how to make a weekly content plan

a weekly content plan is a list of posts where each one has its own shoot day and its own publish day. it takes an evening to put together. after that, you update it once a week.

start with how many posts you finish in a normal week, then group the shoots so one session covers two or three videos. set the publish days last, and leave time for editing between each shoot and its post.

say you run a plant care account and post two reels a week. you can film both on Saturday morning by the window and post them on Monday and Friday. the account is made up. the rest of this guide uses it as the example for every step.

the short version

• plan from the number of posts you published over the last four weeks.
• give every post two dates, one for filming and one for going live.
• keep about twice as many ideas in reserve as the week has posts.
• leave one day empty for a trend or for something that slips.

what a weekly content plan is

a content plan answers what goes out, where and when. if you run an account without a team, there's one more question to answer: on which day do you film and edit each post?

skip that question and the plan turns into a list of deadlines. the post is due on Wednesday. so it gets filmed on Wednesday evening, after everything else. one late meeting and it doesn't go out at all.

why plan a week before you plan a month

a month works well for the big picture: content pillars, holidays and brand deals. planned day by day, though, a month rarely survives into its second week.

a week fits on one screen. if you misjudge how long a reel takes to edit, you find out after seven days with most of the month still ahead. plan the week day by day and keep a simple list of topics and dates for the month.

content plan vs content calendar vs content strategy

a content strategy says who the account is for and what it's about. a content plan lists the specific posts for a period, and a content calendar puts those same posts on dates.

in a weekly plan the list and the dates usually sit in one table. you can start without a strategy, too. after a month the plan shows which pillars went out every week and which kept slipping, and that list is a decent first draft of a strategy.

what goes into a weekly content plan

seven columns are enough to start: topic, content pillar, platform and format, shoot day, publish day, status and notes. you can add more later, once you notice that something keeps going missing.

topic and content pillar

a content pillar is a type of post that repeats, like "myth of the week" or "answering your comments". the topic changes each time. this Monday's myth is about misting, and next Monday's is about repotting in winter.

once a pillar is in place, the format is already decided and only the topic is left to pick. your followers learn what to expect too, for example a short recap every Wednesday.

platform and format

the format decides how much work a post takes. a carousel means writing and a few slides, while a reel needs filming, editing, a sound and a cover. a long YouTube video can take a whole day. write the format down as soon as a post goes into the plan.

shoot day and publish day are different dates

this column gives every post its second date. if a reel goes out on Friday, film it on Wednesday or earlier, so there's time to edit and room for something to go wrong.

you can also film several videos in one session, and the guide to batch content creation walks through how to do it.

status

status shows where your posts get stuck, and four values are usually enough: idea, shoot, edit and live.

three posts still sitting at "shoot" on Thursday mean the week is short on filming time. more ideas won't fix that. if edits are the ones piling up, book one evening a week just for editing.

hook, caption and a reference link

the hook is the first line or first frame of a video. the reference is a link to someone else's video you want to learn from. hooks, caption lines and references tend to come to you away from the desk, say while you're watering the plants.

put them straight into the post's row, or they'll get lost in your phone's notes between grocery lists.

how to make a weekly content plan in 6 steps

step 1. count your real pace from the last 4 weeks

open your profile, count the posts from the last four weeks and divide that number by four to get the pace you plan from.

if you posted eight times last month, your pace is two posts a week, and two is what goes into the plan. a plan for seven will probably fall apart by Tuesday.

step 2. pick 3–4 content pillars and tie them to days

for the plant account, that could be "myth of the week" on Monday, "answering your comments" on Tuesday and "tools" on Friday. if a pillar never gets a day of its own, take it out of the plan rather than moving it every week.

step 3. keep an idea backlog about twice the size of the week

if you plan four posts, keep around eight ideas ready to go. the questions in your comments and DMs are a good source. so are your posts that did better than usual, since a part two can pick up where they left off.

keep ideas without a date on a separate list, so they don't clutter the week you're planning.

step 4. schedule shoots apart from publish days

group your posts by place and outfit, with everything filmed at your desk on one day and everything outdoors on another. one shoot can then cover two or three publish days.

in the example, both Saturday reels are filmed by the same window in the same morning light. the Tuesday carousel gets made on Sunday at the laptop. it doesn't need a camera at all.

step 5. add the week's dates and occasions

look at what's happening that week: holidays, seasonal sales, events in your niche and brand deal deadlines. for the plant account, the first frost of the season is worth a post of its own. big dates need a week or two of prep, so look two weeks ahead each time you plan.

