A content calendar is essential for successful content marketing, as it allows for pre-planning and a consistent brand voice across channels. This article provides a step-by-step guide to creating a content calendar to organize and publish content regularly.
Analyze your existing content.
Audit your content using analytics to determine what has worked and what hasn’t. Focus on customer stories and case studies if those are performing well. Set goals and create content that helps to meet those goals, such as generating more leads.
Decide what types of content you’ll pursue.
Creating a content calendar requires deciding the type of content you will produce, which platforms you will use, and how to segment your audience. Additionally, you need to understand which segments will receive which types of content.
Research keywords and brainstorm content.
Before filling out a content calendar, brainstorming and conducting keyword research should be done to determine what types of content to produce. Use target keywords in blog posts and use photos of products on social media platforms, linking back to your website. The content could then be repurposed for emails and other marketing channels.
Determine the best platform and elements for your calendar.
When making a selection for a platform, take into account your finances, the scope of your calendar, and what features you require. Certain calendars call for more effort than others; explore all the alternatives to ascertain what is most suitable for you. Customizing your calendar to fit your needs is essential. When creating your calendar, be sure to include common elements such as the writer, editor, deadline, publish date, platform, and links. To ensure everyone is on the same page, consider sharing your content calendar with all relevant stakeholders, giving everyone the ability to edit the calendar in real time.
Start a library for your assets.
By centralizing all of your assets into one platform accessible from multiple devices and shareable with your team, you can save time that would otherwise be spent looking for them.
Create a workflow.
When creating a workflow, it is important to take into account the frequency of content publishing, the teams responsible for approving content, the sources of new ideas, and the process of creating them. Make a list of the steps your organization will take to brainstorm, create, and distribute content. Ensure that each step is accounted for in the workflow.
Create, publish and distribute content.
Once you have a workflow implemented, you can begin designating content to be produced, monitored, published, and circulated. Setting up a content calendar may appear intimidating, but with a few simple steps, you can begin creating, releasing, and distributing content.