9 Steps to a Dominating Content Calendar

Imagine this: You are the brave captain of a ship sailing through a dangerous marketing content ocean. Your backpack is bursting with great ideas, and your mind is filled with creativity and great strategies but there is a wrench in your plans. The answer to that is quite simple – planning.

That is where a powerful content calendar comes into the picture. It’s your map, compass and  secret weapon in the court of content marketing fame. However, before learning how to create a meaningful content calendar, let's dive into the fundamentals of creating a content calendar that gives you real and measurable results.

Why You Need a Content Calendar

A content calendar can be best described as a guideline for what you’re going to post, when you are going to post it, and on which social media platform you will be posting it. It tells you where you are going, guides you in achieving the set marketing goals, makes sure that you are not aimlessly sailing, and helps you steer your course with intention. Here's why planning a content calendar is essential:

1. Consistency is King (and Queen): Creating and regularly posting content is a marketing gospel in content marketing. Using a content calendar ensures that your posts are going online regularly therefore avoiding a radio silence between you and your audience.
   

2. Focus on Your Goals: If your content is not created for a specific target then it is like rain in a desert; it falls and disappears without a trace. A content calendar helps you set your content according to the objective you have set; whether it is about brand building, generating leads, or increasing sales.
   

3. Content Harmony: Suppose you post a blog based on an infographic that was never created. A horror, right? Different content types should work in unison, and a content calendar achieves this by being the synthesis between them.
   

4. Collaboration Made Easy: Are you a team of content soldiers? A content calendar helps in the coordination of events, avoiding cases of content conflicts, and keeping your entire team well aware ensuring everyone is on the same page.
   

5. Say Goodbye to Stress: Stakes raised and you have to meet certain deadlines? No worries! With a well-planned calendar, you will never be in a position of haste.
   

Still not convinced about why content calendars are important? We talked to experts and here is what they have to say:

Shreshtha, a professional senior copywriter who has been a part of CareerBeam for four years, can vouch for the importance of a proper content calendar. In contrast to other copywriters, who usually use digital tools, Shreshtha prefers to use her brain. Thus, she regularly researches the current trends with Google Trends, giving her a competitive edge in crafting efficient content marketing strategies.

Source: Google Trends

Here's what she has to say; “Make your content calendar like a story—full of twists and turns, but in the end your brand identity must shine.” Shreshtha emphasises that “it is the eyes, ears, and mouth of your brand, so make sure you give them something interesting enough to watch, share, and discuss.”

Chakshuta and Karan, the strategists at Vigor LaunchPad, are big on a content calendar. Through its integration, they are guaranteed never to be left out on any trending day and also ensure that approvals from the clients are made easily without clogging their work. The structured layout of the work also enhances proper communication within the content team. Their advice for creating an effective calendar is to keep it simple, clearly state what will be posted, when the content should be posted, and be visually pleasing.

To add to these comments, Jayraj, the senior copywriter at Vigor LaunchPad, mentioned that it is also important to understand why you are creating a content calendar. He iterated, “It’s important to not lose sight of the main goal of creating the content calendar. Ensure that you have your important points noted down and that your posts are done when your users are most active.” To stay ahead of the curve, Jayraj uses Social Samosa, which helps him to interact with current trends actively and not miss out on the audience’s attention on special days.

See? A content calendar isn't just about organisation; it's about unlocking content creation superpowers!

 Building Your Content Calendar: A Step-By-Step Guide

Are you ready to unleash the power of planning a content calendar? Let’s break the process into steps that are easy to carry out and bring out your best planning mind into play:

Step 1 – Define Your Content Marketing Goals (The Foundation)

Before articulating any strategy for your content marketing plan, you have to take a step back and decide what you plan on achieving with your content. It is essential to consider the content marketing goals to lay the groundwork.

Are you featuring good content on your site with good images and good text, and does it meet the purpose? Below are some content marketing goals that you can consider:

1. Brand Awareness: Spread your brand name, the products & services you offer, and what sets you apart from the rest of the pack.
   

2. Lead Generation: Increase your email list to reach more of your targeted audience. This will also help to attract potential customers.
   

3. Increased Website Traffic: Attract more people to visit your website.
   

4. Thought Leadership: Introduce yourself to the market as a powerful and authoritative figure.
   

5. Customer Engagement: Develop ways of getting closer to your existing consumers and initiate new ways to forge stronger relationships with new customers.

Step 2 - Learn What Your Audience Wants (Your Content Compass)

Content marketing is a method through which business organisations try to create, distribute, and share content that their target audiences are most likely to consume. So, the question you need to answer is; whom are you creating your content for?

Target audience analysis is something that should not be overlooked, yet it is often the most overlooked factor. You should research their age, language, interests, pressure points, and preferred content. This will guide you in creating content that is favourable to your targeted demographic

Step 3 - Content Brainstorming (Spark Your Creativity)

This is the fun part of planning a content calendar! Unlock your creativity and let your mind churn out a gold mine of content ideas. Here are some techniques to get your creative juices flowing:

1. Keyword research: Consider the keywords that your target audience may be searching for. This will help you get your posted content more views therefore increasing engagement with your target audience.
   

