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Plan ahead with a Content Engagement Calendar

Author's avatar By Expert commentator 20 Nov, 2013
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Why you need a Content Engagement Calendar in 2014

2014 is almost upon us and it’s that time of year when we all start to look forward and plan marketing activities for the coming year. Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past two years, you’ll be all too familiar with the fact that content marketing is on the rise.

In fact, 64% of UK marketers are planning to increase their budget for content marketing next year, and according to Forbes, the top marketing job in 2014 will be a Director of Content.

If these stats are anything to go by, we better fasten our seat belts and knuckle down to do some strategic planning on what content to publish during the coming year, and decide which websites and publications to target so that your content contains the right messages and gets read by the right audience.

Seven reasons you should include a content engagement calendar as part of your content marketing strategy

If you’re still not convinced, we’ve got seven reasons why it’s important to think strategically about your content creation and distribution for 2014:

  • 1. Help tune-in to your audience

Planning a Content Engagement Calendar will force you to think about what type of content is going to best resonate with your audience. Consider not only what to write about, but also how best to display it so that it makes it easier for your audience to read and engage with.

Look at what publications your clients read and what coverage your competitors have had. They’re the places that you want your content featured.

  • 2. Demonstrate knowledge and Thought-leadership

Distributing regular content on the right platforms will help demonstrate your expertise on specific issues that are relevant to your audience. Your content should be an answer hub for all your customers’ questions so that you become the 'go-to' resource in your industry. That way, it will be liked and shared by the right audience, in the right places – attracting more of the right people to your organisation.

  • 3. Align key message with business strategy

Make sure your content is aligned with your wider business objectives, and in doing so, you will demonstrate your expertise in the areas that you want to grow as a business.

It should encompass all areas of your organisation so that everyone has buy-in about the content strategy.

For example, if you want to attract new talent to your organisation you may want to write a content piece to motivate and inspire the right type of candidates to your organisation. Getting buy-in from all business stakeholders, yet still having your audience at the heart, is key to its success.

  • 4. Stimulate engagement

How people engage with your content is crucial. Ever wondered why your content isn’t getting a lot of impressions, or isn’t shared or commented on? More than likely it’s probably not the right content – or it’s in the wrong place.

By engagement, I’m referring to:

  • How often your content gets shared across social networks
  • The type of comments that are appended to the article
  • How many respond to a call-to-action such as a download, a page view or a free trial etc.

It is essential that you measure all these responses, and use the data to incorporate more of the most successful content pieces in your calendar.

  • 5. Diverse and strengthen your link building and SEO efforts

Google's recent Panda algorithm update means that search engines are rewarding sites that generate new and high-quality content. This is by no means a bad thing for organisations, it’s forced us to think about the audience more and create quality content.

Your Content Engagement Calendar should have the right balance of content published on your own site as well as relevant, high authority third party sites to provide you with a quality link that in turn will improve your search engine ranking.

  • 6. Strengthen brand positioning and advocacy

If you are consistent with your content posting, customers are more likely to remember you and associate your brand with the issues you write about. Good content; in particular user-generated content, gets people talking about your organisation and is a great way of getting endorsements that will increase the credibility of your brand.

  • 7. Get everyone involved

Creating content should be considered a shared responsibility of key 'spokespeople' within your organisation who have the relevant expertise. They don’t necessarily have to be senior people, it just has to be the best person for the job. Establishing a calendar, assigning deadlines and setting reasonable expectations is key to a successful content strategy and engagement calendar.

Without a content engagement calendar in place, producing a frequent and endless supply of content can seem like a daunting and relentless task. Hopefully this has provided you with the inspiration to think ahead and identify what content is going to work best for the audience you want to attract.

Have you implemented a Content Engagement Calendar? And how useful has it been to your overall marketing and business objectives? We’d love to hear your views.

[Editor's note: For more on what makes for an effective editorial calendar, see this post from Chris Soames on What needs to be included in an Editorial calendar.

Smart Insights Expert members can download a blank / example Excel editorial calendar].

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