Information in this blog post was obtained from HubSpot, Neil Patel, and Semrush.
Imagine this scenario: You have just been hired for your first job as a marketing manager fresh out of college. On your first day, you walk in, excited for this new opportunity. You expect to learn some company background, get familiar with their buyer personas and marketing strategy, and maybe even review some analytics. Instead, your boss welcomes you with, “We’re excited to have you! Just start posting!” You pause, knowing that marketing requires much more than, “just posting.” You begin to panic, realizing you’ve never actually built a content calendar before.
Believe it or not, this scenario is more common than you might think. This happened to me while I was still in college, and the same may happen to you. Many companies don’t realize the importance of planning and strategy, especially if they are new to content and social media marketing.
If you find yourself in a situation like this, don’t worry! I’m here to help! In this blog post, I’ll break down what a content calendar is, why they are so important, and how to create your own content calendar in 6 steps! By the end of this post, you’ll have the confidence to propose a content plan to your employer and the knowledge to get started on your new strategy.
What is a Content Calendar?
Someone new to content and social media marketing, like your employer, may be wondering, “What is a content calendar?” Simplified, experts at HubSpot define a content calendar as a tool that gives an overview of your planned content, organized by date and time. However, it can include more than just those simple details. In fact, HubSpot suggests making the most of your social media calendar by including details such as the platform the post will be published on, as well as the material such as hashtags, links, or graphics that will go alongside the post. The amount of information you include may vary based on your company and its needs. You can also choose the format and platform of your calendar. Many companies, such as HubSpot or Semrush, offer free templates. Other options include spreadsheets, digital calendars, or built-in calendars offered by various social media platforms.
Why do you need a Content Calendar?
Knowing what a content calendar is is important, but your employer might also want to know why they need one and what benefits they offer. On their blog, Semrush lists several reasons why this tool is essential. These benefits include:
High-quality content: Planning content ahead of time allows time for you to create better-quality content and post it at optimal times.
Increased efficiency: Establishing a timeline and setting deadlines helps keep yourself on track.
Resource management: Knowing what content you plan to create helps determine what resources are needed to produce it and allows time to plan accordingly.
Team and Role Alignment: Having a schedule keeps you aligned with your team and other departments. This ensures everyone knows their roles and keeps things organized and timely.
Reporting Assistance: A content calendar makes it simple to track what content was published and when, as well as how it performed.
Consistent messaging: Having an overview of all planned content helps ensure the brand’s messaging stays cohesive across platforms
Steps for Creating a Content Calendar
Now that you and your employer understand why you need a content calendar, you can start to build your own. On his blog, Neil Patel gives six steps to guide you through the process:
Step 1: Define Your Goals
Before you start posting, it is essential to have clear goals. Whether this is increasing followers, impressions, website clicks, or something else, it is important to define them. If you know what you are trying to achieve it makes creating content for those goals much easier. Make sure to communicate with your employer and ensure the goals you set are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound). You will also need to decide on some KPI’s or key performance indicators to help track success.
Step 2: Complete a Social Media Audit
The next step is to determine how your social media profiles are performing currently.
Doing this analysis can help you determine what areas are already doing well and which
areas need to improve. In addition to this information, make sure to record important
information such as account usernames and passwords, platform-specific goals, audience demographics, best-performing posts, and team responsibilities.
Step 3: Select your Social Media Platforms
Today, there is a sea of different social media platforms. Luckily, not all of them will target your audience. To be most efficient with your time and resources, determine the handful of platforms your audience is most active on and focus your efforts there.
Step 4: Outline How Often You’ll Post
One of the benefits of a content calendar is post consistency. However, you will still need to determine what that means for your company. Depending on the size of your team, budget, and resources, this could range from a few times a week to a few times per day. Regardless of your assets, it is most important to balance quality and consistency, so be sure to choose a frequency that works best for you and your team.
Step 5: Decide on Content Type
It is helpful to give your audience a variety of content types. To make this easier, follow rules like the 80/20 rule or the social media rule of thirds. The first, the 80/20 rule, says 80% of your posts should engage, inform, or educate, while 20% should promote your business. The other, the social media rule of thirds, says one-third of your post should promote your company’s content, one-third should promote other’s content, and one-third should include interacting with your audience.
Step 6: Assess your Resources
The last step before launching your content calendar should be completing an audit of your company’s resources. You will need to determine things like how many team members you have and what equipment you have available to produce content. This is important to help delegate tasks, as well as set realistic goals and deadlines for your content.
Conclusion
In conclusion, stepping in to a new role can be overwhelming. This is especially true if your employer doesn’t yet understand the importance of strategy and planning in your marketing efforts. However, based on the benefits I stated in this blog post, you can be confident in proposing the idea and getting them on board with implementing a content calendar. By following the six steps provided, you’ll be able to create your own content calendar that will ensure success in your content marketing strategy!
To learn even more about content strategies, read this blog post by my colleague Nina!
Resources
Handley, R. (2023, December 14). 4 content calendar examples to inspire marketing teams. Semrush Blog. https://www.semrush.com/blog/content-calendar-examples/?kw=&cmp=US_SRCH_DSA_Blog_EN&label=dsa_pagefeed&Network=g&Device=c&utm_content=683861103599&kwid=dsa-2263819780079&cmpid=18348486859&agpid=156312207493&BU=Core&extid=97592280511&adpos=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwo8S3BhDeARIsAFRmkOO_v7teWlRWZ0DNt42J7zwJEmaHDa1yCRufoG-7UgejVpdLPolxIGYaAmiqEALw_wcB
Needle, F. (2024, July 9). I found the secret to creating a social media calendar to plan content. HubSpot. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/social-media-calendar-tools
Patel, N. (n.d). How to create an effective social media content calendar. Neil Patel. https://neilpatel.com/blog/social-media-content-calendar/
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