Content calendar completion rate: planned vs published

Key takeaways

Content calendar completion rate is the number of posts published divided by the number planned for the month. It is the simplest test of whether a calendar fits your capacity. Above 90% means the plan fits. Between 75% and 90% means it is tight. Below 75% means it is too big, and next month should have fewer slots, not more effort.

• Completion rate = posts published ÷ posts planned.
• 90% or more: the plan fits your capacity.
• 75% to 90%: tight; simplify a slot.
• Below 75%: plan fewer posts next month.

What is a content calendar completion rate?

A content calendar completion rate is the share of planned posts that were actually published in a month. If you planned 12 and published 9, the rate is 75%. It measures the plan, not the content: a calendar that is always half-finished is too big or poorly owned, however good the ideas.

• How to build a monthly social media content calendar

Why measure it?

Because consistency underpins every other result, and this is the number that shows it. Reach and enquiries are hard to judge when posting is erratic. Once completion is steady above 90%, other measures start to mean something, and changes to content can be judged fairly.

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What do the bands mean?

As GBL working rules of thumb: 90% or more means the plan fits, so keep it or add one slot. 75% to 90% means it is tight, so simplify the slot that is usually missed. Below 75% means the plan is too big for the hours available, so remove slots next month. Three months below 75% means change ownership or get help.

• Plan the month around the hours you really have

Which posts count?

Count planned feed posts that went out within a day of their date, including swaps for reserve posts in the same slot. Do not count unplanned extras, which hide the gap, or Stories, unless you planned them as slots. Record the rate at the end of each month next to the plan.

• Content calendar statuses: from idea to published

When is completion the wrong thing to chase?

When reaching 100% means publishing weak posts. Leaving a slot empty or using a reserve post is better than filler. And completion says nothing about whether posts bring enquiries; it is a capacity measure, alongside your goal measure, not instead of it.

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What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: a team that feels it is failing at social media, without knowing it publishes about half of what it plans. Recording the rate for a month usually makes the fix obvious: a smaller plan that gets done.

• See client work
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Completion rate checklist

• Count planned and published posts each month.
• Divide published by planned.
• Keep or add a slot at 90% or more.
• Simplify a slot between 75% and 90%.
• Cut slots below 75%.

• Behind on your content calendar? How to catch up
• Keep a social media post archive that pays you back

Next step

Count last month's planned and published posts now. Write the rate at the top of next month's calendar and size the plan to it.