Having a well-crafted editorial calendar is key to implementing your content strategy. In this article, digital marketing experts share their top tips for managing an impactful content calendar.
In the marketing world, many people fall into the trap of believing that more is always better—especially when it comes to content creation. You see this especially on social media, with dozens of new brands and established firms posting tons of content and numerous different types of content. And while you definitely want to do as much with your content marketing efforts as possible, quantity alone doesn’t produce results.
So how do you create an impactful and effective content calendar or editorial calendar that is easy to follow and which helps you achieve your goals? That’s exactly the question we brought to several of our expert contributors, and they responded with numerous tips and pieces of advice to help you create, refine, and implement the best content calendar possible. Dive in below and take a look at the recommendations they provided to demystify the content calendar process.
Tailor Your Types of Content to Your Audience’s Interests
One of the most difficult parts of developing a content calendar, whether for your social media or for any other digital outlet, is figuring out just what to create. From tried-and-true examples like blog posts or evergreen content like whitepapers to new content ranging from infographics to TikTok videos to Facebook Live events and more, choosing what you want to create (and how much of it) is one of the most important steps.
Fortunately, there are a number of ways in which you can figure out just what your target audience considers to be effective content, and many of our experts had advice for this part of the process.
“Above all else, the key to a good content calendar is knowing what your audience is interested in. You have to get into their mind to create topics that are going to genuinely resonate with them.” —Megan Marshall, Customer Success Coordinator & Content Specialist at WEBii
Narrowing down all of your content ideas is also a part of the equation because the number of ideas for quality content that you already have might be just as big as the number of outlets and media you have available. Whether your goal is brand awareness or increased engagement, organizing or grouping your content areas makes it much easier for team members to develop and prioritize.
“Create 4-5 content buckets that align with your brand and the solutions you offer. It keeps all of your ideas organized, ensures that you stay with your content buckets, and helps you create engaging content that your audience will connect with.” —Kristin Lawton, Founder and Chief Brand Mixologist at The District Brand Bar
Your marketing plan likely already has considered content types, but types of messages are important, too. Especially when it comes to posting on social media platforms or any digital outlets and future content.
“We rotate through educational (how-tos, definitions, etc.), inspirational (quotes, stories, etc.), and product/service posts for our clients. But you also want to make sure you pepper in posts that humanize you and your brand. Incorporating meaningful, humanizing content allows your target market to learn about you and begin to know, like, and trust you.” —Emily J. Wiegert, Owner/Strategist/Designer at Back Pocket Branding
One of the easiest ways to figure out your content marketing strategy, whether you’re focused on LinkedIn or podcasts or anywhere else, is to consider what your customers are looking for.
“Think about the types of questions they might have. Provide your audience with expert guidance and build a relationship on trust. And provide your followers with good advice. You’ll be surprised by how many referrals and leads come from just being a positive presence online.” —Evan Holmgren, Founder of Hammerhead
And when it comes to questions and answers, that’s what most people are searching for, and the main reason they go online.
“Ninety-eight percent of all internet activity starts with a Google search. That means your ideal client is most likely asking Google where to find you. By creating content that will rank well for the questions your clients are asking, you can be the one to answer them and win their business.” —Jade Pruett, SEO Strategist at HelloSEO
Optimizing your content isn’t just about knowing your customers’ questions, but also knowing your company, too. Understanding your brand is the number one way to make the content authentic.
“My first tip is to make sure that you fully have a grip on your brand —who you are, what you do, and why that matters. Only then are you able to create meaningful content to your audience that properly delivers your message.” —Ben Precious, CEO at Pace Social Media
And while you’re considering what to post, you should also be looking at another key aspect of successful content marketing efforts —when. In addition to posting on a regular basis, you should take into consideration the most effective times of the day.
“Schedule your content marketing posts and social media content for optimal time slots. Posting at the right time of day can take you from 0-100.” —Jeffrey Miles, Owner of Jeff Social Marketing
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What Are Your Marketing Goals?
Just like any other marketing effort, your content development needs to be rooted in goals. What you’re posting, and when you’re posting it, only matter as long as you understand why you are developing this content in the first place.
“Know what the goals of your content calendar are, and know exactly what timeframes and expectations you have for that content. From there, you can work backward by considering what an informed or converted customer would need to know or feel, and develop content from that perspective.” —Sean Denny, Co-Founder & Digital Marketer at Mythicode Digital Marketing
Having an end goal is useful in and of itself, but will be even more valuable by helping you establish important dates, incremental goals, key metrics, and other measures of success for publishing content.
“Use your end goal as a measuring stick. While it can be tempting to focus on a subject matter that you enjoy, that may not provide the results you’re seeking. Find resources like a keyword research tool or a competitive analysis so you don’t end up with less-than-impressive results.” —Nicole Denson, Marketing Manager at Big Leap
Asking the Big Questions
Our panel of marketing experts and content creators also agreed that asking yourself some key questions upfront can result in high-quality content and a workflow that is as efficient as it is effective.
