A content calendar for trades and construction firms

Key takeaways

A content calendar for tradespeople and construction firms runs on real jobs: three weekly slots for a finished job, a useful tip and the team, filled from photos taken on site. Around them, plan seasonal booking posts four to eight weeks before demand, keep weather posts ready, and book two short reply checks a day between jobs, because enquiries arrive as messages.

• 3 weekly slots: finished job, tip, team.
• Before photos from the same angle make the best proof posts.
• Plan seasonal work 4 to 8 weeks before demand.
• Never show house numbers or car registrations.

What should a trades calendar contain?

Three repeating slots: proof (a finished job, ideally with a before photo), help (a tip that answers a common question, such as how to spot a failing boiler) and people (the team, the vans, the apprentices). Add an offer post a fortnight at most. Every post ends with one next step, usually 'message us for a quote'.

• How to build a monthly social media content calendar
• Social media for trades and construction businesses

How do you get the material from site?

Give the team a shot list: a before photo from a fixed spot, a wide after photo from the same spot, and one close-up of the detail that shows quality. A shared chat group where photos land saves chasing. Ask customers' permission and keep house numbers, registrations and personal items out of shot.

• A monthly shot list for social media photos and video
• Turn one job into a week of social posts

Which seasons and dates matter?

Plan around when customers book, not when the work happens: boiler servicing and heating in September and October, roofing and gutters before winter and after storms, gardens and landscaping from late winter, and kitchens and bathrooms before Christmas visitors. Keep frozen pipe and storm check posts ready to publish when the forecast turns.

• How early should seasonal content go out?
• Weather-led content: plan for the British weather

How do you handle replies on site?

Book two short checks a day, such as before the first job and at lunch, with saved replies for prices and availability. Set an away message that says when you will reply. In trades, the first firm to reply often wins the job, so this slot matters more than any post.

• How tradespeople turn social media followers into jobs

When should a trades firm plan less?

Plan fewer posts in your busiest season, when nobody has time, and use that time to collect photos for the quiet months. If the diary is full for months, switch the calendar to proof and recruitment rather than offers.

• Social media mistakes tradespeople make

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern in trades: excellent work, no before photos, and a page that posts only when the owner remembers. A shot list, three fixed slots and two reply checks a day usually turn the same jobs into a steady flow of proof posts and messages.

• See client work
• Social Media Marketing for UK businesses

Trades calendar checklist

• Fix three weekly slots: job, tip, team.
• Give the team a before-and-after shot list.
• Plan seasonal work four to eight weeks ahead.
• Keep weather posts ready.
• Check messages twice a day.

• Content calendar checklist: 20 checks before the month starts
• A restaurant social media calendar that fills tables

Next step

Send your team the three-shot list for every job this week: before, after from the same spot, and one close-up.