Creating a strategic content calendar is one of those tasks that seems more daunting than it needs to be. The idea of putting one together might even leave you feeling overwhelmed.
A content calendar is defined as a shareable resource that teams can use to plan all content activity, such as social media posts, blog posts, press releases etc. This enables the team to visualise how content is distributed throughout the year in a simple and efficient format. Content calendars also allow you to more easily plan content around key events, gain a sense of what content still needs to be scheduled, and visualise the content you that's ready to be published.
Consistency and efficiency are key when creating a purposeful calendar that can be relied on to build success and growth. There needs to be consensus as to what content is created, and with the right calendar that clearly outlines what is being done and what still needs to be addressed, this is much easier to achieve.
Here are five top tips to help you build a content calendar that ensures your brand has a consistent flow of relevant, quality content:
Tip 1: Identify Your Goals
Picking a primary goal for your business will give you a clearer view of the content types that you should create and the topic areas to focus on. Whether the goal is to improve brand awareness, increase new leads or improve your SEO, you need to base your content around this target. This will ensure you only share content that aligns with your company’s purpose. Of course goals will always be shifting so taking a quarterly approach is preferable.
Tip 2: Identify Your Audience's Goals
While it's important to understand what your brand wants to achieve from sharing content, thought must also be given to the target audience. What benefits will the audience get from viewing your content? What incentive, if any, is there for them to share it more widely? What does a positive reception of this content actually look like? Will you be satisfied with a few 'likes' on Social Media channels?
Tip 3: Prioritise the Best Content Channels
Not all Social Media channels are created equal. Some will naturally suit different content and each has a different audience. Brands need to understand where their audiences are fist before they start creating content. A quick glance at a brand's analytics will show which main social networks content is being shared and traffic is being referred from. Understanding this, you can then decide which networks to prioritise to get the most engagement and shares for your content.
Tip 4: Start with Existing Content Assets
First of all, you should see what existing content can be repurposed or updated to include within your new content. You could repurpose slide decks as videos or blog posts, or create infographics or news stories from existing data. You could break down whitepapers or reports into a series of blog posts, or simply refresh and update any statistics or facts in your published blog posts.
Repurposing content is especially useful for in filling gaps in your content schedule during quiet periods, when there is not much news or there aren't many events or awards.
Tip 5: Determine Your Content Mix
It will become obvious after doing a stock take of a brand's existing content assets that there will be gaps to fill. How these are remedied depends on what resources you have internally. There is no need to start with complicated infographics if a well thought out blog post can provide something of value to your audience.
It is also crucial to avoid content silos. One piece of content should be shared on multiple channels. That great blog post just doesn't sit on your website. It should be shared via the brand's LinkedIn page and Twitter profile, as well as other channels that might exist such as newsletters.
At Ilex, our expert team are here to help you create your own strategic content calendar. Book a meeting today.
