Content marketing is booming. According to surveys by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, 73% of companies plan to generate more original content this year.
So it’s more important than ever for marketing teams to have tools and systems to help them stay organized – if you increase content production without managing the process, your ambitious search will quickly turn into dreams.
A good place to start is a marketing calendar with a plan of attack for the coming months. Most likely, you (or others in your department) have already created a document that serves this purpose. However, can you safely say that this increases your team’s productivity and helps everyone meet deadlines?
Read on if you answered that question with a resounding “Yes”.
What does an effective marketing calendar look like?
Unfortunately, a corrected spreadsheet does not qualify as a high-quality calendar. Someone still needs to play quarterback and manually update the document, email team members about upcoming activities, and hold them accountable for deadlines. It takes a lot of supervision and a lot of room for error, not to mention that fighting team members can glide like cats.
In other words, if your marketing calendar looks like a traditional spreadsheet, you need to be prepared for a content nightmare.
Your marketing calendar should take care of all the complicated details for you. It should automatically send tasks and reminders to responsible parties as deadlines approach, eliminating tedious email threads and eliminating excessive back and forth. Ultimately, it should make you and your colleagues work faster and smarter.
Three essential components
Make sure the following three components are in place to maximize the effectiveness of your marketing calendar.
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Holistic shopping
A marketing calendar can only reach its full potential if all interested parties agree with the idea. Before implementing a new system, it is essential to have purchasing management.
Present your business through landline numbers. Some drivers can be incredibly resistant to change, but nothing will get their attention more than wasted money.
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The search for consistency
Consistency is the key to success in content marketing. By one estimate, 51% of brands publish at least once a week. These companies are missing an important opportunity to gather data and generate leads.
Just by blogging regularly, it’s 13 times more for companies to get a positive ROI for marketing. To see results, you need consistent content.
Needless to say, quality always trumps quantity. But the two are not mutually exclusive. When you plan your content well in advance, you can deliver engaging, lead-generating material as often as your audience requests. However, it is important to know your limitations.
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Delegated Workflows
On day one, a marketing calendar might know exactly when you’re going to post, but you need to determine how your team can meet your deadlines and goals.
Work on establishing clear workflows for each type of content you produce. Break each piece down into easily delegated tasks and, when designating each responsible person, ask for an estimate of how long the task will take. You can then go back from the post date to determine exactly how quickly projects must be launched to meet deadlines.
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Today, content marketing is at its best, and marketing departments should be held accountable for content creation and publishing. Many brands struggle to do this regularly and miss a big opportunity.
By adopting a marketing calendar, your team can plan their work and make your plan work. It keeps everyone organized, on track, and consistent at every stage. Most importantly, it brings attention to your brand and takes the ROI of your investment to the next level.