5 Reasons your Content Calendar isn’t Working

Basim Mirza, Author, Speaker and Trainer Stacey Berold-Kutscher, Head of Marketing

Agenda

Introduction

Why content calendars

5 reasons your calendar isn’t working

5 tips to get going with

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Why spend time on a calendar?

#contentmarketingStrategy, organisation and project management

Align content with important dates

Be on the same page as your team

Inspiration – kiss writers block goodbye!

You can be organised and current at the same time

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Just some stats to back that up…

48% of B2C marketers and 42% of B2B marketers publish more than once a week - Content Marketing Institute

93% of B2B marketers use content marketing – Top Rank

On average, content marketers shoot for this division of content: 61% created, 27% curated, 12% syndicated - Curata

At least 29% are producing multiple assets per week – LookBookHQ

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Reason #1 You aren’t planning

You aren’t planning- Campaigns must be planned strategically- It’s not a day to day think - you must think

about the months ahead- If you’re not planning your content, you will

come up with low quality content on the spot

SolutionTake the time to PLAN

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January

February

March

April

May

Campaign Calendar

Reason #2 Too many calendars

You have too many calendarsWho follows what?

Who manages the calendar?

You need one calendar to rule them all

Bird’s eye view of content

Keep your team on the same page

Then have a scheduler for each channel

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Reason #3 You don’t share

You aren’t sharing your cal-endar- Train your team on the process and save

time for yourself- If you’re an agency, your clients will

benefit immensely from this process and be kept up todate

- Multiple contributors can view and edit the content calendar

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Reason #4 You don’t use a template

You don’t have a calendar templateWhat can we expect to see on the calendar

What does it mean, and what should I plan?

Decide on info needed and stick to it

Channel, person, topic

Date, scheduled, published

Even make use of place holders@Sendible @bazmirza

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Reason #5 You don’t brainstormYou aren’t brainstormingComing up with content can be a challenge, and planning it all ahead

Brainstorm!- Get your team involved on a weekly basis. Have

them author the content and contribute to the blog. Make it a competition.

- You can also ask question from clients on what they want to know. @Sendible @bazmirza

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Planning Ahead

Bonus tips to get you going

Here are some tips!

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Tip #1: Update old content

Leave room in your schedule for existing content

Republish relevant content after a refresh

Add existing content to new pieces through links

Schedule this into the calendar (or add as a

description in the topic)

Balance your calendar for best resource allocation

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Tip #2: Get Marketing and Sales Involved

Give access to your team, and have “flawless

delegation”. The Content Calendar must begin to have

its own life.

Set goals on how much production you’d like, and use

that goal to build metric goals on how your sales should

perform based on the contribution. @Sendible @bazmirza

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Tip #3: Create evergreen content

Industry and expert pieces are timeless

Have expert industry pieces written and ready

Use guest writers who meet your standards for

interesting, external opinion pieces

Use slow periods to replenish your supply

Make sure ideas go into the calendar

See what your competitors are writing about@Sendible @bazmirza

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Tip #4: Plan 4-6 months in advance

When building marketing campaigns behind your

products and services, be sure to plan 4-6 months

ahead. Then plan your content around the campaign.

Target your content based on the products you’re

selling, that way you start capturing organic traffic

that’s relevant.

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Tip #5: Harness the power of curated content

Use curated content as part of your strategyShows you are on-top of industry news

Help with brand awareness within the industry

Brings in other voices, tones and styles

Find the right technologies to supportSmart and relevant article streaming

Automate/schedule curated content from the outset@Sendible @bazmirza

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Some free calendars to get you started

Excel

And oldie but a goodie

Use ready made templates from experts

Trello

Free, additional paid features

Calendar view, easy to shift around

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Do you have any questions?

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