Content Creation – Ways to Plan a Content Marketing Schedule
Content marketing and creation is an essential part of any digital marketing strategy. Without it, your company will have no material to share with its audience. However, content creation often falls by the wayside because of a lack of planning. In this blog post, we will explore how to create a successful content marketing schedule for your company. Let’s get started!
How content marketing can improve your business
If you’re in the marketing world, you’re probably aware that having a solid content marketing strategy is essential to your business’s success.
Content marketing isn’t just for companies with large marketing budgets: it’s for businesses of all sizes in any industry. It’s a great way to establish relationships with your audience, improve your search engine rankings, and grow your business.
Here are 3 reasons why content marketing is important for your business:
1. It’s a great way to connect with your audience
This is one of the most important aspects of content marketing. It provides your audience with valuable information. When done well, content marketing can help your audience solve their problems.
For example, if you’re a wedding planner, your audience might be looking for tips on saving money or how to save money on their wedding flowers. If you publish a blog post on this topic, your audience will be grateful.
2. It can improve your search engine rankings
If you’ve ever wondered why your company isn’t ranking as highly in the search engines as you would like, content marketing could be the answer. Consistent, high-quality content will improve your SEO efforts.
Don’t forget that search engines are looking to provide their users with the best and most relevant content. When your company continuously publishes relevant, high-quality content, search engines will recognize your efforts and reward you with a higher ranking.
3. It can help you boost sales
Content marketing can play a key role in your sales funnel. If you’re giving your audience valuable content, they’re going to want to stick around to see what you have to offer. Once you have a relationship with your audience, you’re more likely to convert them into customers.
How to create a successful content marketing strategy
Okay, so now that you know that content marketing is crucial to your business, how do you create a successful content marketing strategy?
With content being such a vital aspect of digital marketing, it is no surprise that many companies are strapped for time when it comes to creating it. On top of that, many companies simply do not have the necessary skills to create the content that their audience needs.
Having a content marketing schedule can help turn your company’s content into a well-oiled machine. By planning your content, you can relax, knowing that all of your content will be created on time. Here are 4 steps you can take to create a successful content marketing strategy:
1. Analyse your current content
The first step in creating a successful content marketing schedule is to analyze your existing content. This step might seem obvious, but you would be surprised how many companies skip it. By analyzing your existing content, you can see what types of content work, what your audience is responding to, and what type of content you’re not creating. You can analyze your content by looking at your most popular blog posts or the most shared posts on social media.
2. Identify gaps in your content analysis
Once you’ve analyzed your existing content, the next step is to identify any gaps in your content. For example, maybe you’re not sharing enough videos on social media, or you’re not publishing enough blogs on your website. Identifying these gaps will help you create an effective content marketing strategy.
3. Create an editorial calendar
Once you have analyzed your existing content and identified any gaps in your content, the next step is to create an editorial calendar. An editorial calendar will help you decide what types of content to create and when to publish them. Your editorial calendar can be a checklist, or you can use something like Trello.
It’s a good idea to have an editorial calendar that all your team members have access to. This will ensure consistency and that all of your team members are on the same page when it comes to creating your content.
4. Track your content
Once your content has been published, you should continue to track the performance of your content. Tracking the performance of your content will help you figure out which types of content your audience is responding to, so you can create more content like that.
It’s important to remember that a successful content marketing strategy takes time. Don’t expect to create content and have it work right away. But by creating an effective content marketing strategy, you’ll be able to see an increase in leads and conversions, as well as an increase in traffic to your website.
Planning your content according to the buying cycle
Planning your content according to the buying cycle will help you create content that will resonate with your audience. The buying cycle is the steps a customer goes through, from when they first become aware of your product or service to when they finally make a purchase. The buying cycle can be broken down into 3 stages:
1. Awareness
When a customer is initially made aware of your product or service, they’re usually unaware of what their needs are and what they expect. They’re still forming an idea of what they like and don’t like.
2. Consideration
Once a customer is well aware of their pain points, they’re now beginning to consider their options. It’s at this stage that customers begin to compare your product or service with other options.
3. Decision
Once a customer has decided on a product or service, they’re now at the point where they’re ready to make a purchase. It’s now your job to convince them that they need your product or service.
The buying cycle is similar to the sales funnel. However, the buying cycle is not a linear process. A customer can jump between different stages of the buying cycle, and it can take more than one touch point to move a customer from Awareness to Decision.
You should share content that relates to each stage of the buying cycle. For example, let’s say you’re a fitness coach. You should create content that helps potential customers become aware of their fitness goals, content that helps them consider their options, and content that will help them make a decision.
Conclusion:
Now that you have the gears of content strategy in motion for your blog, you might think you’re in the clear. However, content creation is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s important to remember that creating and promoting content is an ongoing process. By creating content that helps your audience become aware of their pain points, you can increase the number of leads and conversions you receive from your blog.
We hope that this article gives you a place to start when planning your content strategy. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to let us know in the comments below!
FAQs
What is Content Scheduling ?
The process of content scheduling entails uploading material for future publication.
What Does a Content Schedule Look Like?
A content calendar, sometimes referred to as a “editorial calendar,” is a written timetable that indicates the times and locations of planned content releases. Content calendars usually list forthcoming projects, current events, scheduled publicity campaigns, collaborations, and revisions to previously published material.
What is the Difference Between a Content Plan and a Content Schedule?
The kind of material and the subjects you must cover to implement the strategy are reflected in the content plan. (It might also make it clearer how the content will be created.) A content calendar helps you plan out exactly when to produce and market the material that is part of your strategy.