You’re not alone if you hear the words “content calendar” and picture a conference room packed with busy people scheduling plans for a Fortune 500 company.
Don’t let this image fool you into believing that a small business doesn’t have use for a content calendar.
If you have a marketing plan, if you are creating content and working to connect with your audience, you need a content calendar.
Benefits of Creating a Content Calendar
By scheduling out your posts, you’ll be better prepared for creating relevant content. When you create a content calendar, you will have a better plan for marketing, leading up to a big launch. You’ll have a clearer insight on how regularly you should be periodically promoting your big hitters or quiet services that need a more steady push. You’ll be reminded of holidays you could create a unique marketing campaign for.
If you are working with a team, you’ll be able to communicate deadlines and offer a clear view of your publishing schedule, so everyone is on the same page.
On top of all this, when it comes time to analyze the past month’s results for your effort, you’ll have more insight on what worked and what didn’t for your marketing.
How to Create a Content Calendar
The process of creating a calendar gives you a sharper look at what you’re doing with your content. If you don’t yet have a brand mission statement, it would be wise to take thirty minutes to create a rough one now. Consulting your brand mission statement when you’re stuck on the steps below is a helpful way to make sure your content is staying true to your company’s core.
Decide What You’ll Be Posting
What will your content address? Hopefully, you know who your audience is. If not, start there. Create an avatar for your ideal customer, and then think about what they would like to hear from you.
Make A List Of Where You’re Posting
This list should include all types of content you’re releasing.
Are you creating videos? Where will you post them?
Are you publishing more content on your website?
What about your newsletter?
You’re likely posting on social media. List out all the sites where you’ll be posting content. If you’re going to be posting a lot on these sites, it doesn’t hurt to create a linked social media content calendar to keep this straight. It may be useful on this calendar to create days you’ll post pictures versus video, or days you’ll do live videos.
When To Post
Create a clear calendar view of how often and when you’ll be posting to each of these sites.
Use a Content Library
Whether you’re doing this alone or with someone else, having a content library will help with your workflow. Using a service like Dropbox or Google Drive will make this shareable.
Inside, store your photos and videos you’re creating and posting. Link to these files in your calendar so you can easily find them later.
Start Working
Share your calendar and content library with any collaborators. Establish a routine that works for you and your team members so you can keep things straight.
Don’t forget, as you go; you should be making adjustments to how you use your content calendar as you learn more. If Wednesday isn’t getting great results for your video posts on Facebook, switch to Thursday and see if that works better for you. Gain insights as you work and make adjustments for the best results for your business.