As a professional wedding photographer, you know that social media can be valuable not only for sharing your work but also for promoting your business and getting more bookings. But if you’re not using a content planner, you’re doing yourself a huge disservice. A social media content calendar for photographers helps you plan ahead, stay organized, and publish better content consistently. Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, TikTok, etc., allow you to share your photography content in different forms, but to use them to their fullest potential, it’s important to plan your social media marketing strategies in advance. And the best way to do that is by creating a content calendar. If you’ve never done it before, in this blog, we will show you how to create a content calendar for social media.
What Is A Content Calendar?
A popular social media strategy, a social media calendar helps you plan, organize, and schedule your social media content in advance. It can help you easily strategize the type of content you want to share and when and where it should be published.
The different types of content that you can include in your calendar may include images, blog posts, videos, or any other content that aligns with your social media marketing strategy. You can use content calendar platforms to create a timeline for your social media strategy and plan out your social media campaigns accordingly.
By taking the time to plan ahead, you can ensure that each post is well thought out, has a purpose, and gets you the results you want. Since social media is ever-evolving, having an organized social media content calendar for photographers could help you keep up with the various changes and continue to publish engaging content regularly.
Read More: How To Build A Social Media Plan For Photographers
How To Create A Social Media Content Calendar For Photographers
Now that you know the function of a content calendar, below are some tips on how to plan a social media calendar and how to organize social media content to track your progress and stay organized.
1. Choose Your Social Media Platforms
Before you start to make a content calendar, decide which social media platforms are the best choice for your wedding photography business. Instagram and Pinterest are great visual-first platforms that are used by many industry professionals. If you’re creating Instagram posts, we recommend using Instagram analytics regularly to understand how your audience is interacting with each post. This will help you create a better Instagram content calendar for further engagement and reach.
2. Set Goals And Objectives
Setting goals and objectives is an important part of creating a social media content calendar for photographers. Consider the marketing objective you want to achieve with each post: Are you trying to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or boost engagement? Having specific goals could help you create a clear strategy and social media content plan. Additionally, long-term goals could be used to create an annual calendar. Taking the time to map out the timeline ahead of time can save you from scrambling for ideas throughout the year. This is also helpful if you want to analyze your results and measure your progress.
3. Draft Topics And Ideas
Once you know your goals, it is time to start coming up with content ideas. You can think of topics related to weddings, such as trends, bridal fashion, the importance of photography, seasonal inspiration, and more. Try to think outside the box and make a list of topics that might be interesting for your photography business and your target audience.
Take the ideas you come up with and create a social media content calendar template that would showcase the different topics, including their post copy and imagery. This can make the whole process much easier, as you won’t have to think of something new each time. You can also plan ahead for seasonal holidays or special events.
Suggested Read: Photography Marketing Tips: The Wedding Photographer’s Guide
4. Plan Your Posting Time And Dates
Once you have your social media calendar template in place, it is time to think about when and how often you should post. This will depend on the platform, so do some research into what works best for each one. For instance, certain social media platforms are more active during certain times of the day (such as evenings or weekends). You can also use social media analytics to figure out which days and times generate more engagement for your posts.
5. Use Scheduling Platforms
One of the best ways to save time when creating a social media content calendar for photographers is to use scheduling platforms. These platforms allow you to schedule your posts ahead of time and even automate them, so they go out on specific dates and times. Hootsuite, Canva, Google Calendar, Asana, and Schedugram are some examples of social media content calendars that also provide some of the best social media content calendar templates. This way, you can plan out your social media content and have your posts ready to go in advance.
Suggested Read: Time-Saving Apps For Wedding Photographers
Why You Need A Social Media Content Calendar
1. Generate Interesting Content Ideas
Creating a social media content calendar for photographers can be an excellent way to generate interesting content ideas. If you work in a team, you and your teammates can brainstorm topics that might be interesting to your followers, like holiday sessions or upcoming events. This will help you create a variety of content that’s informative, entertaining, and engaging.
2. Schedule Posts In Minutes
Creating social media posts can take up a lot of time. With a social media content calendar, you can create and schedule posts in minutes instead of hours. This means that you’ll have more time to focus on other aspects of your business. Plus, most social media content calendar tools also feature automated scheduling, so all you have to do is punch in the date and time!
Suggested Read: 6 Reasons Why Wedding Photographers Should Use Planoly For Instagram
3. Stay Organized And Consistent
A social media calendar can help you stay organized and consistent. By planning ahead, you can be sure that your posts are shared on time. You’ll also be able to look back at what worked for you in the past and use that information to create better campaigns in the future. This will help you maintain an amazing social media presence and create a steady stream of content that your followers will love.
4. Create Value-Added Content
By planning ahead, you can come up with quality content that provides your followers with something of value. For example, you can create helpful blog posts and tips or showcase interesting behind-the-scenes photos and videos of your work. This will help keep your social media presence engaging and interesting for followers and potential customers.
5. Keep An Eye On Key Performances
With a social media content calendar for photographers, you can track metrics such as website visits, engagement, and followers. This will help you see how successful your posts are and which ones perform better than others. Having this data allows you to make adjustments where needed. For example, if you notice that certain posts are more successful than others, you can create more of them or tweak the content to make them even better.
Social Media Content Calendar Ideas For Photographers
When creating your content calendar, try to include the platform you’ll be posting on, the topic of each post, the desired publish date and time, a link to any assets needed (photos, videos, etc.), and any additional notes. Here are some ideas for a social media content calendar that can get you started:
- Behind-the-scenes photos
- Wedding photography tips and tricks
- Inspirational quotes
- Feature client stories
- Showcase your portfolio
- Share sneak peeks
- Promote special offers
- Highlight wedding venues
- Share upcoming events
- Organize giveaways
Further Read: How To Build A Sales Funnel: A Guide For Wedding Photographers
Social media marketing is a crucial aspect of a wedding photography business plan. But if your TDL is filled with other priority items, planning your social media content might often end up on the back burner. And if you can relate to this, a social media content calendar could really come in handy. Creating a social media content calendar for photographers doesn’t have to be difficult or take up too much of your time. With the right goals and objectives, some creative topic ideas, scheduling platforms, and posting times and dates in place, you could easily create an effective social media plan. Our advice? Set it and forget it!
At ShootDotEdit, we are passionate about helping you grow as a professional wedding photographer and build your brand. One of the ways we do that is by providing professional photo editing services to reduce your post-production workload. To learn more about how we can help your business, check out our pricing plans.