Written by Drew Adams

Your business, no matter what it is, needs to get your awesome content to potential clients and customers. Whether it be social media posts or how-to guides, people need to know! Content calendars are not only vital for organization, but they can also make your content go farther with consumers. Clarity is key, and a content calendar is the first step to creating that clarity! Let me explain.

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What The Heck is a Content Calendar?

So you may be wondering, what the heck is a content calendar? Quite simply, it is a schedule for your content. You can use it for any type of content! Scheduling your blog posts, podcasts, social media posts, etc. is vital to maintain clarity in your client-facing communication. It’s not just process for process’s sake—let’s get into the why and how of content calendars.

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Why is a Content Calendar so Important?

The importance of organization using a content calendar can’t be overstated! It is so important, for so many reasons! First, content calendars help add clarity to your communication strategy. When you create a calendar, you can see related content and when you plan to release it. You are able to catch potential moments in time where your message may become muddied. You can also structure your content so it supports itself: say you’re talking about your new product on a blog one week: you could schedule social media posts and a podcast to further support that product in the same week.

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How Do I Create a Content Calendar?

If you’ve decided that it’s time to create a content calendar, great! So how do you get started? There are many options, so let’s start with the simple ones. First, you could create a calendar in Excel or Google Sheets. This is simple, free, and gives you a quick look at your plan. Alternatively, you can use a tool like Asana (check out our blog on tools for small businesses) to schedule out content. This is helpful if you have large task lists for each piece of content, or are working with a team. Start with the month. Do you release content on a specific day of the week? Go down the list, and write out what content corresponds with what date. It’s ok if there are multiple pieces of content for one day! 

Make sure your message and content is:

1. Doable for you: Can you create all of this while maintaining good quality?

2. Not confusing to the customer: Are you posting about two completely different products or services on the same day? Maybe think about adjusting this.

With a content calendar, the process for creating content in your business can be streamlined and efficient. This saves you time, money, and creates clarity for both you and your current and potential customers. Let’s review: Content calendars help clarify your message, create strategy, and are simple to make! Check out more awesome content (see what I did there) from Let’s Venture here!