The 3 Things Every Content Calendar Needs
By Andrew Patricio
April 23, 2018
Small Business & Entrepreneurship
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Talk to any small business owner and you’ll find many who attribute their success to efficiency. And many businesses, small and large, rely on a content calendar to help drive efficiency across their marketing activities. So let’s go through the three things every content calendar needs.
For an effective content calendar, you don’t want to forget to include content that speaks to a niche persona. While this audience may not be your primary target, they should be a well-defined segment. And influencers will help you tell your story and spread your message, but only if you develop content that speaks to them.
What this Does
Selecting one or two niche segments to market to consistently over time can really help define your brand, voice, and help you dive deep with important early adopters or industry influencers who can impact your larger audience.
In addition to what content you’ll be creating and when you’ll be publishing it on which channel, a good content calendar will also include which influential blogs or sites you will consistently interact with and comment on. Identify which outlets or blogs you want to get visibility on, and set a consistent time when you will go to the site and find relevant posts or stories to comment on. Also, set an alert so that every time a subject is mentioned, you can join the conversations.
What this Does
Commenting on other blogs and media sites sets you up as an industry thought leader with a very specific audience. Adding it to your content calendar ensures consistency and will help you build trust over time.
Obviously, your content calendar must have a mix of content that you will be producing. Simplify as much as possible. Promote a “most shared” blog post every month. Add a voiceover to an existing deck and add it to YouTube and Slideshare. Take your best blogs, and create infographics from them.
What this Does
People consume information differently so having various forms of content, even on the same subject, will improve the absorption rate of your message. Plus, each time you promote a different type of content, you get a new opportunity to reach your next customer.
Having a content calendar takes time to plan, but with the right elements, you’ll find it not only makes your marketing easier, it makes your message more effective.
- Niche
For an effective content calendar, you don’t want to forget to include content that speaks to a niche persona. While this audience may not be your primary target, they should be a well-defined segment. And influencers will help you tell your story and spread your message, but only if you develop content that speaks to them.
What this Does
Selecting one or two niche segments to market to consistently over time can really help define your brand, voice, and help you dive deep with important early adopters or industry influencers who can impact your larger audience.
- Comment Away
In addition to what content you’ll be creating and when you’ll be publishing it on which channel, a good content calendar will also include which influential blogs or sites you will consistently interact with and comment on. Identify which outlets or blogs you want to get visibility on, and set a consistent time when you will go to the site and find relevant posts or stories to comment on. Also, set an alert so that every time a subject is mentioned, you can join the conversations.
What this Does
Commenting on other blogs and media sites sets you up as an industry thought leader with a very specific audience. Adding it to your content calendar ensures consistency and will help you build trust over time.
- Mix it Up
Obviously, your content calendar must have a mix of content that you will be producing. Simplify as much as possible. Promote a “most shared” blog post every month. Add a voiceover to an existing deck and add it to YouTube and Slideshare. Take your best blogs, and create infographics from them.
What this Does
People consume information differently so having various forms of content, even on the same subject, will improve the absorption rate of your message. Plus, each time you promote a different type of content, you get a new opportunity to reach your next customer.
Having a content calendar takes time to plan, but with the right elements, you’ll find it not only makes your marketing easier, it makes your message more effective.