A week before Christmas last year, a famous illustrator based in New York was bombarded with calls from various clients asking for commissioned work to be done, themed around the holidays. While the illustrator was busy with previously assigned work, most of these potential clients were declined. This is a classic example of planning gone wrong from the client’s side. The glitch could have easily been avoided with some foresight and essential content planning. A useful marketing tool that helps you do just that is a content planner. Much like a regular planner that provides insight into your upcoming activities, content planners give your marketing team a much-needed blueprint to work with. There are many reasons why content planners as a tool are highly useful for your brand’s image to stay relevant. Here are a few:
- They help you stay consistent
A key ingredient that goes into the secret sauce of success is consistency - any individual who has run their career with a certain degree of success can vouch for the fact. While it is established that consistency as an attribute that needs to be displayed unabashedly in all areas of life for one to be successful, it is equally imperative for a firm to be consistent, not just with their operations but also with their communication. Constant communication with one’s customer base enables the development of trust. There are many examples of successful, consistent campaigns that have worked wonders for brands. An excellent example is how Charity: Water ropes in celebrities for their birthdays and sends out a positive, uplifting message instead of the regular guilt - induced messaging that nonprofits use. Their positive, uplifting campaigns have appealed to the masses and helped them raise millions through the proper campaigns.
- They aid for high-content campaigns
A successful marketing campaign entails fun, informative and engaging content that the audience enjoys consuming. While content itself is king, dishing out fresh ideas that aren’t redundant and also resonate with an audience consistently, is tricky business. In some cases, it requires months of brainstorming and preparation to produce a single quality campaign. There are cases where brands prep for an important campaign - like a Superbowl Ad well into the future since there’s a lot that rides on the success of these campaigns. A content calendar helps you with just that - spacing out your deliverables, so you have ample time for ideation, creation, and revision if need be.
- They help with your social media campaigns
In today’s socio-political climate, where names of influence - especially people of power and brands need to make their voice heard since there are millions of people looking up to them, social media is crucial in getting the message across - sometimes, in as less as 140 characters.
This could go either way - based on how well-thought-out the post is. On some occasions, there is no time for prep, since the commentary needs to be based on a recent occurrence. However, in most cases, like a holiday greeting, or an auspicious day of remembrance, the content to be posted on a brand’s social media can be curated well in advance.
There are many occasions during which an organization’s response or take makes a big difference in the way they are perceived. There are multiple occasions during the year when posting wishes or a thoughtful message is appropriate and welcomed. Many brands have leveraged this advantage of reaching out to different groups of people with diverse interests, all at once.
Social media posts may come off as easy to prepare and post since the process of posting itself is non-tedious and easy. However, with trends that change by the hour, and feedback that comes in via users within seconds, much thought needs to go into each post - something that content calendars let you do seamlessly.
An excellent, well-executed campaign has many creative heads coming together to produce a single quality piece of content that the entire team can be proud of. As is the case with teams, clear communication about the work to be done and deadlines for each individual is essential. Take the example of a simple social media post - before the post can go up, the writer needs to write a creative, catchy piece of content, get it approved from the team leader who then proceeds to contact a graphic designer to design it, and finally the digital marketing expert to post it at a relevant time. When so many people are involved in a simple task - it is essential to create a content calendar complete with deadlines, so the work is done smoothly avoiding any confusion or mishaps.
