A Beginner’s Guide to Content Calendars
Fuhrman Creative, LLC
Helping small businesses successfully find a voice online in a world dominated by large corporations.
A BiQ article states 53% of marketers in organizations where content marketing is most effective have a documented content marketing plan. Here at Fuhrman Creative, we know strategy is key to having successful marketing. Crafting a content calendar is one of the most effective ways to grow your brand and reach new audiences. A content calendar is a written schedule of the content you plan to publish, including the type of content, the respective channel, and the date and time you will post it. Content comes in many forms, including social media, blog articles, photos, videos, press releases, and more. We are here to help break down the steps of crafting the perfect content calendar for your business:
Establish Your Goals
The first step of implementing any content calendar is establishing your end goals. Your goals will be what drives each piece of content. If you skip over this step, there will be no underlying purpose for your content and no way to measure your success. Therefore, with each piece of content you create, you should ask yourself, “What is the main goal of this content?” Some common content goals are to:
Writing down your goals will also help you determine the best channels to publish your content. For example, if your goal is to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry, posting an educational blog article on LinkedIn may be the best way. In addition, other professionals and organizations network on LinkedIn, and they will be able to see your expertise exhibited through the article they find in their feeds.
Create a Template for Your Calendar
The next step is creating the template for your content calendar. There are many tools available online to create a template for you. You can, however, create your own in a simple spreadsheet to start. Elements you should include across the top as columns are:
Follow-through actions can include ensuring the content was published and formatted correctly, seeing how it’s performing, and responding to comments/messages. Again, it is important to have a variety of forms of content to see what your audience is engaging with the most.
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Look at the Big Picture
Once you create your template, you will want to begin planning your content and when you would like to post it. Look at the whole year to start and which holidays, events, seminars, and trainings you want to highlight in your content. If you know there is a large-scale annual event your company hosts, be sure to carve out extra time to plan content to promote it in your content calendar. Once you pencil in those dates, fill in the gaps with your additional content. Some relevant content ideas:
Serial posts are great to include in your content calendar because they are an opportunity to share your expert knowledge on a hot topic in your industry. It is also important to allow for flexibility within your content schedule. Unexpected events will inevitably occur in which you must quickly piece content together to update your stakeholders. This is normal, and it is important to remain calm when this happens and to shift your content slightly to fit in these timely occurrences.
Stockpile Evergreen Content
If you have never heard the term “evergreen content,” it means timeless content relevant to your business, field, or brand. For example, evergreen content could include your company’s policies, mission, and culture. Your clients will always benefit from being reminded of these topics, especially if they highlight frequent questions you receive. Also, if you are an expert on a specific subject, evergreen content could include your commentary or advice. This content will continue to receive likes and clicks even after initially publishing since people will be searching for it and stumble across your help. Finally, having evergreen content stockpiled in one place can save you and your team time if you have delays in your schedule and need to focus on other tasks.
Monitor Content Analytics
The last step is to monitor how your audience is receiving your content. Schedule time regularly to sit down and review content analytics. If you are reviewing social media posts, most platforms offer free insights, such as likes, comments, shares, and reach. You can view open and click rates if you are analyzing email marketing or blog articles. Each form of content will lend itself to unique analytics catered to its channel. Identify content that performed well. Point out areas of improvement for revamping content to perform better in the future. It all circles back to the goals you set in the beginning and if the data is meeting them.
If you are ready to take the next step in your content strategy but unsure how to start, Fuhrman Creative is here to help you! We offer various services, including content writing and social media marketing. Our team of experts regularly creates content calendars for our clients! Contact us to get started today!