A common question bloggers ask is ‘What Is A Content Calendar”, and “How Do I Create a Content calendar?”. This guide intends to answer those questions and provide calendar solutions.
The Basics
For those who might not know, content calendar software, which goes by the name of editorial calendar software as well, helps people come up with content calendars in a smooth, efficient manner.
This calendar usually contains a written schedule of when and where content is supposed to be published. A Content Calendar commonly includes status updates, upcoming pieces, partnerships, updates to current content, and promotion activity.
A content calendar helps people who run websites and blogs stay on track with their work.
With so much happening in the digital world, it is tremendously important to have a firm content calendar in place that will help marketing campaigns, business leaders, teachers, and everyone in between stay on track.
When it comes to finding the right content calendar software, there are a few tips for focusing.
Why Content Calendars Matter
The biggest reason why content calendar software is essential is that they allow people to keep track of everything that is supposed to be published.
First, some people have a simple blog that they like to update from time to time. In this situation, a complicated content calendar might not necessarily be necessary.
On the other hand, if the blog is a vital part of an online business, then a content calendar is critical because it helps everyone stay organized. The blog plays an essential role in the digital marketing campaign. How do content calendars help this happen?
There are a few points to keep in mind.
A content calendar ensures that everything that has to happen does happen. A content calendar is like a schedule. If something is on the list, then it happens. Without the content calendar, these items might get overlooked. The unfortunate event would be publishing less often, which hurts online visibility, brand awareness, and the SEO campaign.
Next, a content calendar makes it easy for people to collaborate with their team as well as outside partners. For those who run a single-person blog, this point might not seem important; however, it is crucial for those who work with employees and other contractors to have something that keeps everyone working toward a common goal. For example, many people use software programs that use the cloud.
Everyone can see the calendar. Leaders can provide instructions to other team members and contractors, letting them know what has to be published, where, and when. Content calendar software makes it easier for people to collaborate.
Finally, a content calendar also provides everyone with a big-picture overview of everything coming up. For example, a content calendar can ensure the same content isn’t published repeatedly. A content calendar can also track when items are going up, making sure that there are no posted duplicates. The entire marketing team can see everything on a big screen.
These are a few of the most important reasons why a content calendar is essential.
It is vital to find the right software. It’s essential to understand the critical parts of a content calendar.
The Best Practices to Remember About a Content Calendar
There are many content calendar software options to choose from; however, it is difficult to find the right one if people don’t know what they want.
With this in mind, there are a few points to keep in mind when it comes to the right content calendar.
Remember, the job of a content calendar is to make everything easier for the team. There are a few items that need to be present on every content calendar.
These include:
Editorial
This is an essential piece of any content calendar. It consists of the parts of content that will publish shortly.
This part of the calendar includes everything from social media posts to podcasts and even simple blog articles. Remember, the goal of the content calendar is to get editorial pieces scheduled far in advance. The team can stay organized, consistent, and on track with any publishing schedule. Remember that some companies have their programs planned out a year in advance.
There isn’t a “perfect” schedule to follow. Some bloggers don’t even know what’s going up next week; however, the content calendar allows users to set the pace while remaining flexible enough to wheel in another direction.
Platform
The platform is what hosts the calendar. There is a lot of flexibility when it comes to content calendars. For example, some people who run a one-person show might use a simple piece of paper and a pen; however, Google Calendar is one of the most popular content calendar options. The most important thing is that there is no right answer! The team has to find what works for it.
For those who create content with a group, there might be a few dozen people working on content before it goes live.
It is critical to use an option that everyone can see. Otherwise, it is easy for the leader to get overloaded with emails asking for simple points of clarification. A content calendar that everyone can view and edit will help with this! Therefore, it might be helpful to find a content calendar that has been designed specifically for collaboration.
This is a way to organize SEO campaigns, run a marketing campaign, and send new content to other people who need assignments. Some of the options for freelancers include Trello and Asana.
Promotional
The next part of any content calendar is called the promotional. The promotional section of the content calendar addresses how the content is going to be shared. The promotion could include everything from a social media platform such as Facebook to a podcast event such as a Reddit AMA. Sometimes, this could consist of something like an email blast or simple flyers!
Now, the promotional section doesn’t necessarily have to be in a separate area; however, it is a good strategy to use a piece of software that can color code them, allowing them to get noticed visually quickly.
Future Ideas
Finally, the content calendar should have a spot for future ideas. It’s a simple list of ideas that might not be active or even in progress; however, this should be a separate section to remember the content ideas. These ideas don’t necessarily have to be on the calendar, but they should be in an area where users can “brain dump” their thoughts, so they aren’t lost.
These are the most important tips to remember when it comes to running a content calendar.
Every content calendar should have these pieces of the platform available so that it is easy to organize, plan, and execute ideas.
Now, as mentioned above, there are lots of options available when it comes to using content calendars.
It includes everything from pen and paper to Google Sheets; however, there are also content calendar software options. There are a few key options that everyone should keep in mind.
The SEMrush Content Calendar
One of the top options out there for a content calendar is from the popular site SEMrush.
SEMrush has gained a lot of notoriety for its ability to run effective SEO campaigns, helping marketing teams develop the right plan to meet their needs.
Now, SEMrush even has a new content calendar software option that helps users come up with plans for their publishing schedules.
Some of the significant benefits of the content calendar from SEMrush include:
Align Marketing Campaigns
The SEMrush content calendar allows people to plan all of their marketing plans in a single place. It allows everyone to forget about lost tiles and messy spreadsheets with benefits such as templates, recurring activities, and even a spot to track a campaign budget.
