#ContentMarketing for SMBs - 5 Powerful Content Calendars Every Small Business Owner Should Investigate

You've decided this is the year you take your marketing to the next level. You're revved up and looking forward to a year filled with increased opportunities. Determined to increase your growth-marketing efforts, you're planning a full-on assault on both social media and content marketing. The single most effective move you can make to ensure your business-building efforts are successful is to incorporate a content calendar into your growth plans. If you're looking for powerful content calendars you can use for your small business, here are five fabulous options you can investigate:

Minutemailer

If you're looking for a calendar that does more than just help you schedule blog posts,check out Minutemailer. Their phenomenal interface lets you integrate templates into your content marketing strategy; create, edit, and email newsletters; and schedule posts for multiple social media networks, including LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

Azendoo

Another multi-functional calendar option you can try is Azendoo. Their handy platform lets you assign tasks (drag-and-drop functionality), track progress to-date, and send direct messages to your team members. Azendoo integrates with multiple tools, including Asana, Slack, GitHub, Evernote, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. If you're looking for an all-in-one calendar that lets you do so much more than schedule content tasks, Azendoo might be your best option.

CoSchedule

CoSchedule offers an excellent free content calendar you can use for your small business content marketing. Along with a helpful how-to guide, their calendar template lets you do everything from assign blog posts to assign social media content creation.

Understand at a glance which team members are responsible for which tasks and which areas of your content strategy need tweaking.

Buffer

If social media scheduling is your prime concern, Buffer's calendar is a must-discover tool. Drag-and-drop tasks onto your calendar, review your social strategy a month at a time, and uncover opportunities for engagement you might have missed. You'll need to sign up for a Buffer account if you wish to incorporate this calendar into your social strategy.

Google

If you prefer a good old-fashioned calendar without all the extra bells and whistles, you can't go wrong with Google's calendar integration. Add tasks to your own calendar, delegate responsibilities for others, and receive updates as jobs are completed.

Integrating a content calendar into your brand-building strategy is a #growthhack you're not likely to ever regret. Not only will a calendar keep your content marketing on track, it's fabulous for helping you to uncover growth opportunities. Once you see your business-building plans neatly displayed before you, the number of brainstorms that hit you will surprise you. Patterns will emerge, opportunities will pop into your head, and your "we-should-try" moments will leave you amazed at all the concepts you never previously considered. If you're looking for one change that will have a long-lasting impact on your business' growth this year, incorporating a content calendar into your marketing efforts just might be your best bet.