise
Planning is only half the job, the other half is reviewing what works and what doesn’t.
Key metrics to track include:
- Engagement (likes, comments, shares)
- Reach and impressions
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Follower growth
Look at your top-performing content and ask why it worked. Also, review lower-performing posts to learn what didn’t resonate. These insights will help you optimise your next month’s plan and refine your strategy over time. Running a regular social media audit ensures your content continues to meet your goals and deliver results.
A strong content plan sets the foundation for consistent, engaging, and strategic social media activity. By understanding your audience, aligning with business goals, and staying organised with a content calendar, you’ll be in a much better position to grow your online presence and make social media work for your brand.
Ready to get started? Check out our Social Media Calendar for important dates, awareness days, and planning inspiration. Or if you need support with your social strategy and content plan we are here to help.