It is easy to set reminders for repeat activities, ensuring they do not get missed.
Collaborate in Real-Time
One of the most important benefits of the SEMrush content calendar is that it allows the team to collaborate with the rest of the team in real-time.
It is possible to invite an unlimited number of teammates to use the SEMrush content calendar, making the marketing campaign more effective.
Some of the options that administrators have through the SEMrush content calendar include monitoring the activity history log, adding comments with mentions, and even adding read-only permissions. This degree of control is unique to the SEMrush content calendar.
Integrate with Google Analytics
It is critical to note the integrations that come with the SEMrush content calendar. One of the most significant benefits is the ability to analyze the performance of any marketing campaign thanks to the Google Analytics integration.
All marketing campaigns need to have objective key performance indicators (KPIs) that track the marketing campaign’s performance.
With UTM tags, it is easy to get an instant overview of how the marketing campaign performs.
It can line up right next to the publishing schedule, ensuring that upcoming tailored content meets the marketing strategy’s needs.
Manage All Marketing Tasks
Of course, the SEMMush content calendar allows everyone to gather all of their marketing tasks and workflows in a single place.
It is possible to track all of the progress and supervise it as it goes up. The tool will allow for customized notifications, assigned projects to people, and set due dates.
This level of control is tailored to meet the user’s needs, setting the SEMrush content calendar apart from the other options.
Communicate with Clients
Finally, global visibility is good for not only the other team members but also clients.
There are lots of marketers and business leaders that want to share their content calendar with their clients. The emails back and forth will be reduced.
Settings can include read-only mode. Content calendars can be shared using external links. Even better, you can share these as either hard attachments, PDF exports, or even CSV exports.
These are a few of the most important benefits of the SEMrush content calendar.
Of course, this is not the only option out there when it comes to content calendars. There are a few other options that people should keep in mind.
Trello
Many people are familiar with Trello, and they have a helpful organizational tool when it comes to content calendars.
Specifically, this software is ideal for those who are interested in social media marketing. With Trello, it is easy to hand out assignment cards. Then, these cards an e added to boards and lists on a Trello content calendar that makes it easy to track to-do lists.
It is also possible to house ideas that might be the product of a brainstorm and plan an entire marketing campaign.
As one example of a content board on this Trello content calendar template, some of the cards might include Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Now, there are multiple options when it comes to a content calendar on Trello. Users can customize these boards to meet their needs. Trello cards provide a tremendous degree of flexibility, allowing leaders to assign projects to different team members.
They allow for due dates, the labels can be customized, and the team can update their progress along the way, allowing everyone to stay on track.
Trello even offers a full content calendar view, making it easy to see what is going out and when.
Microsoft Excel
Now, most marketing teams already use Microsoft Excel, but this is an excellent option for running a content calendar.
Microsoft Excel has customization abilities according to the priorities or metrics of the team. The reality is that this is a great tool when it comes to preparing for the future.
It is possible to create a content calendar template in Microsoft Excel that can distribute with ease. Marketers can use a Microsoft Excel template to plan out individual blog posts, social media posts, email blasts, and more.
Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool, and the cells are editable and growable. The cells of a content calendar made through Microsoft Excel can be color-coded to match the various tasks.
Then, comments can be added to the cell to assign them to certain people. There can even be a separate sheet that can act as a repository for ideas that come from a brainstorm.
The best part is that Microsoft Excel is free, helping to cut overhead costs. Microsoft Excel can be as complicated or as simple as people want to make it.
Evernote
Some people might not have heard about Evernote; however, this is an excellent option for content calendar software. Evernote is an app that people can use to take notes; however, it can also track every moving part of a marketing campaign.
The tool features logs broken up by the hour, week, month, and year, providing everyone with the level of detail they need while also providing them with an overarching view.
Another vital feature of Evernote that everyone should note is that this content calendar provides a web clipper extension that works with chrome.
Marketers can use this tool to save links that need to be shared later. Now, nobody will have to worry about overlooking a link that they came across but can’t remember what it was.
Finally, Evernote also has a mobile app.
Some exciting features will help everyone keep their notes straight. For example, the mobile app can be used to snap a photo and then save it for review later.
This feature is valuable for those who need a backlog of photos that need publishing as part of a marketing campaign, such as one that takes place on Instagram.
Google Drive
Finally, it is also essential to mention content calendar software creation on Google Drive.
Google Drive comes with some templates that make it easy for marketers to create a useful content calendar.
This template is one of the most popular options. First, Google Calendar can be used to share information with multiple teams.
This feature allows people to avoid scheduling conflicts, ensuring that campaigns are appropriately aligned.
The different tasks can be color-coded for social media platforms, blog posts, and meetings that might have to take place. Then, the tabs can be shaded or textured to match specific items for certain team members.
The color-coding helps everyone stay up to date on what is happening with the team.
Also, Google Drive works well with Google Sheets, allowing everyone to track different content statuses.
Because Google Drive is a versatile option, it is popular among social media managers, content managers, bloggers, freelancers, and even enterprise-level companies.
Find the Right Content Calendar Software
These are a few of the top templates and content calendar software options available.
A content calendar is essential for making sure that all ideas are remembered, planned, and published on time.
A content calendar helps make sure that duplicates aren’t published, that content is visible, and everyone has access to the same information, reducing the number of emails sent back and forth.
Therefore, every organization should think about using content calendar software to help them stay organized.
Some of the factors to consider when it comes to content calendar software include the software’s price, the number of templates available, the versatility, and the learning curve.
These factors will help everyone find the content calendar software that is right for them. A Content Calendar is a critical part of every digital marketing campaign.
