The content calendar, commonly called an editorial calendar, is a written schedule of when and where you will publish future content. Most content calendars have several parts, including upcoming content, planned promotional activities, existing content updates, and status updates.
Why Are Content Calendars Important?
Today, content creation is a vital part of any marketing strategy. In fact, blog content is the most effective way to increase organic traffic to your website. In fact, if you make blogging a priority, you are 13 times more likely to see a positive ROI. Also, 72% of digital marketers claim content creation is the most effective SEO tactic they use.
Almost every business has invested time, money, and effort into content marketing. However, if you don’t use a calendar system, the planning and publishing schedule may become ineffective, disorganized, and hectic.
Some of the specific reasons content calendars are so beneficial are described here.
Ensure Content-Related Tasks Are Completed
With a content calendar, you can prove that content-related tasks are being handled. If your content production schedule is disorganized, you will forget things, publish less often, or fail to update your old articles.
With a content calendar, you have peace of mind that nothing falls between the cracks.
Simplifies Team Collaboration
With a well-organized content calendar, it’s easier to collaborate with your team and any outside partners. If you run the blog yourself, content calendars may not be necessary. However, if you have contractors or employees who contribute to the content, you need something to help everyone stay on the same page.
Overview of Upcoming Blogs and Content Related Tasks
Content calendars provide you with a big picture overview of things you have coming up related to your content. For example, you can use your content calendar to ensure you aren’t publishing blogs covering the same topic or too much of the same type of content. All this information is available in a single, organized location.
Basic Elements of a Content Calendar
You can use a content calendar tool; however, there’s no need to overcomplicate things. After all, the role of a content calendar is to make things easier for you and your team. To do this, start with something simple like Google Sheets.
Some of the elements all content calendars should have include:
Editorial
The editorial includes the pieces of content you will be publishing. This includes content on your blog, social media, or on a podcast.
Promotional
This outlines how you will promote your content and where it will be shared. Make sure you find a way to color code things to make it easier on you.
Future Ideas
Add a section to your content calendar where you can list ideas you haven’t started working on yet. This will help ensure you always have something new to the product and that you don’t forget your ideas.
Creating a Content Calendar
Creating a content calendar doesn’t have to be complicated, but you should put time and effort into it. It will help your content creation efforts significantly.