Are you wondering how to choose the best content calendar for your business? There are so many options out there – both paid and free – which can cause a world of confusion and doubt.
I know this from personal experience. When I first started my business, I could see the immediate benefit of being organised with my content. But I downloaded so many, that I got so confused. Even recently I decided to sign up to an email bundle and out of curiosity, I decided to download a couple of content calendar and planning systems. Even I was confused looking at them!
So, instead of looking at the features of a content calendar for your business, I encourage you to embrace these three things instead.
Decide on the format
The best content calendar for your business is one that your brain can easily interpret. Do you prefer to have a visual representation? Perhaps you like spreadsheets over word documents. Or a project management system like Asana, Trello or Airtable may suit you better.
There’s no point in trying to use a content calendar if it first doesn’t fit with your style or way of doing things.
Build it yourself
It’s not that scary! Take the best of all of the content calendars you’ve ever downloaded or seen and build one that makes sense to your brain.
I know that there’s no way that I could’ve used any of the content calendars or planning systems in the bundle I recently downloaded. It looked too complicated and not something that I would want to use.
If you’re a pen and paper kind of gal, you could even find a calendar template on Canva that you like and print it out. Build it in a way that makes sense for you.
Remember that a content calendar isn’t just for social media. It needs to also include areas for your email marketing and core content (blog, podcast or video).
Strategic focus
Now that you know what your preferred style is, together with how you want to build it, it’s now time to fill in the granular details.
- What platforms does it need to include?
- How often can you commit to creating content for each platform?
- How can you make sure that you’re covering the client journey in your ecosystem?
To help you be more strategically with your social media content calendar, listen to episode 8 of The Powerful Content Podcast called Simple social media plan sorted.
Having a functional and beautiful content calendar isn’t any benefit to your business if it doesn’t guide you to create powerful and purposeful content.
There’s no ‘shoulds’ when it comes to content, and definitely no ‘shoulds’ when it comes to the best content calendar for your business. However, making sure that it makes sense to you, and is in a format that makes you want to use it, will ensure that you give yourself the best possible chance of creating strategic content that your ideal client wants to hear.
If you’re looking for a content calendar for your business, come and join The Content Effect. You can adapt the easy-to-use template in a way that best suits your strengths, style and strategy.
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