7 tips to help build your content calendar
In the ever-evolving world of digital marketing, “content” has been crowned king, and, quite honestly, it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. But with the flood of blog posts, tweets, and videos pouring in every day, it's a struggle to keep everything under control. If you've ever felt like you're herding digital cats, you're not alone - and that's precisely why you need a content calendar.
What’s a content calendar?
A content calendar is your guiding light in the content marketing storm. It’s like your personal assistant that reminds you what to post, where to post it, and when it needs to go out. Sounds great, right? But if the thought of creating one makes you want to hide under your desk, hang tight - I've got you covered.
Here’s a friendly, down-to-earth guide to creating a content calendar that’ll make your life a lot easier.
Step 1: Get to Know Your Tribe
Your content calendar isn't for you; it's for your audience. You need to know what makes them tick, what keeps them up at night, and what gets them clicking. Use tools like Google Analytics, your social media insights, and old-school customer feedback to get in their heads.
Step 2: Set Your North Star
After getting to know your audience, you need to know where you're headed. What do you want your content to achieve? Whether it's getting more people on your site, spreading the word about your brand, racking up leads, or making sales, be clear about your goals. And remember, the best goals are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Step 3: Take Stock of Your Content
Before you whip up a fresh batch of content, check out what you've got already. Which posts hit a home run? Which ones struck out? This audit will show you what your audience loves so you can do more of it.
Step 4: Brainstorm Like a Boss
With your goals in place and your audit done, it's time to play around with new ideas. Get your team together and let the ideas fly. If you need a little help, tools like Buzzsumo and Answer the Public can give you plenty of food for thought.
Step 5: Pick Your Poison
Now you need to decide what kind of content you're going to create. Blogs, social media posts, videos, infographics, podcasts, newsletters - the world is your oyster. Just make sure your choices align with your audience's tastes and your overall marketing strategy.
Step 6: Build Your Master Plan
Here comes the fun part - creating your calendar. Tools like Google Sheets (my personal favorite) or Trello work well, or you can invest in specialized content calendar software. Whichever you choose, remember to include key details like publish date, content type, topic, target audience, and promotion channels. And leave some wiggle room for last-minute changes or trending topics that pop up.
Step 7: Put Your Plan into Action
Once your calendar's good to go, start cranking out that content. But don't just set it and forget it - keep an eye on how your content performs and tweak your strategy as needed.
Creating a content calendar may seem like a big job, but it's worth its weight in digital gold. It keeps you consistent, organized, and centered on your audience. And who doesn't want that? So, let's get planning!
