Content marketing is an umbrella term for a range of marketing activity. Content marketing is based on the concept that by providing high quality information across a variety of platforms, you can engage and gain customer interest. Content marketing ultimately strives to retain reader attention and increase brand awareness and loyalty.
Content marketing is non-interruption marketing which is non- invasive and provides customers with valuable information. People will associate valuable content with your company and as such will consider your company as a go to source when looking for products or information in that industry. Rather than spamming customers with pop up banners, or a hard sale, it is far better to provide information that benefits a consumer.
Planning the type of content you want to create is important. It’s advisable that you have a persona or customer type in mind when you’re creating this content, this way you can then plan what content you’re going to create. Knowing how to connect with your audience and why they’re looking for this information will help to bring your brand to your audience.
Editorial calendars enable you to better plan your content so you never run out of ideas. It’s easy just to write a blog on demand but if you plan your content to coincide with events throughout the year, your content will be more relevant. When sharing this content on social media sites, it will be more shareable if it’s socially relevant to people. With the ever increasing correlation with SEO and social media, it’s important to create content which people want to share.
A content marketing calendar also helps the team collaborate better. It’s easier to get an overall focus on all of the content marketing efforts for that client. It also enables you to vary up your content so that your readers don’t get bored. Mix up the topics and include content such as “how to” articles. In fact 4% of searches on Google are for “how to” articles. Case studies, white papers, fun industry related news and trending topics are a good starting point.
Decide on how often you will post content onto your chosen channel. Be realistic and look at your resources. Similarly if you have multiple people writing on these different platforms and channels, then consider a style guide so that brand guidelines are kept to. It’s easy for different people’s styles to creep through but this can lead to inconsistencies.
When it comes to creating your calendar, decide on a layout which works best for you and your clients. Some of the things to consider in a calendar are:
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Forms of Content
- Content Title – Come up with a list of topics that coincide with social events. Be aware of what’s happening around you and specific dates in your industry. Ensure you have a good balance of informative as well as fun topics built into your calendar, as different people will be searching for different types of content
- Due Date
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Distribution Channels
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Appropriate timeline
However not every publisher sticks to their calendar. You’re bound to have ideas that pop up out of the blue. The idea of a content marketing calendar is to produce regular content and ensure you have an even spread of relevant information that is fresh and consistently updated.
Make sure your calendar works for you. It’s easy just to grab a calendar template online but these may not always apply to your company. Have a go at creating your own calendar which works for you.
