How to Create a Content Calendar for your Business

There are so many areas where you can produce and share content; social media, newsletters, email blasts, and blog posts are a just a few of these places. It doesn’t matter if you are doing one of these things or all of them staying organized is key.

This is where your content calendar comes in.

What is a content calendar you ask? This can be anything used to schedule, plan or organize your content thoughts. A content calendar will tell you what to say, when to say it, and where to say it.

Creating a content calendar does not have to be hard. Keep it simple! We’ve found the easiest way to start is by using a calendar straight from Word or Excel. These calendars will allow you to download a calendar and fill the dates with your ideas as necessary. The best part is that your month is laid out for you to see all at once and if something isn’t working you can move things around with just a few clicks! If you already use a calendar for your business it may

Don’t feel overwhelmed. To continue with our “keep it simple” theme, start with major things that are coming up or that you know you want to talk about. Think of things like holidays, upcoming sales or specials, workshops or classes you are putting on, and events you are going to be at where people can visit you.

Next, think of who you are delivering these messages to – your audience. Think of things they would want to know or questions they may have for you and give them answers! If you are having a hard time coming up with questions they may have you can ask them by creating a poll on your Facebook or Instagram page! Questions like, “What is your biggest struggle with ____?” or “If you could ask us anything about _____. What would it be?”

An example of what a weekly content calendar might look like would be:
Monday: Write three social media posts and schedule them throughout the week. Post one today.
Tuesday: Get on Facebook or Instagram live and talk about our upcoming event/sale/news.
Wednesday: Post on social media updated hours for holiday (4th of July.)
Thursday: Write your newsletter and have it ready to go out to your clients/subcribers.
Friday: Create and send an email blast about our upcoming sale/workshop.
Saturday: Rest! Your posts are scheduled!
Sunday: Rest and prepare for the upcoming week!

Or, if you are someone who likes to carve out a chunk of time you may want to crank out your content calendar for the month!
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Are you having trouble coming up with content? Here a just a few ideas to get you rolling:

• Write about your passion/business. What’s your story? What have you learned? Break it down into shareable pieces for your audience.
• Upcoming holidays. Think outside of the box, even those silly “national” holidays count (i.e. national coffee day, national selfie day, national friendship day, etc.)
• Seasonal posts related to your industry/business
• Tips/tricks you've learned along the way
• FAQ’s
• Funny pictures, memes, or quotes your followers can relate to
• Current promotions, upcoming events, or special offers

A few more things to think about when creating your content calendar.

• Where is your audience? Where do they like to consume this information? In a blog post? Facebook? Instagram? Do they like to read your information or watch it in a video? Find out what works for you and then stick to it! Your audience will soon become loyal followers and look forward to what you have to say next.
• What does your audience want to hear from you? This will depend on what type of services or products you are providing. Tell them about what you do any why you do it. Answer some common questions or things you know your audience/customers are struggling with.

Quick Recap:
Your content calendar should tell you when, what, and where to publish. If you are going to be starting any type of event, workshop, sale, or service program, your content calendar should be laid out to tell you when to begin any promotion for that as well. Think of you content calendar as your play book. It will give you a solid plan of action and leave you feel well organized and put together.
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If you are planning some type of event or promotion, you will want to stretch your content calendar out over the course of about 8-12 weeks at a time instead of one week or one month. If that feels overwhelming to you, start small and work your way up. Remember, you can always rearrange as needed!
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That’s it! You are ready to rock your first content calendar! Plan to block off about 3 hours to write your first calendar if you are planning for 8-12 weeks. Otherwise if you plan to start with a week or a month at a time you should be able to pound that out much quicker! ​