What to gather before you plan a month of posts

Key takeaways

The social media planning inputs to gather before each session are six: last month's numbers, next month's business dates, the offer if there is one, the idea backlog, the customer question log, and new photos or jobs from the team. Gathering them takes about 15 minutes the day before and saves most of the session.

• 6 inputs, about 15 minutes to gather the day before.
• Numbers and dates decide the month; ideas fill it.
• Missing dates are the most common cause of rewrites.
• Keep the inputs in the same place every month.

Which inputs do you need?

You need six inputs, in two groups. The deciding inputs: last month's completion rate and enquiries, next month's business dates (offers, events, busy weeks, staff holidays) and the goal. The filling inputs: the idea backlog, the customer question log, and new photos, jobs or stories from the team.

• How to build a monthly social media content calendar
• Keep a content idea backlog that never empties

Why do business dates matter most?

Business dates matter most because a missing one forces rewrites after the month is planned. A trade show added late, a launch that moved, or a week when the only person who replies is away all change which posts make sense. Ask whoever runs the diary for next month's dates before the session, not during it.

• UK key dates to mark on a social media calendar

Where should the inputs live?

Keep them in the same place every month: a 'planning' tab beside the calendar, or one folder with the question log, the backlog and the photo drop. When they live in one place, gathering them is a quick check rather than a hunt through emails and phones.

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What if an input is missing?

Plan anyway and mark the gap. If the offer is not decided, hold its slots and fill them with evergreen posts you can swap out. If there are no new photos, use the backlog. A missing input should cost you one slot, not the whole session.

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When can you skip the gathering?

You can skip most of it if you plan alone and run a very simple calendar, because the inputs are in your head. Even then, write the dates down. Memory works for ideas and fails for dates, especially in busy months.

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: a planning session that spends its first 40 minutes asking 'is anything happening next month?' and searching phones for photos. A 15-minute gathering the day before usually brings the session back to time and the plan back to reality.

• See client work
• Social Media Marketing for UK businesses

Planning inputs checklist

• Last month's completion rate and enquiries.
• Next month's business dates and the goal.
• The offer, if there is one.
• The idea backlog.
• The customer question log.
• New photos, jobs and stories from the team.

• A customer question log that feeds the calendar
• Plan the month around the hours you really have

Next step

Put a 15-minute reminder in your diary the day before your next planning session, titled 'gather the six inputs'.