Successful entrepreneurs tend to have a few things in common. And one of those universal, successful traits is a high level of organization. Few people reach their goals and achieve prosperity by making decisions on the fly. Rather, the more measured and detailed your approach is, the better off your business will be as a result. Specifically, forming a working content marketing calendar for your company is a tremendous way to ensure you allocate resources appropriately and take advantage of opportunities as they arise. If you’ve never built a calendar for your marketing content before, then make sure to check out our step-by-step guide here:
Analyze Your Consumer Base
Never forget that the chief role of digital marketing content is to provide useful information to consumers. Given that fact, it’s imperative for content marketers to understand not just what their readers are interested in, but when they want to engage with that content. Observing past viewing patterns and determining what times during the day, week, month, and year your readership is most active is the first step to forming a functional calendar.
Divide Your Content
Journalists use the term “evergreen” to refer to an article that they can publish at any time. Evergreen pieces have appeal whenever they’re published and don’t rely on time-sensitive information. In the same way, copywriters should divide their content into evergreen and time-sensitive material. (For example, a blog highlighting the benefits of HIPAA compliant VoIP phones would be considered evergreen, whereas a blog about upcoming changes in HIPAA policy is time-sensitive –– since readers need access to the blog before the changes occur.) By saving evergreen pieces for lean times during the year, marketers can more evenly distribute their content.
Break Out the Red Pen
Even businesses that don’t rely on seasonal traffic or sales still have busy and slow periods. Furthermore, nearly every company has a few key dates that play a major role in how they plan for the year. It may be an industry-wide conference that the business hosts. Or it may be a new product’s launch date. Whatever “that day” is for you, make sure you promote it appropriately with content, before, during, and after the event.
Budget for Surprises
Of course, marketers can’t account for every outside factor that could affect the nature of their content . . . but they can plan for outside factors affecting their schedule in the first place! Things like the new GDPR regulations, for instance, threw a monkey wrench into many professionals’ schedules last year. By planning for trouble, though, you can mitigate the negative effects associated with unforeseen challenges.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
