Every business and nonprofit should be using a content calendar inside of their digital and social strategies. Content calendars, otherwise known as editorial calendars or blogging calendars, are strategic documents that you use to schedule out what content you will write, create an audio podcast or even a video podcast about. Content calendars help you and your marketing efforts stay focused and on task. They also allow you to see what has been produced and what still needs to be produced.
In this video, Joshua Brown, CEO of Soulheart shares in detail 5 reasons why creating a content calendar is so important. Watch it, take notes, rewatch it, and share it with your friends and coworkers. And then don’t forget to download you free content calendar template below!
Don’t like videos? Would you rather read? We have you covered too! Just scroll down to the bottom of this article and we provided you the video transcripts!
Now that you have watched the video you may be asking yourself “Great! But how do I get started?” Well, we have some incredible information for you on what to track and why to track it and then get 5 FREE Tips from some of the world’s content calendar experts.
In that article we give you overall strategy tips, monthly strategy tips, content ideas, reasons why you should be tracking your content, and then five bonus tips from the pros. It is an incredibly valuable article where we just give away all our knowledge absolutely free! Oh and there is a content calendar template there too!
Get Valuable Tips On How To Use A Content Calendar
Hey everybody my name is Joshua. I’m the founder of Soulheart and today I’m going to unpack 5 key points of how a content calendar can save you hours of time inside of your business!
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Hey everybody welcome back! So first we’re going to talk about how a content calendar won’t leave you scrambling for content at the last minute. This happens to all of us. We’re always scrambling to create content. You know, maybe it’s some news event has happened or maybe there’s some holiday you forgot about you want to tie in or some national day that’s being observed throughout the country and you forgot about it. A content calendar is going to give you the ability to prepare for the future and that’s gonna help you free up the space to run your business. So what a content calendar is at the core is basically a spreadsheet. We’re gonna have some downloads right under this video that you can go and check out a sample content calendar that we’ve used and implemented inside of our company and for other companies. But at the core you’re gonna be brainstorming and thinking ahead of schedule instead of as you’re going throughout your daily business. And what what I mean by that is: you’re gonna brainstorm the types of content that you want to create and then you’re actually gonna map out and plan when the creation of that content is gonna happen. Now there’s companies that plan way far ahead in advance. Maybe you might think of a traditional magazine. Magazines often are scheduling content out six months or sometimes even a year in advance for what they want to do and publish but in the world of digital we don’t really always have to think through that far in advance. But we do want to think through at least 30, 60, maybe even 90 days because a content calendar is going to gear you up to be thinking ahead in the life of your business.
And so this very first point of how a content calendar is not going to leave you scrambling for content at the last minute is so crucial because you’re going to be able to give it the quality and attention it deserves. And it’s often good to help kind of schedule your content creation out. Many people I know, especially if you’re an entrepreneur or even a marketing manager, where everything is real deadline driven and fast paced and moving forward all the time; it’s really helpful to sort of take step back and think through everything that’s been going on in the life of your business and how what you write or what you create can help other people come and be a part of your company or your service or your product or your church or your idea. So we want to think through these things intentionally and by planning in advance with the help of a content calendar we’re gonna set ourselves up for future success.
Okay, so point number two that I want to be able to make with the content calendar is your going to be able to keep track of events much easier. These are the things that are always creeping up on us. Like we’ve been planning our event for months in advance and when we say planning the event we’re talking about the logistics, the administrative, the staff personnel, and all the things incorporated into the event that we don’t often think about how we need to be promoting outward for the event. Maybe it’s reaching into a donor audience or maybe it’s trying to acquire some new customers to come and be a part of this event that we’re putting on. If you stablish your content calendar, you’re gonna be forced to think through ahead of time and almost reverse engineer your event. Think through the audience you want to show up and you’re going to be creating content for that audience. But you’re going to do it in advance and the content calendar is gonna help you get there. Many nonprofits have an event once a year that is an annual fundraising event. Maybe it’s a breakfast of champions or maybe it’s a president’s gathering of some sort and that’s the event were you’re gonna ask those people to give the most amount of money that you ask them throughout the entire rest of the year. So much of your time and energy is focused on making sure that the event is successful. Well, a content calendar is going to be not just drumming up a save-the-date about the event and a couple little items along the way of the event but you’re actually going to be creating content that’s gonna help you position yourself so that by the time the event happens, your company has broadcast all kinds of different messages that are gonna help that event be even more successful. So what a content calendar is gonna do in the event world is help you plan ahead to create content. It’s gonna be very intentional about reaching your end audience and alongside of that you’re gonna be giving people reminders over and over and over again: this event is coming sign up now. If it’s an event, maybe you don’t even broadcast out into the world. Maybe it’s just for your high-level donors that’s fine as well. You can be reaching in through an email or through your website to just give people some cues to what’s going on in life your business or your nonprofit so that when that event does happen your people are primed and ready and their pocketbooks are open.
