A business account that gets looked after when there’s time tends to go quiet when the business gets busy. A content plan moves the question “what should we post today?” to one session a month, when everything is decided at once.

This guide covers the plan in three levels: the one-page strategy, the yearly plan and the monthly plan. Then come the production day, scheduling on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn, and a filled-in example plan for the first quarter of 2027. The example is a made-up salon, not a client. The template to copy is at the end.

As of 24 October 2026. The platforms change menus and limits often, so everything about scheduling comes from their own help pages and is dated. Menu names are from the English versions of the apps. If your phone is in Swedish, Stories are called händelser and the Planner is Planerare. Sources are at the end.

The whole plan fits into six steps, and the last four repeat every month.

Diagram of a social media content plan in six steps: the one-page strategy, the yearly plan with seasons and campaigns, the monthly plan with one row per post, one production day a month, approval and scheduling, and reviewing enquiries and bookings.
The strategy and the yearly plan lay the foundation. The monthly plan, the production day, scheduling and the review repeat every month.

The one-page strategy: goal, customers, channels and tone

A social media strategy doesn’t have to be a long document. It should answer six questions, and the answers should fit on one sheet that everyone who posts has read. Write it once and review it every quarter.

QuestionWhat you write downExample: the made-up salon
GoalWhat the account should do for the business, in something you can countMore bookings on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, when there are most free slots
CustomersWho you want to reach and what they wonder before bookingRegulars who want to book their next appointment, and new customers wondering what colouring costs and how long it takes
ChannelsOne main channel, at most one moreInstagram, with the same posts on Facebook
ToneThree words for how you sound, and what you don’t writeWarm, knowledgeable and straight. No promises of results
Rhythm and rolesHow often you post, who does what and who approvesTwo posts a week and Stories when something happens. The owner approves
MeasuresHow you can tell it’s workingBookings via the link in the profile and answers to “How did you find us?”

The goal should show up in the till. Followers and likes aren’t the goal. Pick something you can count in enquiries, bookings or visits. Why social media rarely sells directly but still affects which business customers choose is covered in Social media for local businesses.

Choose the channel by your customers. According to Svenskarna och internet 2026, the Swedish Internet Foundation’s annual survey published on 28 September 2026, 46 percent of internet users in Sweden aged 8 and over use Instagram every day and 45 percent use Facebook. LinkedIn is used daily by 5 percent, but 27 percent have used it in the past year. How to choose is covered in Which social media should your business choose?

Write down what you don’t do, for example that no customer appears in a photo without having said yes. Then someone other than you can write a post without asking first.

The yearly plan: seasons, campaigns and recurring features

The yearly plan is a rough sketch, not a schedule. It shows your seasons, the dates and campaigns that come back, and the features that recur all year. You decide the details one month at a time.

Your own seasons. Note when customers book most and when it’s quiet. Before a peak, posts are about booking in time. In quiet periods they can be about free slots or a service few people know about.

Fixed dates. Pick only the dates that suit your business. These are some that many local businesses in Sweden plan around, worked out for 2027. All Swedish public holidays with weekdays are listed in Opening hours, holidays and exceptions in your Google profile.

QuarterDates in 2027
January–MarchEpiphany (trettondedag jul) 6 January, Shrove Tuesday (fettisdagen) 9 February, Valentine’s Day 14 February, Easter 26–29 March (Good Friday to Easter Monday)
April–JuneWalpurgis Night (valborg) 30 April, Swedish Mother’s Day 30 May, upper secondary graduations (studenten, dates vary by school), Midsummer Eve 25 June
July–SeptemberThe summer holidays and the start of the school year, which vary by business and municipality
October–DecemberSwedish Father’s Day 14 November, Black Friday 26 November, Lucia 13 December and Christmas

Add campaigns a month ahead. That leaves time to shoot the material on the previous month’s production day. If you’re planning a sale, read about the Swedish rules on price reductions in the Black Friday checklist. For December there’s our Christmas strategy for local businesses.