2. Industry trends: Stay abreast of your industry trends and post content that caters to the current occurrences in the marketplace.
   

3. Competitor analysis: Learn from your competitors and research what they are publishing. After learning, brainstorm on areas you can improve and create content that’s more creative and engaging to give you an edge over your competitors.
   

4. Audience feedback: User feedback in the comments section, questions, and activity on social media should not be overlooked. These areas will inform you of the kind of content your audience is looking for.
   

5. Content pillars and clusters: Create a content calendar correlated to your content marketing plan so that you know that your content is backing up your pillar page and other cluster pages.

Step 4 - Choose Your Content Formats (The Content Arsenal)

After you determine your content themes, engulf yourself in the variety of formats through which you want to deliver them. Be flexible when it comes to what kind of content is posted. Here are a few suggestions on how you can put your content out, along with strategic considerations:

Blog Posts

Blog posts help you to inform, entertain, and position yourself as an industry expert. They can be viewed as actual dialogues you have with your audiences. Explore the different blog post formats; short & concise listicles for the users to give significant but not exhaustive information, long & detailed articles where you can provide readers with deep and detailed analysis, and lastly, case studies that demonstrate your proficiency in a said industry.

Blog posts are one of the most fundamental models of content marketing as they allow you to dive deep into a certain topic and start a conversation with your target audience. To learn more about how to write blogs that help you engage, read The Ultimate Guide to Writing Engaging Blog Posts

Infographics

These visual powerhouses help in presenting copious amounts of information into easily assimilable bits. While using infographics, remember to use memorable visuals, clean & clear data visualisations, and simple text, which helps you to draw the audience’s attention and convey your message proficiently. It's important to note that infographics are perfect for sharing on social media networks and other visual platforms.

Video

In the current digitised world/society, creative video content can escalate engagement with the audience. Therefore, to tap into this video-centric mindset, you should consider the use of efficiently shocking & appealing videos to increase engagement levels at brisk speeds. Think about thoughtful videos when working with complex subjects, have interviews with specific industry professionals, or post behind-the-scenes in your own company. When opting for posting content through videos, YouTube is one of the most explored platforms while upcoming platforms are viable too such as TikTok, Instagram reels, and many more.

eBooks

They provide audiences with useful, detailed information in return for their email registrations. eBooks are extremely useful as they act as a lead magnet in getting subscriptions for your newsletter and recognise you as a credible expert in your industry.

Pro Tip: Strategically share your eBooks in your blog posts, landing pages and social media to encourage downloads and get more subscribers in the process. To learn more about this strategy, read Content Marketing for Lead Generation: Building Your Email List.

Social Media Posts

These posts are short information bits that deliver the message in a light and amusing manner in a short time. The key point is to align posted content with the specific features of each networking site. Use bright and expressive visuals, headings, and CTAs to capture people’s attention and lead them to your website therefore increasing engagement levels. To further increase the interaction level; incorporate humour, the current hot & trending topics at the time, and post user-generated content to further boost engagement.

Step 5 - Make Your Content Calendar Template (Your Strategy Map)

From the start until now, you have laid your foundation, know how to create content that engages with the audience and create your arsenal for content posting. The next step is to make your content calendar template. This is a map of your strategy - your blueprint for the entire content creation process that you are about to embark on. Here are some key elements you can include:

1. Date: Perhaps the most crucial component in the process of content marketing is the ‘when’. When are you going to roll out the content?
   

2. Content Title: You should have a cohesive and informative title that is relevant to the content and grabs the attention of your readers.
   

3. Content Format: Identify what type of content format will be used for the content. i.e., blog posts, infographics, videos, etc.
   

4. Target Audience: Define which group or groups of the target audience you aim to reach with each piece of content.
   

5. Keywords: While preparing a content item, remember to use keywords to rank with each content item.
   

6. Content Stage: Incorporate your content by stepping into the user’s mindset and creating a well-rounded strategy. The different phases include awareness, consideration, and decision phases.
   

7. Status: Keep a progress chart to identify the status of the content writing – ideas in writing, in editing, publishing etc.
   

8. Author/Assignee: One is to establish who is responsible for creating content to let specific people in the team be answerable.
   

9. Promotion Channels: Decide which of the promotional channels—social media, email, or blog—you will be using and for which of your content pieces you will do paid promotions.
   

10. Call to Action: Define the action in each piece of content that visitors should be encouraged to take (go to the website, sign up for the newsletter, follow on social media, etc.).

Pro Tip: Coaching circumscription is not standardised; this approach cannot be described as an approach that can be applied identically to all companies and organisations. Decide on a format that is easier for your team to manage and create an efficient way to project the workflow; whether a spreadsheet, a project management tool, or content calendar software.

Step 6 - Content Scheduling (The Rhythm of Content)

Now, it is time to discuss the pulse of your content calendar – the posting frequency. You need to come up with a plan to know when you are going to be posting your content and how many times you will be posting content for a particular brand. It can vary depending on your clients' needs, so don’t worry if you come up with a weird one.