“The biggest point for me is starting with the ‘why.’ Whether you’re working on social media posts, developing blog content, industry campaigns, Tik Toks, or whatever, you need to get comfortable with knowing the reason behind what you’re doing.” —Alexandra Bohannon, Content Manager at Bridges
And related to the goals mentioned before, asking yourself and your marketing team what the purpose of the content is can help you develop better, more effective content and content themes.
“What is the purpose of creating your content? What are you trying to achieve? You want to know who you are creating content for, and what your goals are, and then create high-value content that gets people engaged.” —Daniel Sarao, Owner of Macaw Digital Marketing
Content with Real Value
So you know your brand, your audience, and your goals. This means you’re now onto the next step—creating content that connects. And finding out what that means for your company will lead to a social media content calendar that is built on a solid foundation.
“Look at the questions your customers ask as they first learn about the service or product, as they compare offerings, and as they make their final decision. Then create content that answers these specific questions and interlink each new piece of content to boost the SEO ranking signals of each page.” —Colton De Vos, Marketing Specialist at Resolute Technology Solutions
Another tip—don’t give up on the content that you have already developed. When it comes to blogs, webpages, and other content that has been posted, you can still make optimization of that content a part of your strategy and calendar.
“Don’t forget about updating content for relevance based on keywords that increase SEO and resonate with what you learn about audience interests. Content should serve as resources for your audience, educating them more about your brand and resolving audience pain points.” —Juwairiya Kembo, Content Team Lead/Coordinator at seoplus+
The value of your content is key, as is the uniqueness of what you have to say and how you present it.
“Creating value-adding, unique content is the best way to connect with your audience. It also helps build trust and improves your digital reputation, showing your depth of knowledge and how much you care about the particular subject.” —Masha Kaprian, CEO & Founder at iMedPages, LLC
And that usefulness will translate into real engagement with your content, rather than people scrolling past or barely absorbing what you have to say.
“The content has to be useful to your readers. You don’t want to just push promotional content that fails to capture the attention of your audience. Quality content will help ensure genuine engagement rather than just quick glances.” —David Wurst, Founder of WebCitz, LLC
Be Realistic With What’s Possible
While you want to be enthusiastic about the planning and development of your content marketing pieces, it’s also important to take a step back and consider what you can do versus what you want to do. Whether it is because of budget, timing, project management capabilities, or some other factor, you want to establish realistic and achievable goals for your content marketing efforts.
“It’s important to be realistic about how much content you can produce. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and bogged down if you try to do too much too soon. Start small and gradually increase the volume and frequency of your content as you get more comfortable with the process.” —Atarah Pipe-Rougeau, Content Curation Specialist at Fusion Marketing
There are a lot of examples where the advice “start small” is incredibly important, and developing content is certainly one of them. Don’t try to do everything, especially if you have limits on time, staff, and budget.
“Define your goals and focus on fewer platforms if your resources are limited. It is better to be in fewer places with great content than try to populate every outlet without enough content.” —Laurent Bourscheidt, Creative Director at L+B Design
Not only will a realistic approach make your content more effective; but it will also help your team get rolling and grow their capabilities quickly, too.
“Make your content calendar goals attainable. If you are just starting out, keep the number of articles light. As people get into a groove, ramp it up. If you come out of the gate with too many articles, you won’t get team buy-in.” —Alyssa O’Mara, Agency Owner at O’Mara Marketing & Media
But Remember that Anything is Possible
Being realistic, though, shouldn’t limit what can actually achieve in terms of content development and planning. If anything, it can help you make even more next-level content that smashes your goals.
“There are so many great pieces of content you can share, from results you’ve achieved for your clients to powerful case studies, your business story and history, helpful tips and insight, and questions to help engage your community. There’s no limit, really.” —Hunter Ray Barker, Co-Founder of Bullfrog Digital Marketing Agency & SEO Company
And when developing your calendar, especially when you have multiple content developers and contributors, you want to ensure that there’s no confusion or doubt.
“The easiest social media calendar to implement is one that has all the guesswork taken out of it. With proper planning, developing your social media content can be as easy as reviewing your planning calendar, finding the topic you had planned out, and writing about that.” —Donna Galassi, President at Blue Zenith Design + Strategy
And while developing a strong plan is a big part of maximizing your potential success, the real-time aspect of social media is what sets it apart from your other marketing and content outlets.
“Flexibility is everything! The tenor of the times can change rapidly, so don’t hesitate to change the dates associated with your content. The more relevant your content is, the more it will resonate with your audience.” —Chuck Rees, Founder at Nuflux Media
Successful Content Starts Here
Whether you’re starting with Excel and free tools like Trello and Hootsuite, or you’ve already got paid tools and a team in place, our expert advice on creating a content calendar that gets results will be useful. However you make it happen, we don’t want content development and planning to feel like a slog. There are countless opportunities available to you in terms of digital content development and our content marketing providers are ready and available to help you get people excited about your brand, services, or products.