Whether it's a blog, a website or your professional Facebook page, coming up with ideas for content can be down-right panic inducing. You KNOW you need to post on a regular basis to keep your audience engaged, but you're busy. You're managing payroll, doing customer service, scheduling webinars and managing the concerns of your staff. Before you know it, you're laying awake at night sweating through frenzied thoughts of "I haven't posted on my blog in four weeks," or "what am I going to post tomorrow on Facebook?!"
Ridding yourself of the sheer panic is enough of a reason to start using a content calendar, but the benefits of creating a content calendar are numerous. A content calendar is a pre-determined calendar outlining what you're going to post and when. It helps to:
Give your organization a "big-picture" view for the month, allowing everyone to get a sense of what's on the agenda and allows plenty of time to prep content accordingly
Plan for recurring content, such as a regular educational series or upcoming events
Schedule content themes coinciding with different observances throughout the year, such as New Year, Halloween or the 4th of July
Boost staff morale by scheduling content highlighting anniversaries, birthdays and notable staff achievements
Boost audience participation by scheduling out time to thank them or otherwise highlight your intended audience members
Maintain the consistency of your core messages and branding across a variety of topics
Help you communicate your focus for the month with media partners and advertising partners
Provides opportunity to collaborate with other community partners to promote different days of content, allowing a chance for engagement and relationship-building
Provides an organized way to see what type of posts reach the most people and what type of post topics need to be re-evaluated.
If you're wondering if your business would benefit from using content calendars, the answer is yes! It will make your life easier and will take the burden off of you & your staff to create and/or scramble for content. Ready to learn more? Get in touch - I can help you get started and create a content calendar that suits your company's social media, branding and overall communicative needs.