A month in advance.

Why you need a content plan

A social media content plan is a table for the month ahead: what the company publishes, where and when, why each post is needed and who prepares it. Without a plan, social media runs on mood: for a week posts go out every day, then three weeks of silence, and the topic is found an hour before publishing. In that mode it is almost impossible to tell what actually worked.

A plan does not replace a strategy. A content strategy answers "who are we running social media for and why", while a content plan answers "what goes out on Tuesday morning". If there is no strategy, start with at least one paragraph: who your customer is, what tasks social media solves and which numbers will show you that it works.

Where to start: the month's task and the platforms

A monthly plan is easiest to build around one or two business tasks for that month. For example: get bookings for a new service, prepare the audience for the season, clear remaining stock, collect reviews. The task determines the topics and the share of sales posts. If the company has an annual plan that takes seasonal demand into account, the month's task comes from it.

Then decide where you will publish and be honest about your resources. It is better to run one or two platforms regularly than five in fits and starts. Each platform has its own format: in a VK community - posts, clips and stories; in a Telegram channel - short texts that people read on their phones. One piece of material can be used in several places, but adapted: a different first paragraph, a different length, a different image.

Content pillars: what the plan is made of

A content pillar is a recurring type of post with a clear task. It is easier to divide pillars not by topic but by what the post should do for the reader:

• Attract: useful tips, answers to frequent questions, breakdowns of typical mistakes.
• Convince: examples of work, reviews, stories about the process and the people who do the work.
• Sell: offers, terms, prices, announcements - with a clear next step.
• Retain: polls, discussions, company news, behind the scenes.

There is no universal ratio. A new company that few people know about needs posts that attract and convince first of all. A shop with a loyal audience can have a higher share of offers. Set a ratio for the month, and a month later check it against the results. We gave an example set of pillars for a channel in our article on a company Telegram channel.

How often to post

There is no standard: the frequency is set by how many good posts the team can realistically produce. Consistency matters more than volume - followers get used to the rhythm, and the team does not run out of steam by mid-month. Work out the volume in advance: the number of platforms multiplied by posts per week and by four weeks is how many pieces of content you need to prepare.

Leave free slots in the plan for topical occasions: industry news, a fresh review, a question several customers asked in a row. And keep a small stock of evergreen posts that do not go out of date - they help when a planned piece is not ready on time.

How to build a social media content plan for a month: step by step

1. Collect the month's occasions. Holidays, seasonal events in your niche, promotions, launches, company events. In November, for example, that means National Unity Day on 4 November and preparing for the New Year season.
2. Spread the pillars across the weeks so that sales posts do not follow one another and every week has something useful.
3. Describe each post. Each row needs: date and time, platform, pillar, topic and key message, format (text, carousel, clip, story), the post's task, a link or call to action, the person responsible and the status.
4. Prepare materials in advance: photos and videos, comments from specialists, figures. Without facts from the company, posts come out generic.
5. Agree on approval. One person signs off posts and has a deadline - for example, two days before publication. Otherwise the plan sits in a queue waiting for approval.
6. Schedule the posts. In VK a post can be scheduled right in the editor; in Telegram, hold the send button and choose to schedule the message.
7. Mark paid placements. Placements in other people's channels, integrations with bloggers and posts promoted for money must be labelled: the "Advertising" label, advertiser details and a token. How to get a token and avoid mistakes is covered in our article on labelling social media ads.

It is convenient to keep the table in a shared document that everyone involved can access. Statuses should be readable at a glance: "idea", "in progress", "awaiting approval", "ready", "published".

This is what a week might look like for a small company with one platform and three posts:

• Monday - "attract": an answer to a frequent customer question with a detailed breakdown.
• Wednesday - "convince": an example of work - what the task was, what was done, what the customer got.
• Friday - "sell" or "retain": the offer of the week or a poll, depending on the month's task.

The following week the pillars can swap places, so the sales post does not always go out on the same day.

Common mistakes

• A plan for the sake of a plan. Posts sit in the table but have no task - it is unclear why each one is published.
• Sales only. Every post is a promotion, and the feed turns into a price list.
• One copy for every platform. The same text with the same image everywhere, regardless of format.
• No substance. There are topics, but no photos, examples or comments from specialists, so posts are written off the top of someone's head.
• The plan is never reviewed. At the end of the month no one looks at the results, and the next plan repeats the mistakes of the previous one.

How to tell whether the plan works

At the end of the month review the results by pillar rather than by individual post: one successful post can be a fluke, a pillar is already a pattern. Look at them in order:

• reach and views - whether the posts reached the audience;
• reactions, comments, shares - whether people find it interesting;
• website visits and messages - whether there is buying interest;
• leads and sales - what it is all for.

Reactions without leads are a reason to rethink the sales pillars; leads without reach are a reason to think about promotion. To be able to count leads from social media, links in posts are tagged and enquiries are recorded in the CRM with their source - more in our article on how many leads SMM brings. Keep the pillars that work, replace the weak ones and draw up next month's plan with the conclusions in mind. If the company has no one to post regularly, social media management can be handed over to a contractor.

In short

• A content plan is a table for the month: what, where, when, why and who prepares it.
• Start with the month's task and the platforms the team can keep up with regularly.
• Divide pillars by task: attract, convince, sell, retain.
• Consistency matters more than frequency; keep a stock of evergreen posts and free slots.
• Plan for approval, scheduled publishing and ad labelling in advance.
• At the end of the month judge pillars by leads, not only by reactions.

Frequently asked questions

How far ahead should a content plan go?

In detail - a month; in broad themes - a quarter. A month is short enough for the plan not to go stale and long enough to prepare materials and get posts approved in advance.

Can one plan cover all social networks?

The basis can be shared - the month's topics and occasions. Posts are adapted for each platform: format, length, publishing time and tone differ there.

What if the team cannot keep up with the plan?

Cut the frequency, not the quality. It is better to publish fewer posts but regularly, and to keep a stock of ready materials in case something falls through.

Who should run the content plan?

One person in charge - a marketer, an SMM specialist or the owner. They collect ideas from colleagues, track deadlines and statuses and sum up the month. When a plan belongs to everyone, usually no one runs it.