How to Create A Simple Instagram Content Calendar That Fits Your Needs [+ Template]

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One of the biggest issues I face in running my Instagram account is consistency.

And this applies to many business owners too.

One day you want to create multiple posts, but on another day, you can’t even find time to visit Instagram.

We all need help to publish Instagram content consistently.

And that help is an Instagram content calendar.

In a few minutes, I’ll show you how to create a content calendar for Instagram to organize your publishing efforts.

How to create a content calendar for Instagram

1. Set Instagram content goals

If you run a business, Instagram is not just a hobby, but an avenue to get your products in front of potential buyers.

This means every Instagram post should have a goal that ultimately furthers your business targets.

These goals include:

• Brand awareness: The best chance to sell to someone is to be in their mind before they need your product. Some of your Instagram posts work to keep your brand in people’s minds. You can measure this goal using metrics such as reach, follower count, hashtag usage, and brand mentions.
• Product awareness: People can know your brand with little knowledge of what you sell. Some posts should explain your products and their benefits to users. You can track this goal with post reach, product hashtags, and product mentions.
• Engagement: These posts are created to attract more likes, comments, and shares. High engagement gets people involved in your brand and increases the chance of a wider reach.
• Increase in followers: This goal involves getting more followers to reach a bigger audience.
• Lead generation: Your post reach is often at the mercy of the Instagram algorithm, but collecting leads means you can reach people outside the platform. The metric to measure here is the number of leads generated.
• Sales: Some posts are to get you more product sales. You can measure this goal through the number of products sold or customers acquired.

When setting a specific goal, you must define metrics that show you’ve hit your target.

These metrics will set the direction of your monthly content. Then, they’ll determine what information goes into each slot on your content calendar.

So, once you set goals, the next thing is to determine how many monthly posts can achieve the goals.

2. Specify content publishing frequency

Publishing frequency is the number of times you publish posts on Instagram daily, weekly, or monthly. And this also includes the frequency for each post type. 

For example, a monthly publishing frequency for a brand can be:

• Instagram Feed Posts  ×10
• Instagram Reels ×5
• Instagram Stories ×40
• Instagram Live ×1

Once you settle on the number of posts you want to publish monthly, it’s easier to determine the number of times you’ll use post ideas like UGC, tutorials, use cases, and more.

That said, you don’t arrive at a frequency arbitrarily.

Before you arrive at a post frequency for your brand, you have to consider your Instagram goals, audience needs, and the number of posts that can help achieve your goals.

After deciding the number of posts you want to publish monthly, you can move to the next step.

3. Determine the best days and times to post

Posting on Instagram is no guarantee that your followers will see your posts.

In most cases, the number of people who see your post depends on its initial engagement.

And the people likely to engage with your post are those who already follow you.

This is why you should publish your posts at the best time, which is when your audience is on Instagram.

Once you do this, initial engagement from your followers will encourage Instagram to push the post to non-followers.

Some studies have arrived at a general best time to post, but this may not work for your business.

First, you have to consider the likely time your ideal audience will be online.

But with time, Instagram will have enough data to show you your audience’s most active times.

To see it, visit your Instagram profile and click on “Professional dashboard” below your bio. Doing this will take you to the dashboard, where you can find insights and other tools.

Next, click on “Total followers” and scroll down to the bottom of the page. You’ll see the “Most active times” section. Instagram lets you see both days and hours.

From this section, you can see when your followers are most active on Instagram.

If you use a social media management tool for publishing, this can also help with the best time to post. Most tools suggest the best time to publish your post.

And as you publish more with the tool, it gets better at predicting the best time based on your post performance data. 

Overall, as you publish more posts, you’ll have more accurate data to predict the best time to post.

Once you know the best time to publish your post, you can now decide on the types of posts to publish during a month. 