Recurring features make planning easier. Choose two to four, for example “this week’s free slots” in Stories every Monday, “the question we get most” once a month or “before and after” every other week. Followers recognise them, and part of the monthly plan is filled before you start. More ideas are in Post ideas for local businesses.

Leave gaps. Don’t plan every slot. In our view, one or two of the month’s slots can stay open for whatever happens: news, a new team member or a question several customers asked the same week.

The monthly plan: from idea to approved post

The monthly plan is a list of the month’s posts, one row per post. Two posts a week makes about eight a month. In our view that’s a good level for a local business running its own account. The platforms say much the same in their own ways: Instagram writes that one of the most effective ways to grow is to post original content consistently, and Pinterest advises creating original content weekly. Guideline frequencies per platform, and how to find your times in your insights, are in Best time to post and how often.

Each row has seven fields: date and time, channel and format, post type and topic, call to action, material, status and result. The call to action is what the customer should do next, for example book via the link in the profile. You fill in the result once the post has been live for a week. The fields are the columns in the template at the end.

Before a post is approved, check five things:

  • The details match your website and Google profile: prices, opening hours and dates.
  • Everyone shown has said yes. Under Sweden’s Names and Images in Advertising Act, lag (1978:800) om namn och bild i reklam, a business may not use someone’s name or image in its marketing without their consent. Keep their answer, for example as a text message.
  • Anything that sells is labelled. According to the Swedish Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket), the starting point is that a business’s posts about its own products are covered by the requirement to identify advertising, and advertising posts should be clearly labelled with the word reklam (advertising). It must be clear at a glance.
  • The format suits the channel. Sizes and formats per platform are in Image formats for social media.
  • The call to action leads somewhere: to booking, the phone or the website.

One production day a month goes a long way

A plan stands or falls on the material. If every post waits for someone to find time to take a photo, it falls behind. If you shoot for the whole month in one session, the material is ready when it’s time to publish. Book the day in your calendar like a customer appointment. It doesn’t have to be a full day. A morning before opening can be enough.

Prepare the day with the shot list: one subject per row in the monthly plan plus a few spares, noting what should be shown and whether it’s a photo or a video. Ask the customers and team members who will appear in advance.

How to turn the clips into a reel is covered in Reels for business.

Not everything should be planned. A free slot tomorrow, a delivery or a snowfall works better as a Story the same day.

If someone else produces the material, the setup is the same. In our Plus and Premium packages we do a photo visit every quarter, the first at the start, and in Premium also video every month. How it works is on our social media page, and what the packages cost is on the pricing page.

Schedule your posts: Instagram and Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn

All four platforms have built-in scheduling. The limits differ and change. This is the situation on 24 October 2026, according to the platforms’ own help pages.

PlatformWhere you scheduleHow far aheadWhat can’t be scheduled
InstagramThe Instagram appUp to 30 days, at most 25 posts a dayStories aren’t mentioned. Product tagging, collaborative posts, sponsored posts and fundraisers
Instagram and FacebookMeta Business Suite, on desktop and in the appNo limit given in the help articles we readNo exceptions mentioned
TikTokThe upload page10 days or 30 days, depending on which TikTok page you readEditing a scheduled video
LinkedIn PagePage postsOne hour to three monthsEvents, multiple photos, reshares, polls, jobs and service posts
LinkedIn, personal profileWhen you write a post10 minutes to 3 monthsEvents and jobs

Instagram and Facebook

In the Instagram app you can schedule reels, photos and carousel posts if the account is public.

  1. Tap Create and choose Post or Reel.
  2. Select a photo or video, tap Next and add your caption.
  3. Tap More options, turn on Schedule this post or Schedule this reel and choose a date and time.
  4. Tap Done, Back and then Schedule.

You’ll find scheduled content under Menu on your profile, at Scheduled content. There you can delete, edit, reschedule or share right away. More about the account is in Instagram for business.

