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© Digital Storyteller 2020
We’ve talked time and time again about the importance of content marketing and why consistently producing strong content is an ideal marketing strategy. (I mean, duh—we’re a digital marketing agency!)
That being said, we know crafting an effective content marketing strategy is easier said than done.
Managing content on an ongoing basis can be complicated and overwhelming. Especially if your content marketing strategy includes various platforms, such as:
- Your own blog
- TikTok
One of the most challenging aspects of managing a content marketing strategy is keeping things organized and timely to ensure that your posts are going out when you want them to be.
(Don’t let yourself be that brand whose Merry Christmas post goes out the day after Christmas…)
Our team at Digital Storyteller has organizing content down to a science—and we wouldn’t be who we are without sharing the secret sauce with our readers.
Keep reading for tips and tricks on how to keep your content organized.
Use a Content Calendar
We LOVE a good content calendar. But what is a content calendar?
What is a Content Calendar?
According to Backlinko, a content calendar or editorial calendar is “a written schedule of when and where you plan to publish upcoming content.” Content calendars are used to plan out content in advance and prepare it prior to scheduling or posting it.
At Digital Storyteller, we like to work at least a month ahead of schedule. That Fourth of July post that we posted a couple of weeks ago? We designed that at the beginning of June. (Then, we’re not running around last minute trying to craft posts!)
Preparing content in advance doesn’t necessarily mean that it makes posts insincere or ingenuine. It just means that you have to think and plan ahead about what you’ll be celebrating, recognizing, or talking about. A huge part of making this happen is having a strategy laid out ahead of time (see our next tip below for more on this).
What Does a Great Content Calendar Include?
A content calendar should include any and all posts and content that you plan to push out over a given time period. It should serve as a central place for all content to be stored, regardless of which platform you intend to publish it on.
If you’re anything like us, creating charts and tables in Excel brings you joy comparable to that of Christmas morning! (OK… Maybe that’s a slight over-exaggeration…) But regardless, it’s satisfying to work hard to develop content and see it all organized and ready in one central spot waiting for its time to be published.
Still not convinced? Here’s our last-ditch effort to convince you that using a content calendar is key: We made one for you.
Click the link below to download our full content calendar template! Try it out for yourself and see how organized content can help your content marketing strategy thrive.
Quarterly Marketing Initiatives
Another important factor to consider in organizing your content marketing strategy is implementing quarterly marketing initiatives.
What Are Quarterly Marketing Initiatives?
What do we mean by quarterly marketing initiatives? A challenge that many marketers face when pursuing content marketing strategies is determining what topics to create content for. It may seem easy at first, but we’re willing to bet it won’t be long before you feel your creative juices begin to run dry.
A Quarterly Marketing Example
Determining an overall campaign theme for the quarter can help develop topics over time that relate to one another but aren’t repetitive. Need an example? In Q1 of 2021, Digital Storyteller focused our content on the initiative “content is king.”
For us, this meant that 50% of new blog content focused directly on content marketing. Additionally, any email workflows that we created focused on content as the overall theme. The other 50% of content featured topics including:
- SEO
- Social media
- Financial services
The creative universe is vast and can make it difficult to point your content in a specific direction. Implementing quarterly initiatives can help organize, direct, and streamline what your business should be talking about. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be.
Instagram Template Grids
As previously mentioned, there’s no need to make things harder than they need to be.
A great way to streamline your content is by implementing an Instagram template grid. An Instagram template grid involves a pre-determined pattern or template for your brand’s Instagram posts over time.
Benefits of Using a Template Grid for Instagram
There are multiple benefits to implementing an Instagram template.
First, having a streamlined template gives off a clean, professional, well-curated vibe. While implementing creativity and diversity into your social media is a great option, it’s simple to do so within the guidelines of a template grid.
Additionally, having a consistent template simplifies the work that your team has to do when it comes time to create new content. Rather than starting from scratch for each individual post, story, etc. a template grid provides a starting point for your team to utilize and customize to fit the given needs of each post.
While it may seem like more work upfront (and it is… Shout out to our awesome graphic design team!), putting in the effort upfront to create a simplified, attractive strategy is sure to pay off in the long run.
As always, we’re happy to clarify what we mean with an example. Below is a screenshot of two clients’ Instagram grids. As you can see, each horizontal row of 3 posts corresponds to a specific pattern. Furthermore, when coupled with the row above or below it, the 2 rows of 6 posts total couple together to create a continuous pattern.
Automated Scheduling Tools
Last, but certainly not least, the key to organizing content: scheduling tools! We certainly could not live without them. Tools like HubSpot and Metricool offer the ability to schedule posts in advance so that you don’t end up in the pickle of scheduling your holiday posts a day late (or any posts for that matter!)
Once your content calendar is complete and filled out for an upcoming period of time, you can input captions, hashtags, links, and visuals into your scheduling tool. Tell it what time and date you want your post published on which platforms and voila! Sit back and relax and watch your posts populate without the need for setting countless calendar reminders and trying to remember to post during the weekend.
On top of that, various scheduling tools offer users the ability to review and assess optimal posting times to accurately cater to the platform usage of their followers. This is an extremely helpful tool when attempting to predict the optimal times to share content for the greatest success and engagement.
Need More Help With How to Organize Content?
Pursuing a content marketing strategy doesn’t need to be as hard as many people might assume it is. Following an organized strategy can help streamline and simplify your content creation in a way that makes your strategy more realistic to implement.
If you’re still looking to pursue a content marketing strategy and don’t know where to start or how to do it yourself, give us a call or contact us today. Our team at Digital Storyteller has significant experience in implementing unique content marketing strategies for our existing clients and is eager to help do the same for you!
Interested in learning more? Read on to find out how long it takes for content marketing to work.
