This social media calendar is part of 'How to Win at Social Media: A Guide for Creatives" and is intended to help plan both your social media and (if needed) communications content.

Rather than focusing on platforms and planning from there, this calendar starts with your content first. By starting with your content, this calendar helps you start with what's most important, and then focus on what networks you'll be using. This means the calendar can work no matter what networks you choose.

You can download it from Google sheets here and fill it out—feel free to add rows or columns to this spreadsheet at any point, to make the system work for you.

The blank calendar includes notes about what each section is and can include.Keep in mind that while planning ahead is helpful, there are times that it can be helpful to rethink or rework your strategy to respond to changes as they happen. Unless it's something major, like the entire city being locked down for health reasons, small shifts can be more helpful than reworking your entire strategy.

When you're thinking about what your content focus items should be, think about two things:

1: What big announcements, events, or milestones you're excited to share with people who are interested in what you're doing. This could be events, releases, or new projects.

2: What ongoing series of content you might be able to share. This could be series (like consistent blog posts once a month), or something that's very common in your work life. Have a shop cat? Do you always do a new poetry exercise every Wednesday to spark new creative thought? Anything that's a consistent focus in your day-to-day can make a great content series.