Content Calendar 101: Your Guide to Strategic Content Planning

What is a Content Calendar?

Not only are they a resource for planning out social media posts, but content calendars also serve as the framework for a plan of action in posting content. This organizational method provides you and your team with an exact calendar for what you’ll be posting that week, month, or even year.

Using a content calendar as a digital strategy is effective because there is thought that goes into making sure content is streamlined and cohesive across multiple channels- further showcasing that content calendars are essential to online success. The biggest benefit of these calendars is that they serve as the official record of what your marketing team will share and publish during a set time. Making sure your posting schedule is in order is the first step to successfully marketing yourself digitally.

Why Use a Content Calendar?

our calendar doesn’t have to have an extremely detail-oriented plan for each post. In fact, it can simply be an idea for what you would like to post. As long as you have an idea in mind of what you want to post in a certain time period, your mind will be at ease knowing you have somewhere to start. This is where knowing your audience comes into play.

Content calendars will allow you to appeal to clients and customers by getting creative with your engagement. Prior to sharing or posting any content, consider your target audience. Whatever you share can affect or influence their actions, your business, and your social media landscape moving forward.

Keeping up with social media trends is vital when planning your content. Making sure you know what holidays are coming up and what trends are ongoing can guide your social media efforts to create relevant content, foster authentic engagements, and generate leads.‍

A great example of how content calendars generate business revenue can be seen in today’s social media influencers. In order to have a career in social media, organizational skills are a necessity. Influencers have several tasks which typically include content creation, scheduling, and planning of their own content and sponsored posts.

Through content calendars, influencers are able to regroup and strategize what and when they will post. They keep up with trends, find the best times to post, and make sure their sponsors are getting exposure on their pages. With a content calendar, they are able to stay on top of their tasks and take advantage of new job opportunities.

How to Create a Content Calendar

Building an effective content calendar is easier than you think. Here's a step-by-step guide:

1. Choose Your Tool: Select a tool that suits your needs, whether it's a spreadsheet, project management software, or a dedicated content calendar platform.
2. Define Your Content Pillars: Identify the key themes or topics that align with your brand and resonate with your target audience.
3. Brainstorm Content Ideas: Generate a list of engaging content ideas for each content pillar, considering various formats like blog posts, videos, infographics, and social media updates.
4. Establish a Posting Frequency: Determine how often you'll publish content on each platform, keeping in mind your resources and audience preferences.
5. Fill in Your Calendar: Populate your calendar with content ideas, assigning specific dates and times for creation, publication, and promotion.
6. Incorporate SEO Best Practices: Optimize your content for search engines by using relevant keywords, writing compelling titles, and including internal and external links.
7. Review and Update Regularly: Your content calendar is a living document. Regularly review and adjust it based on performance data, industry trends, and audience feedback.

Content Calendar Tools to Get You Started

• Google Sheets or Excel
• Trello
• Asana
• CoSchedule
• HubSpot

Top Three Reasons You Should Use a Content Calendar:

1. A content calendar will organize your thoughts and help you decide what and when to post. While juggling different social media platforms, content creators, and campaigns, they can make your life easier and your job less stressful by keeping track of both everyday activities and long-term goals.
2. Possibly the biggest argument for using a content calendar is how much it can help with time management- an essential skill for running an efficient marketing system to generate leads and sales. Using a content calendar can relieve the stress and miscommunications associated with figuring out what to post as well as reduce the time it takes.
3. Communication between a company and its employees is absolutely essential, and by using content calendars, everyone will be on the same page and understand exactly what their tasks are.

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If you need some peace of mind with content planning, look no further than content calendars. These schedules have proven to be effective and useful with influencers and companies, so why not use them yourself? 

BlueTickSocial can help you create a content calendar for your month, year, and beyond. Check out our services for more information or schedule your free consultation today!