How to Create a Content Calendar for Small Brands?

Be it blog articles, newsletters or social media posts, a content calendar helps you bring the joy that Marie Kondo so dearly speaks of. While building a brand, your focus should be on taking it to new heights rather than struggling with content management all the time.

Ask yourself this question: would your content management be eligible for an episode of Queer Eye of the Digital marketing world or something that would give Marie Kondo the joy of decluttering? If you nodded even slightly, it’s time to fix that.
Small brands don’t have the budget for a bigger team for management and we totally understand that. You necessarily don’t have to if you have a well-designed content calendar on hand. Keep reading to learn how to create a content calendar and find free templates!

Why do Small Brands NEED to have a Content Calendar?

If you have never tried content management and creating content calendars, we understand that it might not make sense. However, once you learn all about it, you will be just as excited as we were when we first started.

For a small brand, regular posting is required for as much engagement as possible. It’s something small brands need to stay on top of in order to create brand awareness. We have all been guilty of missing a day of posting and feeling bad about it. With a predesigned content calendar, that guilt is taken away. Moreover, it helps you stay organized, and provides a way to visualize all your ideas. Also, it helps you plan better content relevant to your brand niche. Last minute panic is a real thing when it comes to content posting and there’s one effective way to prevent that, CREATING A CONTENT CALENDAR.

Our life before we discovered the benefits of a content calendar is something we remember vividly. We do not wish to experience again the cold sweats looking at all the clutter which was like opening a cupboard with no hope of finding what you are looking for. It was like a Bermuda triangle. An idea that once went in could never be found again. Okay, we agree, it was not that dramatic but it definitely felt that way.

Let’s discuss how to plan your content calendar.

What should a content Calendar for Small Brands consist of?

For each blog or social media content, your content calendar must consist of a few things if you are a small brand:

A column for Keywords
Visual ideas
The date for Posting the content
The content ideas
Title of your Blog
Theme
Mention the writer if it’s not just you designing the content
The Platform your post will go up on

There are many platforms you can use to build your own content calendar so, let’s look at some of them and learn how each of the platforms can be used

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1. Trello

If you are not a designing diva, Trello would be suitable for you. In addition, it has an editorial/content management board template, which you can easily use.

The board has 6 lists which include:

Researching List: The title for each of your content is placed on cards and a checklist for each blog can be added such as: important links for research, links to be added etc. Also, you can add a due date to each of the cards.
Writing List: Each Blog that is in the process of being written, you can add it here or simply drag it from the previous list.
Editing List
Making Graphics List: Here you can add all the images for the relevant blogs which makes it super easy for everyone to view
Ready for Publishing List: Here you can add the date you are planning to publish the blogs at.
Lastly, a Published List: Add a new card or drag cards from the previous list once you have published it.

2. Google Sheets

If you are a color coordination enthusiast, this is your time to shine. This is a fun way to create a content calendar for your brand. You can assign different colours to each day or for each member of your team and it looks so good filled by the end of the month. Or perhaps, if you work under a senior editor, you could assign a colour for them and one for you. Thus, when you have worked on it, you can easily color the cell and when the senior editor approves it, they can change the colour to the one assigned to them. This would make it easier for you to see which post ideas are ready to go!

Here’s a list of thing to keep in mind before you start creating your content calendar.

a) First designate the rows to different Social Media Platforms

b) Assign date for posting each content. Hence, one column for the date would be great.

c) Then, assign the first column to the Blog title/content post idea

d) To make it easier for you to start writing a blog article, spend time beforehand to research for the right keywords. Hence, the Second column can be for Keywords

e) This is the column where everyone can pitch in for ideas. Assign it for post captions/ideas for blogs

f) An Important links Column could be nice for reference to help with the blog later or to make it easier to give credits where necessary

g) Most importantly, add a column for images

h) Lastly, add one column for ‘Posted’, this way it avoids repetition of posts

Have fun with the colours!

3. Later

Later is perfect for planning Instagram or Facebook posts ahead of time. You can view how your IG feed will look and if there’s a theme you have in mind, you can easily visualize and plan how the big picture would look like. Having said that, blog posts can also be easily planned here. Furthermore, you can even schedule your posts for later and get rid of the hassle of keeping in touch with your phone while you conquer other milestones for the day. One thing we love about Later is, for Instagram, you can look for accounts that have tagged you and easily re-post them or add it to the schedule. Visit Later now to get started.

So, get ready to declutter and reorganize your content with any platform you like and say goodbye to haphazardly written content and last minute panic and design the perfect content calendar for your small brand now!.

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