In Meta Business Suite you schedule for Facebook and Instagram at once. On desktop, go to Content and Create post, write the post, turn on the Scheduling options toggle, choose a date and time and click Schedule. The Active times button suggests times when your audience is most active. In the mobile app, tap Content, choose Posts, Reels or Stories, then Create and Schedule for later.

If your Facebook Page and Instagram account are connected, everything is published to both by default. More about the Page is in Facebook for business.

The Planner is your content calendar. The Planner tab in Meta Business Suite shows published and scheduled content for the Page and account in a weekly or monthly view, and you can schedule straight from a day in the calendar. The Moments feature, which shows key dates, is only available to businesses based in the US, according to Meta. So the Swedish dates live in your own yearly plan.

TikTok

Here TikTok’s own information differs. TikTok’s undated business blog gives 15 minutes to 10 days ahead, through the upload page in a web browser, and says desktop scheduling requires a Business Account. TikTok’s training page for TikTok Shop sellers in the US, dated 13 May 2026, gives 30 minutes to 30 days for shoppable videos. We haven’t found the limit in TikTok’s Help Center, so go by what your own upload screen shows.

Both sources say a scheduled video can’t be edited. More about the account is in TikTok for business.

LinkedIn

On a LinkedIn Page, click Page posts in the left menu and then Start a post. Click the schedule icon in the lower right, choose a date and time in the Schedule post dialog, click Next, finish the post and click Schedule. Only the Page’s super admins and content admins can schedule, and they can also edit and delete posts other admins have scheduled.

Your personal profile has a clock icon in the same place, and through it you can see all your scheduled posts. How the Page and personal profiles work together is covered in LinkedIn for business.

Pinterest lets you schedule Pins up to two weeks ahead. More about the platform is in YouTube and Pinterest for business.

Common problems with scheduled posts

These are the problems the platforms’ own help pages bring up, and what to do about them.

  • “Schedule” is missing on Instagram. The account must be public, and product tagging, collaborative posts, sponsored posts and fundraisers can’t be combined with scheduling at the moment.
  • You can’t schedule a Story in the Instagram app. The Help Center only mentions reels, photos and carousels. Use Meta Business Suite.
  • You can’t see the Planner in Meta Business Suite. According to Meta, you may not have the right permissions. You need content permissions for the Page or account, and in the mobile app at least partial access.
  • The post went out on both Facebook and Instagram. That’s the default when the accounts are connected. Untick one under Post to or Share to and schedule it separately.
  • A scheduled TikTok video needs changing. That isn’t possible. Delete it and upload it again. According to the seller page, it then goes back to your drafts.
  • A LinkedIn post with several images can’t be scheduled. This applies to Pages. Pick one image, or publish the post when it’s due.
  • The post went out at the wrong time. LinkedIn converts the time based on your device’s time zone, and TikTok’s blog says the time zone follows your computer’s setting. Check it if you schedule while travelling.

Filled-in example plan for a salon

This is what the plan could look like for the first quarter of 2027. The salon is made up: an owner, two employees and customers who book via the link in the profile. The strategy is the one in the table at the top. Nothing in the example comes from a real client.

The quarter at a glance

MonthThemeDates to plan forRecurring
JanuaryHair care in the cold and slots after the holidaysEpiphany, 6 JanuaryThis week’s free slots in Stories every Monday
FebruaryGift cards and Valentine’s DayShrove Tuesday 9 February, Valentine’s Day 14 FebruaryThe question we get most, once a month
MarchSpring colours and Easter opening hoursEaster, 26–29 MarchBefore and after, every other week

January in detail. Posts go out on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The planning and the production day are in December.

