How do you create a content marketing calendar and stick to it?

Having a calendar streamlines your content creation process by allowing you to plan ahead, allocate resources effectively, and avoid last-minute scrambles. It also provides a centralized location for your content ideas, making it easier to track progress and maintain an organized workflow.

Starting with the why is important. I tell my clients that content pays it's dividends 6 months to a year out. If you don't have a plan or stick to it, you'll pay the price in 6 months. "It's important to put hay in the barn." - My old football coach.

A content calendar is like having a trusty sidekick that keeps you organized, focused, and always ready with your next move. It helps you stay consistent, aligned with your business goals and important dates, and collaborative with your team. With a content calendar, you can mix things up with a diverse range of content, track your performance, and adjust your strategy to build anticipation and cater to your audience's needs. It's a total game-changer that helps you stay professional, engaged, and ahead of the curve!

I can create and stick to a content calendar by first setting clear goals for what we want to achieve with our content. Then, I will make sure to know our audience well, brainstorm content ideas, and prioritize the most important topics. I will schedule when and how often we will publish content, assign tasks to the team, and use a digital calendar to keep everything organized. Sticking to deadlines is essential, and I will regularly check how our content is doing to make improvements. By doing this, I can ensure our content marketing stays on track and helps us reach our goals.

I live by my calendar as do most professionals. A content marketing calendar also helps your team prioritize tasks and stay on track. It's a must-have for any team!

Select a content calendar tool or template that suits your needs and preferences. There are various options available, ranging from simple spreadsheets to dedicated content management systems. Choose a tool that allows you to schedule content, collaborate with team members, and track performance metrics.

Ensure you set up your content strategy, audience targets, and other key components before you jump to building calendars. It's critical to do the strategic work to set the stage for success.

Las consultorías suelen ofrecer plantillas rígidas para crear calendarios de contenido, como si hubiera un método único para todos. La realidad es que no necesitas seguir un modelo estándar. Un calendario de marketing efectivo se basa en la capacidad de priorizar y adaptarse, no en cumplir casillas predefinidas. Deja espacio para la improvisación y el ajuste según lo que mejor responda tu audiencia. A veces, lo que menos necesitas es otro calendario, y lo que más, es más intuición.

Start with the end goal in mind. What is the intention of the content you're creating? Is it to build awareness? To drive traffic to your website from Google? To establish thought leadership? If your goal is to build brand awareness or establish thought leadership, listen to what your clients are asking you most. Make a list of the most common questions that people ask about your topic, industry, or product or service. Then create blog posts or social media posts that answer these questions. Is your goal to drive more traffic to your website and rank higher on Google? Focus on SEO by finding keywords that people are searching for around your topic. There are many free SEO tools that can help make this easy for you such as Ubersuggest.com.

Content Calendar Creation: Choose a tool or platform to create your calendar, such as Google Calendar, Trello, Asana, or a simple spreadsheet. Plot out your content pieces on the calendar. Include publishing dates, deadlines for drafts, responsible team members, and any other relevant details. Consider seasonality, industry events, and other external factors that might influence the relevance of your content.

In my experience the best way to adhere to a content calendar is to have an editorial team. Your editorial team should be made up of the content stakeholders, i.e.: one representative each from brand, growth, and product marketing functions. These meetings should be held weekly and content that is set to drop should be re-confirmed. And, new breaking news should be brought up and added to the calendar as necessary. Something that was once thought of as important, might need to be pushed further out - or dropped entirely.

Remember you don't have to stick to your content marketing calendar. Everything in marketing is an experiment. Don't confuse between output and outcome. Output is what content you can create. Outcome is the resulting improvement in business metrics because of the content. Some people stick to their calendars too long that the output exists but the outcome doesn't.

If you're part of a team, delegate specific tasks and responsibilities to ensure that everyone knows their role in executing the content calendar. Clearly define deadlines, communicate expectations, and hold team members accountable for their contributions.

I have always found following daily trends or themes can be a great way to stick to a schedule for content. Mondays have a theme of motivation for example, making it easier to place content that would be inspiring on that day for most channels. Tuesday and Thursday typically showcase a tip, trick, or thought, again making the content easier to plan around. Wednesday is a great day for websites to be shown. Friday is a mixed bag. Embracing the themes of the daily content can allow one to stick to a schedule with ease; especially if you are new to business or creating an algorithm.

Typically I use my content marketing calendar as a flexible outline of what to post. I will plan out what I'm going to do up to two weeks in advance but I still review the news daily to see if there is anything major I want to talk about at that moment. At the end of the day, no one knows whats on your content calendar except for you and your team so there is no harm in changing what you had planned every now and then as long as you are not inconveniencing your team by doing so.

No importa lo perfecto que sea tu calendario de marketing de contenidos, siempre habrá imprevistos. Aquí está la clave, la flexibilidad y la capacidad de adaptación. En lugar de centrarte exclusivamente en cumplir con un cronograma, pregúntate si cada contenido realmente está cumpliendo su propósito. La calidad y la relevancia son mucho más importantes que marcar una casilla en un calendario. A veces, lo que más debemos considerar es cuándo romper las reglas y permitirnos hacer ajustes sobre la marcha.

Customers don't buy from the business because they stick to a calendar. Not a single customer on earth said: OMG, I will buy X because brand Y posts Z times per month and hasn't missed a post. Post only when a brand has something relevant to say that is meaningful to the customer. Most often posting 1X a week with some advertising boost gives more results ROASwise than posting daily 7 days a week. Quality and distribution > quantity and consistency

1. Why the need? ? Ensures consistent content delivery ? Aligns content with marketing goals ? Improves team collaboration and planning 2. How to Create one? ? Define content goals and target audience ? Choose content types and themes ? Plan content distribution channels ? Schedule content creation and publication dates ? Use tools like Google Calendar, Trello, or Asana 3. How to Stick to it? ? Set realistic deadlines ? Assign clear roles and responsibilities ? Monitor progress regularly ? Adjust plans as needed based on performance data ? Stay flexible to accommodate changes 4. What Else? ? Incorporate feedback loops for continuous improvement ? Use analytics to track content performance ? Foster a culture of team’s accountability

Execution Plan: Outline the steps from content creation to publication. This includes writing, editing, graphic design, SEO optimization, and scheduling. Monitor Performance: Regularly check how your content is performing against your goals. Use tools like Google Analytics, social media analytics, etc., to track engagement, traffic, and conversion rates. Review and Adjust: Periodically review your content calendar and strategy. Adjust your plans based on what’s working and what isn’t.

Having a content calendar is crucial for ensuring you don't miss any key dates in your marketing life cycle, plus keeping your brand front of mind with your target audience. However, I've always lived by that rules are to be broken, so inevitably a plan you created six months ago, is unlikely to be one you are working to now. As you send content out, review, track and analyse you might realise some messages resonate better than others and therefore begin to adapt your plan. And we can never expect the unexpected, so undoubtedly there will be times when topical content takes precedent over your plan. As a marketeer, I think ability to adapt is key, a plan is therefore a great starting point but it's not the end point.