Okay so the third point that I want to talk about is a content calendar is going to help you not have to create content on the go. Now, some of you may be bloggers or you might be like daily writers and bloggers that kind of thing in those instances you’re gonna have things that you do have to create on the go. But largely when you’re thinking ahead of time through the help of content calendar you’re going to be coming up with topics and ideas and information and writing all of that or creating all of that in the past for a future date. You know, so what ends up happening is you create all this quality stuff and then if there’s some news event or cultural event or some reason that you need to add to that content you created, you can do that at the last second and you don’t have to be starting from scratch and doing everything plus this new stuff all at the last minute. What that does is it helps to increase the quality of your content and I tell you people will notice and when people notice you start to decrease that trust unless you’re really planning ahead. And so when you plan ahead you schedule these things out it gives your brain the creative space to really think through both the strategy side: the words that you’re gonna speak to or say or reach or write. You know, those are the kinds of things that are really going to help your audience begin to develop a deeper understanding and trust of your company, your business, nonprofit whatever. So we want to think through how a content calendar is going to help you not be scrambling in the last second so the last second you can focus on making sure your audience has all the information that they need. Or even better yet to build out calls to action that maybe you need a shift that you didn’t create early on in the process. So those are the kinds of ways that a content calendar is gonna be optimizing your business so that you’re not just creating everything on the go as you go.
Okay so the fourth thing is one of the ones I’m most excited about and a content calendar is gonna help you be more strategic. Now everyone who runs a company is always talking about strategy. You’ve got your business strategy, your department strategy. You’ve probably got a financial strategy. You know, there’s probably a strategy for your strategy. We have meetings about our strategy of our strategy for our strategy and all of that is never really cohesive. So a Content calendar is gonna help you actually think through your business objectives and your strategy for your company. This isn’t just a marketing exercise! I think so many people get caught up in this idea that only marketing does strategy. Well, I’m here to tell you that is not true. First every single company at the head all the way to the bottom needs to be thinking through your strategy. Here at Soulheart, we often talk about our strategy through the lens of our mission. Our mission is to make a positive impact on the lives of others so how we do that works throughout the year based on the workflow, based on client work, based on just the opportunities to move in certain directions in the general market. And so we think about the strategy for the season that we’re in and that requires a lot of bandwidth from our team. It requires a lot of bandwidth from me. But we don’t want to sacrifice that output; we don’t want to sacrifice the day to day grind. What we’re doing to produce content; create content that’s gonna help us grow our business in the long run. So going back up, a content calendar forces me to think through what’s coming down the pipe and then adopt of a strategic vision for that content and for my business inside of that content based on this content calendar basically helping me focus in and get the lens straight forward on how my business is going to succeed in the long run. So as you’re working through this problem be sure to create that mentality of strategic thinking inside of the content calendar equation. So as you’re creating this calendar you’re thinking strategically about the end result. And once again, like I said earlier, it’s about reverse engineering. Know what the result is that you’re looking for and then reverse engineer it all the way back to the beginning and make sure that your business has a strategic level of thinking that’s gonna help you achieve all your hopes and dreams.
Okay, so I may have lied… Point number four really really excites me but point number five I think is the icing on the cake. And what this point is, this key point inside of this content calendar equation is, it’s going to save you time. Time is the one thing that we can all agree on that we need more of every single day. And guess what? Time is the one constant that you can never make more of. The only thing you can do is to create more efficiency so that you can have more time. And that’s exactly what a content calendar does and this is one of the main reasons that I ever adopted a content calendar approach from the beginning. And that was to think ahead of time, plan out my content, organize it, build it out and schedule it even so that I can have more time. I love running a business. I love running a company. I love thinking through strategy and I want more time to do that. I love networking with people and I want more time to do that. I love my family and I want more time to spend with them. So the more that I can think through inside of a content calendar lens and accomplish through that, the more time I’m going to have to be able to do all the things that I love. This is one of the most crucial points of what a content calendar is going to bring to the table for you and your company so be sure to go underneath here, click the links, download the calendars that we’ve got as an example for how you can implement this in your business and I guarantee you’re going to be happy with the results. And the best point of the happiness you’re gonna have is having more time!
Hey guys, thanks so much for watching! Be sure to go underneath and subscribe or comment or like or shoot me an email at josh@soulheart.co. I’m so excited to be able to impart the different knowledge that we have here inside of our company to you to help you grow to have a more successful business. One of the things that we pride ourselves on here at Soulheart is that everything we do is about making a positive impact people’s lives. That’s exactly the brand promise that we want to send your way. So if you have any specific content, any specific ideas or something you’re struggling with that you want to learn more about inside of running a company business, marketing department, whatever it is we’ve got tons of experience and expertise here at Soulheart. So please reach out and let us know! And until next time, I’ll see you later.
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