DateFormatPost type and topicCall to action
Tue 5 JanCarouselThe team: who cuts your hair in 2027, with names and what each person does bestBook with the stylist you want
Thu 7 JanPhotoTip: three ways to protect hair from dry winter airAsk about a hair treatment when you book
Tue 12 JanReelThe process: a colouring from start to finishBook a colour consultation via the link
Thu 14 JanPhotoCustomers: a review, with the customer’s permissionRead more reviews on Google
Tue 19 JanCarouselBefore and after, with the customer’s permissionBook via the link in the profile
Thu 21 JanPhotoBehind the scenes: the training day on a new colouring techniqueBook and ask for the technique
Tue 26 JanReelThe question we get most: how often should you trim the ends?Book via the link in the profile
Thu 28 JanOpen slotWhatever happens: news, free slots or a question from that weekDepends on the post

February and March in brief. In February, two of the slots go to gift cards ahead of Valentine’s Day, labelled with the word reklam because they sell something. In March, Easter opening hours get their own post the week before, and the same hours go into the Google profile. The other slots follow the same mix as January. More salon ideas are in TikTok ideas for salons and Visibility for hairdressers.

Measure what matters: enquiries and bookings

Review once a month, when you plan the next one anyway. Look at what leads to customers:

  • Profile visits, link clicks and messages per post, in the platform’s insights. Enter them in the Result column.
  • Bookings and enquiries that came via the link in the profile. Add UTM parameters to the link, so visits from each platform show up in your web analytics.
  • Answers to “How did you find us?”, in the booking form, the contact form or at the till.
  • The pattern over the quarter, not single posts. Keep the post types that bring enquiries and replace the ones that don’t.

If you’re considering handing the work over, we compare the options and prices in What does social media help cost?

The template to copy

Copy the table into a spreadsheet, or print it. One row per post, and one tab per month.

Date and timeChannel and formatPost type and topicCall to actionMaterialStatusResult
Have it / shoot on production dayIdea / caption done / approved / scheduledProfile visits, clicks, messages, bookings

At the top of each tab, note the month’s theme, the fixed dates and the production day. The one-page strategy gets a tab of its own.

Frequently asked questions

What should a social media strategy include?

Six answers that fit on one page: what the account should do for the business, which customers you want to reach and what they wonder about, which main channel you choose, how you sound, how often you post and who approves, and what you measure. The goal should be countable in enquiries or bookings, not likes.

How do you make a social media content plan?

Start with the one-page strategy and a rough yearly plan with seasons, fixed dates and recurring features. Then plan one month at a time: fill the month’s slots, for example eight posts if you post twice a week, shoot the material during a production day, write the captions, approve and schedule. Review the results when you plan the next month.

How do you schedule posts on Instagram and Facebook?

In the Instagram app, tap More options before you share and turn on Schedule this post. You need a public account, and you can schedule up to 25 posts a day, up to 30 days in advance. If the same post should go to Facebook, use Meta Business Suite: Content, Create post and the Scheduling options toggle. Everything then shows up in the Planner tab. As of 24 October 2026.

Why can’t I schedule posts on Instagram?

Check three things. The account must be public. Product tagging, collaborative posts, sponsored posts and fundraisers can’t be combined with scheduling at the moment, according to Instagram. And Stories aren’t among the content types Instagram’s Help Center says you can schedule in the Instagram app. Schedule those in Meta Business Suite instead.

Can you schedule posts on TikTok?

Yes, but TikTok’s own information on how far ahead differs. TikTok’s business blog gives 15 minutes to 10 days, through the upload page in a web browser. TikTok’s training page for TikTok Shop sellers in the US, dated 13 May 2026, gives 30 minutes to 30 days. Both say a scheduled video can’t be edited. You have to delete it and upload it again.

How far ahead can you schedule on LinkedIn?

On a LinkedIn Page, from one hour to three months ahead, and only the Page’s super admins and content admins can do it. Events, multiple photos, reshares, polls, jobs and service posts can’t be scheduled for a Page. On your personal profile, the window is 10 minutes to 3 months. As of 24 October 2026.

Sources

All web pages read on 24 October 2026 unless another date is given. The details on menus and scheduling reflect the situation in October 2026 and may change.