How Content Calendars Keep Your Content Marketing Strategy On Track
Here’s a little anecdote from Anthony:
When I started my YouTube channel in 2014, I didn’t see a lot of success. I posted videos occasionally and sometimes they’d get a few hundred views. It was good, but I knew it could be better.
I researched the people who live off of their YouTube income and their number one piece of advice was: Maintaining a consistent publishing schedule is more important than how often you post.
Like any hobbyist, I thought, “That’s nice,” and spent the next few years wondering why my channel didn’t grow.
Then in 2020 I started publishing according to a schedule and tried to make more interesting videos. And wouldn’t you know it, I crossed 10,000 subscribers. A year later, I crossed 20,000 subscribers.
The best way to stay consistent like Anthony and millions of other content creators? A content calendar.
What is a content calendar?
Anyone responsible for writing content, be they founder/CEO or marketing manager, knows that the hardest thing about writing is how easy it is to just … not write. You might know that businesses that blog see 126% more leads than those that don’t. You may even suspect that SEO-oriented blogging brings in 1,000% more traffic than social media does.
But it’s still so easy not to write. How is a marketing team—or one lone developer moonlighting as a blogger—to stay accountable?
You’ve probably guessed that the answer is a content calendar.
You can use any kind of system you want to keep track of the calendar. You can print out a paper calendar and write on it with a pen. You can use a management system like Asana or Trello. Many CMSs have calendar functionality, you can even get WordPress content calendar plugins.
You could even use Google Sheets to build your content calendar template. Here’s a free Google Sheets content calendar template example we found online.
Creating a content calendar requires forethought and dedicated planning time every month, quarter, and year, but as you’ll see, it will pay off handsomely.
The benefits of a content calendar
1. You have to think more strategically
When you plan your content, you’ll have to put more thought into the upcoming month/quarter/year. What topics will you cover? You’ll also have more opportunity to think through which kinds of content you will use. One topic can be made into a blog post, infographic, and video (doesn’t have to be at the same time).
You can also look at what was on your prior month’s/quarter’s calendar and determine what you can repurpose into different types of content. And while you’re looking back, use your analytics to look at what your most popular posts are. Are there lessons you can apply to your future content?
2. Your writers already have a topic
There’s no better kindling for procrastination than not knowing what to write about. If you’re already assigned a content idea, it’s easier to get inspiration and direction. You can easily Google it to see what others are doing or even do some keyword research to determine related topics and phrases.
3. A calendar keeps you accountable
Whether a CEO, programmer, or external content agency does the actual content creation, they will be accountable to the calendar and a due date. This accountability guarantees that you have pieces of content to consistently publish and feed your content marketing strategy.
4. Broad insight into what goes live when
No longer do your team or colleagues have to wonder what’s already live. When you follow your content calendar, everyone can see what’s done and what’s coming up. That means a lot less time fielding questions like, “Hey, did that post about pirate treasure go live?”
5. Better cross-functional collaboration and preparation
A calendar isn’t just helpful to you and your team; it’s helpful to the entire company. You can use the calendar to demonstrate plans to executives/boards, coordinate product release announcements, post event-related content, and even correlate content with your sales cycle.
When you plan your calendar in advance, you it won’t be a week before your industry’s biggest conference when you realize you need to do some blogs, videos, or sales collateral. You’ll have cued it up weeks prior.
6. Better social media planning
Regardless of who creates your social media content calendar, it will certainly be bolstered by your overall content calendar. A social media manager can more easily create their calendar, look at what’s coming and make adequate preparations, or make suggestions for content that will pair well with upcoming social initiatives.
Plan your requirements
A content calendar is so much more than a writing schedule template. You’ll have to think through aspects like:
Who will write the piece
If prior content exists that can be updated or referenced
When it will be due
Who will edit
Who will create or find visuals
Who will upload and post it
Assets you’ll need to complete each piece of content (i.e. updated product specs, event speakers, relevant internal links, etc.)
When it will be published and where it will be shared
When you think about publishing content not as “writing” but as a process that involves multiple team members, things can seem more doable and help you remain accountable step by step.
As I’ve hopefully convinced you, a content calendar is so much more than just another thing you have to do. In fact, it can tie together your content strategies, team processes, and company-wide initiatives. Not only will creating content be easier for you and your team, but it will be more impactful and effective, and who doesn’t love a little success?
