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Developing a content calendar can be a massive help to marketing teams struggling to create a cohesive overall marketing strategy. Numerous elements contribute to an effective marketing campaign.
Because of all the factors that play a role in a successful marketing plan, a content calendar allows marketing teams to keep track of what is due and the associated tasks, and get insight into how to create marketing content that will reach the target audience.
Depending on the type of content your marketing team is producing, you can adjust your content calendar to fit your needs better. However, a successful digital marketing campaign requires detailed content planning. This article will cover the ins and outs of content calendars and how creating a content calendar can improve your marketing team’s performance.
What Is a Content Calendar?
Understanding what a content calendar entails is the first step in developing a successful campaign. Content calendars are critical pieces of a successful marketing campaign and provide marketing teams with all the necessary details to create a compelling piece of content.
Content calendars are especially helpful for teams looking to organize content and build a regular publishing schedule to keep target audiences interested.
A content calendar is helpful for many reasons, including planning content and publishing content regularly. Digital and social media marketers often use content calendars to plan their content, which helps prevent stress and confusion from team members.
Keeping team members in the know is essential, as a Gallup survey found that only about 50% of employees had a clear understanding of what was exected of them at work. This can lead to confusion, lack of motivation, low engagement, and underperformance.
Why Are Content Calendars Important?
Content calendars are a vital piece of any marketing effort because they are one of the simplest ways to keep track of tasks, stay on top of incoming work, and create a solid level of trust between brand and audience.
For example, a social media content calendar can give marketing teams an overview of when someone will publish content such as a blog post, what upcoming content creation will include, and how content is ranking overall.
What Does a Content Calendar Include?
While content calendars are tailored to the needs and audience of specific marketing campaigns, there are some essential elements that every content calendar will include. Some of these elements include a set publish date, timelines for content creation, and color-coded or categorized tasks for each team member.
Regardless of what your team is marketing, a content calendar is necessary to ensure that everyone on your team is on the same page. If you effectively organize the above elements, along with details like what social media channel the content will be marketed on and who the target audience is, it gives marketing teams a better chance of producing successful campaigns.
How Do Content Calendars Benefit Marketing Campaigns?
For those working on a marketing team, having a content calendar can increase efficiency and eliminate the stress caused by confusion and disorganization in marketing strategies. A content calendar improves marketing efficiency for marketing teams, ensuring that a brand is able to get content out and connect with its target audience consistently, which is key.
Along with this, content calendars can be helpful for social media influencers who need to plan their content schedule. Being a professional influencer requires regular content creation on a set schedule to increase audience engagement. For influencers who are partnered with brands, a content calendar can benefit both parties and ensure that everyone is on the same page.
What Should You Include in a Content Calendar Template?
Building a content calendar template that can be referred to when beginning a new marketing campaign saves marketing teams and influencers valuable time that teams can put into content creation efforts. While there are many content calendar templates available, a successful calendar template should be tailored to the needs of the marketing team or influencer.
Generally, a content calendar template will include 1) The publish date and time for specific content, 2) Categories of content to be posted on specific days, 3) Topics that will be focused on in the content, and 4) What social media channel the content will be posted on.
Along with this, using a color-coded template can help keep everything on track. Color-coding based on the type of content being published, the channel that a team member will publish the content on, or the people working on the content helps keep every member of the marketing team focused on one ultimate goal.
Tools to Help With Content Calendar Creation
For those new to creating an editorial calendar, the steps to formulating an effective schedule may seem overwhelming. While content calendars effectively reduce stress from disorganization, the process of creating them for the first time is understandably stressful for some.
Fortunately, there are numerous accessible tools that you can use to build your own content calendar that you can then share with the rest of your team so that everyone has access to the same schedule. Platforms like Trello, Google Workspace, and Asana all offer accessible and promising ways to develop a content calendar.
Even though developing a schedule in this way may initially seem like a hefty task, it can help to take advantage of the tools available to you, many of which are free and easy to use. Content calendars should make marketing campaigns more manageable and less stressful, not the opposite! Putting the time and effort into developing a system now can streamline future campaigns and help your company excel.
Final Words
Creating a content calendar is among the most helpful ways of ensuring consistency in digital/content marketing campaigns. To build an effective content calendar, take advantage of the tools and services on the market! In addition to the tools mentioned above, Markerly can help brands and influencers reach their target audience through comprehensive and compelling content.
With the various services provided by the experts at Markerly, your marketing campaigns can run smoothly and produce the results you need to grow! Get started by contacting Markerly today to make progress on your marketing vision and get your content organized.
