A content calendar is a table of what you'll post each week: which day, on which platform, with which idea, format and hook. It stops you improvising every morning and lets you compare afterwards what worked. Here's a template you can download, and how to fill it in.
Download the template
Download the content calendar template (CSV). It's a CSV file: it opens in any spreadsheet. In Google Sheets, use File › Import; in Excel or Numbers, just open it.
It comes with four weeks of three days each and two example rows you can delete. These are the columns:
- Week and day: when it goes out.
- Platform: TikTok or Instagram. If you post the same video on both, use two rows: each platform is measured separately.
- Idea: what the video is about, in one line.
- Format: talking head, POV, before and after, tutorial…
- Hook type and first line: how the video opens.
- Audience or product: whether the video is there to bring people in or talks about what you sell.
- Status: idea, script, filmed or posted.
- Views at 24 hours and your normal video at 24 hours: to compare.
- Notes.
How do you fill in a content calendar, step by step?
- Decide the pace. Look at how much time you really have to film. Three videos a week for two months beat one a day for a week. If in doubt, start with fewer.
- Write two weeks of ideas in one go. Pull topics from the questions your customers or audience ask, from comments and from your day to day.
- Give each idea a format. Browse the formats library to pick the one that suits each idea: a tip works talking to camera; a visible change, as a before and after.
- Write the first line. Pick one of the seven types of hook and write it in the column. If you don't know how the video opens, it isn't ready to film.
- Mark which videos talk about your product. If you sell something, one in four or five is a sensible ratio, and never two in a row. The content mix planner spreads them over four weeks for you.
- Batch your filming. Film several videos on the same day, in the same light and the same clothes if you like: it saves a lot of time.
- Fill in the numbers at 24 hours. When each video is a day old, note its views and compare them with your normal video.
What is "your normal video" and why is it in the template?
It's the median of your recent videos' views at the same age, for example at 24 hours. The median is the middle value when you sort them: it doesn't shoot up because of one lucky video, the way the average does.
The column is there because the calendar isn't only for planning, it's for learning. After four weeks you'll have twelve videos with their format, their hook and their views against your normal. Sort the table by format or by hook type and you'll start to see patterns. With few videos, treat them as leads, not conclusions.
Example
Your normal video has 600 views at 24 hours. In the notes column you write "above" or "below" on each row. At the end of the month, four of your five before-and-after videos are above it and your talking head videos all sit close to 600. With these made-up numbers, before and after deserves more slots in next month's calendar.
How often should you review the calendar?
Once a week is enough. Spend ten minutes on:
- Moving anything you didn't film to next week, guilt-free.
- Filling in the 24-hour views for what you posted.
- Marking the videos that ended up above your normal.
- Writing the first line for next week's videos.
If you don't manage it one week, that's fine: the calendar is a guide, not an exam. What matters is a pace you can sustain.
Frequently asked questions
Is it better to plan by week or by month?
By week, with ideas for two. A whole month planned out tends to fall apart in week two, and a week is short enough to adjust.
Do I have to post the same thing on TikTok and Instagram?
You don't need to, and if you do, measure it separately. The same video can work on one platform and not the other, because the audience isn't the same.
What do I do when I run out of ideas?
Go back to the comments and to the questions you keep hearing. A customer's question is almost always a video, as the guide to TikTok for restaurants shows.
Your next step: download the template, decide your pace and write ideas for the next two weeks.