4. List out important post ideas

Post ideas are the concepts you use in your Instagram posts. Instagram post ideas include:

• User-generated content
• Influencer collaboration
• Tutorials
• Discounts
• Giveaways and contests 
• Instagram polls 
• Instagram quizzes 

Keep in mind that some of the ideas work better for some Instagram post types than others. For instance, an Instagram quiz is more suited to an Instagram Story than a feed post.

Listing out the post ideas for a month will guide the content that goes into each publishing slot on your calendar. This way, you can put variety in your Instagram posts so that you don’t put your audience to sleep.

How do you know the best post ideas for your content?

It depends on your Instagram goals for each month. Here are some post ideas that may work depending on your goals:

• Product awareness: You can create tutorials, feature user-generated content, and show product use cases.
• Engagement: You can run Instagram giveaways and contests, feature product use cases, and repost influencers’ posts.
• Sales: You can run discounts, create unboxing videos, and expand on product specifications.

To uncover more content ideas to use, read my Instagram post ideas guide.

Once you list out the post ideas you want to use, you can flesh out specifics for individual posts in the Instagram content calendar.

5. Flesh out content ideas for a month

After preparing an overview of your content for a month, you now have to dive into individual posts. 

This involves providing details of what goes into each post like post idea, caption, hashtags, goal, media type, and content creator. 

While you don’t have to get every post publish-ready, you should have a skeleton that only needs finishing touches during the month.

Of course, there should be a space for spontaneous posts when the need arises.

Fleshing out content ideas will deliver more information about each post in the content calendar. But since the amount of information here may be too much for your calendar box, you should have another page to house extra information in your content calendar.

On this page, you can enter the information about posts. This way, if you work with team members, they’ll know what to do to get each post ready for publishing.

6. Use an Instagram content calendar template

Once you have all the information about your content, you can now create your content calendar from scratch…

Or use a content calendar template.

With a template, you only need to enter your information into the cells. And if you need to add more columns or rows, it will be as simple as drinking water.

So, where do you find these templates?

Instagram content calendar templates already exist online for tools like Google Sheets, Notion, Trello, and more. So, find and use one that fits your workflow.

But since you’re here, I’ll share an Instagram content calendar template that you can start using in minutes. The Google Sheets template has two sheets.

The first sheet contains the calendar. Here, you can enter a few details, such as:

• Post idea
• Post type
• Description

This will contain a summary of your posts.

However, on the second sheet, you have a table that can house more details about each Instagram post you want to publish. These include:

• Title
• Goal
• Caption
• Hashtags
• Creator
• Post status

You can access the Instagram content calendar template here.

Note: You have to make a copy of the template, as you can’t edit it directly. Click on File and then Make a copy.

This template is just a starting point, and you can edit it to fit your needs.

However, if you need a more sophisticated option, you may have to go for a social media management tool.

Instagram content calendar tools to plan content

Most social media management tools today have calendars for an overview of your content. 

But while a traditional Instagram content calendar only provides a content overview, a social media management tool also lets you schedule an Instagram post to publish at a specific time.

So, it saves you the time of uploading posts manually to Instagram.

Here are 4 social media management tools that offer robust content calendars:

Meta Business Suite

Meta Business Suite has a planner section that shows you a weekly or monthly calendar.

Here, you can create drafts or schedule posts. You can even set goals to increase reach or grow followers in 28 days.

While scheduling posts, Meta can suggest the best times to post based on your audience’s active times.

If you only publish content on Facebook and Instagram, this can be a good calendar option.

Vista Social

Vista Social has a content calendar that shows both weekly and monthly views. But beyond that, you can see small or large post previews and an enlarged view when you hover over a post.

You can also get post ideas from holidays across religions and countries. Then, filters or labels let you sort social media posts.

You can read my full Vista Social review to learn more about the tool.

ContentStudio 

ContentStudio’s planner lets you manage your social media posts. You can see the number of posts in each status and add labels to posts to categorize them.