step 6. leave one open slot for a trend or a slip

in the example the open slot is Sunday. if no trend comes up by Saturday night, fill it with an idea from the backlog.

weekly content plan example with 5 posts

here's the plant care account again. the main videos are filmed on Saturday and the carousel is made on Sunday, so Wednesday only needs a quick shoot in the morning.

for Instagram and TikTok

• Monday. the "myth of the week" reel goes out on Instagram, and the same video goes to TikTok. it was filmed on Saturday, and the hook is "misting your plants every day? here's what it does to the leaves."
• Tuesday. an "answering your comments" carousel goes out on Instagram after being put together on Sunday. the first slide reads "yellow leaves: four causes and how to tell them apart."
• Wednesday. the weekly recap goes out as stories, filmed that morning and posted with very little editing.
• Friday. a "tools" reel goes out on Instagram and TikTok. it was filmed on Saturday along with Monday's video, and the hook is "the watering can I stopped using, and why."
• Sunday. the slot stays open for a trend or an idea from the backlog.

for Threads and YouTube Shorts

• Monday. a Threads post tells the same myth in text and ends with a question for replies.
• Tuesday. Monday's reel goes up as a YouTube Short with a new first frame and a new title.
• Thursday. a Threads thread lists five plants that handle low light, with one plant per post.
• Saturday. a Threads poll asks followers which myth they want busted next week.
• Sunday. a Short gets cut from the footage left over after Wednesday's recap.

one Saturday reel ends up on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube Shorts. nothing gets filmed twice: for each one you only change the first frame and the caption.

free weekly content plan template

create a sheet in Google Sheets or Excel with these columns and one row per post. the hook gets its own column here, so you can see it without opening the notes.

• publish day. write the day and the time, like "Friday, 7 pm".
• platform and format. name both together, like "Instagram, reel" or "Threads, poll".
• content pillar. pick from your three or four instead of inventing a new one every week.
• topic. write it so you'll still know what the video is about a week later, like "three watering mistakes that kill a monstera".
• hook. add the first line or the first frame if you already have one.
• shoot day. set it at least a day before the publish day to leave time for editing.
• status. make it a dropdown with the same four values: idea, shoot, edit and live.
• notes. keep the location, outfit, sound and reference link here.

sort the rows by shoot day. whatever needs filming first ends up at the top. if you'd rather have it on paper, print the sheet in landscape on A4 or US letter.

how many posts a week should you publish

post as often as you managed over the last four weeks. once a whole month goes by without late-night editing, add one post a week and see whether the pace still holds.

how Instagram and TikTok pick which videos to show isn't visible from the outside. their help centers publish advice for creators, and it changes every so often.

where a weekly plan breaks

everything is filmed on publish day

a plan like that only holds up in easy weeks. in a week when you're moving house and have a brand deadline, only two of five planned posts go out.

one pillar for the whole week

five myth-busting videos in a row get repetitive for viewers and dull for you to film. with three or four pillars, Monday's post doesn't look like Friday's.

planning 7 posts with time for 3

you finish three, the other four move to next week, and the new week starts four posts behind.

no backlog

without spare ideas, every free hour goes into hunting for a topic. there's no time left to film.

FAQ

should you keep a content plan in a spreadsheet, Notion or an app

a spreadsheet is free, and you can add any column you need. the template above is enough to get started, though it won't remind you about a shoot.

Notion works if the rest of your work already lives there. an app makes sense once you want the week on your phone with shoot reminders.

how often should you update a weekly content plan

once a week, ideally on the same day. look at what went out and move whatever didn't into the next week. with a backlog ready, there's very little left to decide.

what to do when the week falls apart

don't push everything into next week, or that week falls apart too. keep the one or two posts that matter most and send the rest back to the backlog.

then look at which status the posts got stuck in. that tells you what to change: more filming time, an editing evening or fewer posts.

do you need a weekly plan if you post once a week

probably not. if you post once a week on one platform, a note on your phone with the date is enough. a plan starts to pay off when shooting, editing and posting fall on different days.

where to start

open your profile and write down your last ten posts with their publish dates. the shoot date is in your camera roll, on the original clip. you'll see how many days usually pass between filming and posting, and that gap is the first thing to build into the plan.

read next: reel script template with structure and example, batch content creation for a week of content in a day. more about the app is on the home page. русская версия: контент-план на неделю.