Social Media Posts and a 30-Day Content Calendar

Most small businesses post when they remember, which means rarely, and then all at once. A simple monthly plan made with AI fixes that. You decide the direction once a month, the AI drafts, you edit and schedule.

Step 1: Choose 3 to 5 content pillars

Pillars are the recurring themes of your posts. They keep your feed varied and on-brand.

Here is my marketing brief: [paste brief from lesson 1].
Suggest 5 content pillars for Instagram and Facebook for my business,
with 3 post ideas for each. Mix: helpful tips, behind the scenes,
products, customer stories and offers. Offers should be at most 1 in 5 posts.

Typical pillars for a local business: tips related to your product, behind the scenes, product highlights, customer stories and reviews, and occasional offers.

Step 2: Build the 30-day calendar

Create a 30-day posting calendar starting [DATE], 4 posts per week, as a
table with columns: Date, Day, Pillar, Post idea, Format (photo, carousel,
reel, story), Caption hook (first line).
Include these real events: [festivals, sale dates, new product launches].
Do not invent events.

Paste the table into Excel or Google Sheets so you can adjust it. Check festival dates yourself; the AI may get dates of movable festivals wrong.

Be realistic. Four good posts a week that you can keep up are better than daily posts you abandon after ten days. Adjust the number to your time.

Step 3: Draft the posts in batches

Do one week at a time:

Write captions for posts 1 to 4 from the calendar. My brief: [paste].
For each: a hook in the first line, 2 to 4 short lines of value, one clear
call to action (e.g. "WhatsApp us to order"), and up to 5 relevant
hashtags. Tone: [your 3 adjectives]. Write in [English / Hinglish].
Avoid generic phrases like "elevate", "unlock" and "in today's world".

That last line removes the words that make AI captions sound like AI.

Make it sound like you

• Give the AI 2 or 3 of your best past captions as examples (few-shot, as in Prompt Writing That Works).
• Edit every caption: add a real detail only you know, such as a customer's reaction or how you made the product.
• Read it aloud. If you would not say it to a customer in your shop, change it.

Ideas for reels and stories

Give me 10 short reel ideas (under 30 seconds) I can shoot on my phone in
my [shop/kitchen/workshop] with no special equipment. For each: the shots
in order, on-screen text and a caption hook.

Real people and real places perform better than polished stock content for most small businesses.

Schedule it

Use free schedulers: Meta Business Suite schedules Facebook and Instagram posts, and many other tools offer free plans. Batch your shooting and scheduling in one or two sessions a week.

Respond to comments

AI can help draft replies to common comments and messages:

Write 5 short, friendly reply templates for common Instagram comments on
my posts: price questions, delivery questions, compliments, complaints,
and "do you deliver to [area]?"

Personalise each reply before sending. Customers notice copy-paste replies.

Practice task

Create your content pillars and a 30-day calendar with AI, then draft and edit the first week's posts. Schedule them in Meta Business Suite or your preferred tool.

Key takeaways

• Choose 3 to 5 content pillars and keep offers to about 1 in 5 posts.
• Ask for a 30-day calendar table with real events only, and check festival dates.
• Draft one week at a time, with your brief and example captions in the prompt.
• Edit every post to add real details and your own voice.