Plan next month from last month's results

Key takeaways

To plan social media from last month's results, spend 15 minutes on three numbers and three lists before you plan anything new: posts published against planned, enquiries from social media and reach, then the three best posts, the three weakest and anything unfinished. The best posts become next month's repeats. The weakest formats lose their slot.

• 15 minutes is enough: three numbers and three lists.
• Repeat the format of your best posts, not the exact post.
• Drop or change any slot that underperformed two months running.
• Judge posts on enquiries and saves before likes.

Which numbers should you look at from last month?

Look at three numbers: your completion rate (posts published divided by posts planned), the enquiries or sales that came from social media, and reach on your main platform. The first tells you whether the plan fitted your capacity, the second whether it did its job, and the third whether people are seeing it.

• How to build a monthly social media content calendar
• Content calendar completion rate: planned vs published

How do you pick the posts to repeat?

Pick the three posts that produced the most useful response: messages, enquiries, saves, shares or comments from the right people. Likes alone are a weak signal. Then repeat the format and angle, not the post itself. If a before-and-after carousel of a kitchen brought two enquiries, plan another before-and-after carousel, of a different job.

• Before and after posts: proof that attracts buyers

What should you drop or change?

Drop or change a slot when it has underperformed for two months running, not after one bad week. One weak month can be timing or a weak idea; two months usually means the format or pillar does not suit your audience. Unfinished posts are a different problem: if the same slot keeps going unmade, it is too hard to produce, so simplify it.

• Recurring content slots: the backbone of the month

How is this different from a monthly review?

A monthly social media review looks at the whole account and whether it is working. This step is narrower: it uses that review to decide what goes into next month's calendar. If you already run a monthly review, this step takes five minutes, because you are only pulling out the repeat, drop and carry-forward lists.

• A monthly social media review you can do in 30 minutes

When should you ignore last month's results?

Ignore them when last month was unusual, such as a holiday month, a one-off viral post or a fortnight when the account went quiet. Compare with the month before instead. Also be careful with small numbers: two enquiries against one is not a trend. Small accounts should look across three months before cutting a slot.

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: a team plans each month from scratch, so the format that brought last month's enquiries is forgotten and a new idea takes its place. Adding a five-minute repeat list at the start of the session usually lifts results steadily, because what works gets more slots.

• See client work
• Social Media Marketing for UK businesses

Last month's results checklist

• Record completion rate, enquiries and reach.
• List the three best posts and why.
• List the three weakest posts.
• Change any slot that failed two months running.
• Simplify any slot that keeps going unmade.
• Carry forward or drop unfinished posts.

• A monthly content calendar example, filled in
• Tie your content calendar to business goals

Next step

Open last month's posts now, sort by messages and saves, and write down the top three. That list is the first thing on next month's calendar.