The Importance of a Content Calendar for Your Marketing Efforts

By DANIEL LUISE – January 22, 2018

Fresh, well-written, and relevant content is an integral part of a successful marketing plan for any organization. However, effectively managing that content is also essential. That’s where a content calendar comes in.

Content management strategies include releasing the right content at the right time, using content designed to speak to a specific audience, and making certain that you’ve got a healthy supply of appropriate content waiting to be published. A good content calendar can do all that and more. But the first step is creating one that’s tailored to your individual organizational needs and the habits of your members and audience.

What Goes into a Content Calendar?

What do you think of when you hear “content calendar”? The word “content” can include a lot of different areas. For this, let’s focus on emails, social posts, and blogs. With marketing automation, those are three of the main content efforts that your marketing and sales team will want to organize and schedule.

The ability to have all three types of content on one calendar is key. However, having them automatically added to the calendar is even better. With the right marketing automation tool, like MAX, your activity will automatically be added to your calendar. Your calendar should display every email, blog, social post that you have scheduled or already posted.

Consistency is Key

Why bother with a content calendar? Whether it is posting on social media, scheduling weekly blog posts or sending out monthly emails, consistency is key. With the right content calendar, you can easily make sure you are staying consistent with your messaging. You can easily see how often and when posts are being submitted or scheduled. Take a look at the month as a whole. Are there days or weeks that seem bare? Start scheduling!

Staying ahead of the game is also important. With an effective calendar, you can easily schedule ahead for days, weeks or even months. That way, if something comes up, or you become too busy, you don’t have to worry about falling behind.

The Power of Organization

Scheduling emails, blogs, and all of your social posts in one calendar can get overwhelming. That’s why with the right calendar, you can easily switch between seeing all of your content at once, or narrowing in on specific content. You also want the ability to switch between different calendar views. From the month as a whole, down to weeks and all the way to a specific day, see exactly what is scheduled and when. You have the power to see your content as you wish. The right content calendar can give your marketing and sales team the insight they need to be aware of exactly what and when posts are being made.

Want to see a full content calendar in action? Contact us and we’d happily show off ours!