Create a Calendar to Plan your Content – Content Marketing #5

None of the major successful businesses around the world (especially those that primarily deal with consumers rather than other businesses) are casual about the marketing pieces that they produce each and every single day.
 
Amazon doesn’t wake up in the middle of December, realize that Christmas is right around the corner, and then cobble something together just in the nick of time while crossing their fingers hoping for success.
 
No, their entire Christmas promotion has been brainstormed, conceived of, cemented in concrete, and ready to roll out months and months in advance – and that’s why they are able to release one promotion after another while never missing out on any big moments or events throughout the year.

Set yourself up for Success

You need to do the exact same thing when you are getting ready to create content for your site, especially if that content is going to dovetail nicely with your marketing messages. You absolutely MUST create a calendar that lets you plan things out in advance.

Get your hands on a calendar so that you can understand what the months ahead really look like. (Link to template below).

The most important thing you can do to really streamline your success when creating content is to have pieces ready to rock and roll months and months in advance, and the only way that’s going to be possible is to look at a calendar (physically look at a calendar), understand what you have ahead of you from a marketing and from a marketplace standpoint, and then create content for those specifics before they roll around.

The Power of Planning

You’ll be able to see the seasons, school holidays, public holidays, Special events and dates to celebrate relevant to your industry etc. This will allow you space out special offers, seasonal events and promotions that encourage your customers to purchase products or services relevant to the weather, time of the year, event etc.

Plan out times and dates, but also plan out the platforms you are going to use and the types of content you plan to produce – written, video, graphic etc.

There are a number of different things that should be in your calendar template, but you need to make sure that you aren’t just scheduling time slots for content to be released but that you also think about the kind of platform and message vehicle that you’re going to use as well.

If you’re looking to really create a shock and awe kind of experience in your marketplace you’ll want to be seen as being everywhere your ideal prospects – and that means publishing across multiple channels around the same time so that you can capture the most amount of attention and influence.

Sources & Further Reading