 In other words, there is no ingredient for success but one thing is essential; consistency. Consider the following factors when determining your posting frequency:

1. Content Format: While it might be necessary to post content on social media every day, it is not always the case when publishing in-depth content on paper. Determine what type of audience you are going to be working with, and accordingly, you can select the format for your content.
   

2. Audience Engagement: Establish a checklist to understand how frequently your audience interacts with your content.
   

3. Industry Benchmarks: Look for the frequency of publishing content in your industry. If you’re going to be publishing a blog post, research how frequently your competitors post blogs. This will help you determine where your competitors stand and enable you to stay ahead of the curve.
   

4. Resource Availability: Be reasonable while setting up goals when creating content. It is necessary to learn your capacity to create content with the resources that you currently possess.

Pro Tip: Use tools to help you streamline the posting of activities on different sites to ensure that there is a proper flow of content. 

Step 7 – Content Batching (Work Smarter, Not Harder)

Content creation is a creative process and thus the creation of the needed content may take time. To ensure efficiency in the creation process, content batching should be your go-to technique.

The following will help you understand what content batching looks like:

1. Theme Days: Allocate specific jobs to a particular day of the week. For instance, writing blog content ideas can be done on Mondays, while video content can be shot on Wednesdays, and content for various social media platforms can be done on Fridays. It all depends on you and how you want your work to be placed, but dedicating specific days to specific tasks will help you organise your work for content creation.

2. Filming Frenzy: Shoot your ideas in a single session so that casting, scripting, and shooting multiple videos are possible at once. This is relatively time-saving especially when having to set up and tear down during each video shooting.

3. Writing Marathons: Set a day aside to brainstorm ideas and write several blog posts during the same. When you have a focused mindset, you will be able to write several blog posts together and reach deadlines at a much more efficient rate. 

Pro Tip: Remember, content batching is a process to improve your efficiency and there is no reason for the quality of any content to be compromised. Make sure that you provide high editorial standards when you are producing your content.

 Step 8 - Content Promotion (Reaching Your Audience)

To achieve the desired success, writing quality content is not enough; the content has to reach your target audience. So now it's time to unleash your inner content marketing warrior and promote your creations because without it, your content is not worth the paper it’s written on.

Promoting can be full of challenges but here are some ways to navigate through these challenges:

1. Social Media Magic: Post the content on relevant social media accounts with inviting captions, famous hashtags, and captivating photos.
   

2. Email Marketing: Use your email lists for spreading the content and lead generation. Separate your target audience depending on the purpose of the campaign.
   

3. Guest Posting Power: Partner up with other sites that belong to your industry and provide guest posts. This simply opens up your client base and enables your venture to penetrate into a new market/audience.
   

4. Paid Advertising: It is critical to assign budgets for paid advertising whether it is on social media or search engines. Promoted content helps you expand the reach of the content you create.

Pro Tip: Draw insights from your content promotion and learn which of your content is well received by your audience. Expand on the success that has been achieved and modify the weaknesses that have been identified.

Step 9 - Content Calendar Management (Monitoring and Optimisation)

Your content calendar is not just a piece of paper that you develop once and then forget about for months. It's a living, breathing organism that needs regular monitoring and optimisation.

1. Track Your Performance: Use website data analysis to track the content rating based on traffic flow and conversions.
   

2. Analyse and Adapt: Revisit the effectiveness of your content and tweak your content strategy from time to time to meet the latest trends.
   

3. Stay Flexible: Be ready to make changes to your content plan depending on what your audience comments, what is popular in the market, and valuable opportunities that appear through new trends.
   

4. Celebrate Your Successes: Don’t forget your wins. Content marketing can be difficult so remember to take a look at your victories! Just like a marathon; it is a long journey so take regular time out to celebrate achievements as they will keep encouraging you.

Pro Tip: It is essential to repost your content in other formats. For instance, turn a blogpost into an infographic or a script of a video. This increases the dissemination of your work and hence its utility to reach a wider audience.

Content calendars - Welcome To The World Of Content Marketing Fame

Through understanding and application of all these steps of the content calendar, you will be further on the road to mastering content marketing. Just do not forget that consistency is vital; thus, do not lose sight of your goals, continue developing useful content, and your goals of content marketing will be achieved!

Beyond The Basics - High-Impact (Advanced) Content Marketing Calendar Tactics

Few of you would still want to go further into the content marketing calendar. So, let’s dig deeper;

1. Content Collaboration: Do not try doing everything on your own. Bring in team members to contribute to the content creation process. Use their expertise and create a rounded content strategy for the best results.

2. Seasonal Content Planning: Create special content for certain periods when the audience is more interested in certain topics such as special seasons and holidays. For example, Christmas holidays, New Year's, Independence Day (to each target area specifically) and many more.

3. Competitive Content Analysis: Compare the content strategies used by your competitors and evaluate what opportunities are possible to seize by producing content that is different from the rest. Use your creative powers to outmaneuver your competitors.

Remember: A content calendar is essentially a roadmap for your content for a given period. This way, you will be ready to create messages that respond to your readers’ needs, evolve with their interests and create engaging calls to action!