Why does a content plan need a separate monthly grid?
The annual calendar answers the question “when is Black Friday”, weekly list - to the question “what will we post tomorrow.” The month is the only horizon on which shows the structure: how much examination there was, how many cases, not whether the channel has turned into a showcase.
Therefore, in this file the content category planner is not a separate reference book, but next to it with the calendar and calculates the fact according to it. You set the target share of the rubric, fill out the grid - and immediately see that “Cases” cost once a month at target twenty percent.
What's inside
| Leaf | What does |
|---|
| Calendar | 31 lines. Dates and days of the week are considered a formula from one cell, weekends are highlighted. Columns: heading, format, topic, platform, status, responsible. The first week is filled with example. |
| Categories | Six rubrics with a target share and an explanation of why the rubric is needed. Fact is calculated through COUNTIF according to the calendar, the sum of shares is calculated using a formula. |
| Fact | The date, category and topic are pulled from the calendar. Add coverage, reactions, comments and transitions - ER counts itself. |
| How to use | The operating procedure and three errors due to which the plan is no longer opened. |
Three mistakes that prevent your plan from working
The plan was drawn up in the evening and closed until the end of the month. Content plan not a document, but a working tool: open once a week, move topics, mark statuses. A plan that hasn't changed all month will almost certainly not was carried out.
More than a fifth of posts are selling. This is the most common misalignment and the most expensive: the coverage of all channel posts decreases, and not just those that sell. The content category planner catches him immediately.
The fact sheet is blank. Then the next month is built on sensations, and so on in a circle. Five minutes after publication closes this hole.
lies nearby
Take for a specific site SMM content plan, form for the VKontakte community or grid for Instagram. Annual reference points - in 365 day calendar. If you need to break down categories into shares under a niche, this is content category planner.
Frequently asked questions
- How is this different from your SMM content plan?
- That file is about the platform: it has separate sheets for the formats of a specific social network and channel metrics. This one is about the horizon: one tab for one month, any platform, and inside there is a rigid link “plan → fact”. If you run several sites with one plan, take this one.
- Why six categories and not ten?
- Because ten categories in a monthly schedule mean that each appears three times and not one has time to gain an audience. Six is exactly as much as a person can hold in his head without looking at the file. If there are more categories, this is usually a sign that some of them are formats, not categories.
- What to do if the share of the “Product” heading is more than 20%?
- Cut. As soon as there are more than a fifth of direct selling posts of the month, the channel begins to read like an advertising newsletter, and the reach of all posts, including expert ones, drops. It is better to embed the selling point into cases and analyzes - they are not formally about the product, but work for it.
- Why do you need a “Fact” sheet if the statistics are available on the social network itself?
- Because on the social network it is divided into posts, and decisions are made according to categories. Until the coverage is reduced to a category, you will not answer the question “what type of content works for us” - and this is the question that determines the next month.
- Will the formulas break if you add lines?
- The calendar is designed for 31 lines - this is enough for any month. If you insert rows in the middle, Excel will move the links itself. The Fact sheet references the calendar by row number, so it is better to add rows to the end rather than to the middle.