You’ll Never Not Use a Content Calendar Again!
When we’re developing content to be informative, entertaining, and engaging, creativity is key. Just like it is when developing new products or services.
Without that spark of creativity, we can’t design and deliver something that makes people sit up and take notice. If you want to cook a cream cake, you don’t follow a cookie recipe.
But here’s the thing. Creativity is a process that needs attention, time, and space. We are not capable of producing something from nothing.
Creativity happens when we have time to think and space to explore. There is a balance between spontaneity and structure. This is why the foundation of producing great content is to use a content calendar.
What is a content marketing calendar?
A content marketing calendar is a plan that outlines the content to be published and when it will be published. It’s like a roadmap, leading you from where you are now to where you want to be. It will outline the themes you want to discuss with your audience, the topics that are important to include, and even the channels you will use to take your target audience through the customer journey.
Why use a content calendar?
A well-considered and well-designed content plan will help you to plan, publish, and measure the success of your content.
The most common way is to use a content calendar as an editorial calendar, but it’s much more than just a spreadsheet with dates, titles, and links. It’s a strategic plan for creating and publishing relevant content that delivers on your business objectives ─ and it’s crucial to your business in the digital world.
12 Benefits of a content calendar
Now we’ve described what a content calendar really is, let’s take a closer look at the real and tangible benefits of content calendar use. These 12 should give you a better feeling for why companies who use a content calendar get the best results from their digital marketing strategy.
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Keeps you organized and on schedule
The content marketing calendar is a terrific way to get organized with your marketing efforts and keep up with what you have planned for the future. It also helps you stay on top of deadlines and other important dates, allocate time for different content projects, and keep track of deadlines.
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Great for brainstorming and getting feedback
A content marketing calendar is a great tool for brainstorming and getting feedback on ideas. It helps to have a visual representation of what content you plan to produce and when.
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Delivers consistency
Content marketing is a continuous process, and a content marketing calendar allows marketers to deliver consistency in their marketing campaigns, while also giving them the flexibility to publish at times that are most effective for their audience.
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Helps increase efficiency
Planning a series of content that will be published over time helps increase efficiency. This is because your production now has an organized structure, you can plan resources more effectively, organize internal communications better, and manage relationships with external resources more easily. The result is more efficient content production.
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It creates space for creativity
When your content is planned, this creates the space you need to be more creative. You have time to plan your strategies and brainstorm to produce the best ideas. It will also help you identify gaps in your content strategy where you need to focus on specific topics or events that are coming up.
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It allows you to stay ahead
When you plan your content ahead of time, then time starts working in your favor instead of against you. It allows you to plan and flex to your needs. It also gives you time to plan for 360-degree content marketing campaigns.
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Gives you a big-picture view of the process
Your content calendar lets you see what topics you’ll be writing about, when they need to be published, and how they relate to one another. It also helps you stay on top of other tasks like research and outreach that are necessary for successful content marketing. It helps you to map out individual campaigns in the context of your big-picture planning.
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Provides visibility across departments
Content marketers need to be more visible across departments to be successful. They need to collaborate with their colleagues in sales, production, customer service, and marketing. A content marketing calendar is a powerful tool that helps content marketers coordinate with other departments so they can get the most out of the combined efforts of everyone.
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Executes your social media marketing strategy
Your content calendar can also help you organize your social media posts that support your marketing campaign. You’ll be able to see your most effective content and plan social media posts and paid-for advertising to fuel your strategy.
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Plan each post out for specific social networks
You won’t forget another social media post again, and that’s going to reduce your stress and help you maximize the ROI of your digital marketing campaign.
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Allows you to prepare seasonal content
A content marketing calendar helps you to prepare seasonal content and content for specific campaigns. You won’t be too late to the party ever again. This helps you to create a consistent brand message for the calendar year and ensures that all your messages are aligned with your business goals.
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Keeps track of your performance
Content marketing is like any marketing campaign. It’s only at its most effective when you measure and track performance. By understanding the metrics, using and then benchmarking performance, you will be able to fine-tune your strategy to stay on track.
Excel in content marketing: Use a content calendar
The idea behind the use of a content calendar is simple: you want to create a more structured way of developing and distributing your content by planning out what you are going to publish in advance. When it comes to content marketing, it’s an essential tool.
By planning effectively, you’ll use your resources more effectively, save time, and always produce and publish content that supports your business goals and complements your other marketing efforts.
Want to see the difference that a content calendar could make to your business? Then book a live demo with BlabberJax.