Another view you get is the Instagram grid. So, you can see how your grid will look once your Instagram posts go live.

Read my ContentStudio review for more details about how the tool works.

Pallyy

Pallyy has a robust content calendar that allows the monthly, weekly, or list views. You also see media files, which you can drag to a date to schedule a post for that day.

Finding posts is also easy, as you can filter by post types, labels, or social media channels. If you need post ideas, Pallyy lets you import holidays of various countries.

For more information about this tool, read my full Pallyy review.

You can check out my full list of the best Instagram schedulers to explore other options.

Why use a content calendar for Instagram?

An Instagram content calendar provides many benefits for your publishing efforts, including:

• Consistent publishing: Once you have a calendar, you can plan your content for a week or two rather than publish when you feel motivated.
• A healthy balance of post ideas: If you create your posts at the last minute, it’s easy to use the same post ideas repeatedly. However, a content calendar gives you time to work on multiple post ideas, such as UGC, testimonials, tutorials, giveaways, and more.
• Effective collaboration: If you work with a team, a content calendar can keep every team member on the same page.
• More content ideas: You can jot content ideas on your content calendar. And these ideas can lead to even more Instagram posts.

If you want any of these benefits, creating an Instagram content calendar is the way to go.

Conclusion

A content calendar for Instagram will set your eyes on your Instagram marketing goals and the content that will help hit the targets.

This is why creating an Instagram content calendar is critical to your overall Instagram strategy.

So, whether you want to create an Instagram calendar from scratch, use the template, or use a social media management tool, take a step to have one today.

And if you have a friend who needs this calendar template, please share this post with them.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) about creating an Instagram content calendar

How often should I post on Instagram to stay consistent and grow my audience?

For a business, I’d say 3 to 5 times a week should work. But this is not set in stone. For example, an entertainment business may post multiple times a day because of the nature of the business. So, you also have to consider the demand for posts in your industry.

What types of content should I include in my Instagram content calendar?

Some types of content to post include business news, user-generated content, influencer collaborations, tutorials, product reveals, discounts, giveaways and contests, polls, etc. That said, make sure a content type will help you achieve your goal before you use it.

How do I come up with enough Instagram content ideas to fill my calendar?

The first way is old-school brainstorming. Think about how you want to present your business to people and note down the ideas. Another way is to analyze the conversations customers have with your support staff. Then, you can tell an AI tool about your business and ask for ideas. It’s good to always have a note (physical or digital) with you because ideas can come when you least expect it.

How far in advance should I plan my Instagram content?

My personal advice is one to two weeks. You don’t want to plan too far ahead, as things change quickly these days. Even if you plan weeks ahead, the best practice is to check your calendar every week to make sure everything is in order.

How do I choose the best days and times to publish Instagram posts?

You can do a bit of experimentation and look into your Instagram analytics to get an idea. But you need to watch your post performance at different times and adjust your times accordingly.

What tools can I use to create and manage my Instagram content calendar?

You can use Meta Business Suite, Vista Social, or Pallyy to create and manage your content calendar. Beyond creating a calendar, these tools offer other Instagram management features. Meta Business Suite is free, but the other two are paid tools. 

How do I track my Instagram content’s performance and use the results to improve my calendar?

Instagram provides analytics for individual posts and at the account level. Instagram management tools like Vista Social also provide detailed analytics to track performance. You can use post performance to find information, such as the best time to post, popular content types, etc.

How do I choose content themes or pillars to keep my Instagram posts organized and relevant to my audience?

You can choose content themes based on your knowledge of your business and products. You can create themes based on products and different aspects of your business.

How can I collaborate with a team or clients to plan, review, and approve Instagram content?

To collaborate with other people, you need a social media management tool. Through the tool, you can invite users and grant them permissions based on the actions you want them to take.

How often should I review and update my Instagram content calendar to keep it effective?

It’s good to review your calendar every quarter. This is enough time to do a reliable analysis of your schedule.