According to a 2018 report by StatusLabs, 90% of searchers haven’t made up their mind when they search on Google. That means you have an opportunity to turn those searches into viable leads. With search engine optimization (SEO), you can gain a higher ranking. Before you boost your ranking, however, you’re going to need a lot of content. Get started by creating an organized, well-thought-out editorial content calendar!
With an editorial content calendar guiding you, you can remain on schedule and on track for success.
Here’s everything you need to know about creating an editorial calendar. With these tips, you can stay on track with your marketing initiatives throughout the year. Get started with these tips.
Why You Need a Content Calendar
In order to rank above the competition, you need unique, high-quality content. Google’s SEO algorithm prioritizes content that’s relevant to user intent. By learning what your customers need, you can create content that appeals to their interests.
Then, you can create an editorial content calendar to remain organized.
A content calendar can also help you recognize opportunities to connect with your audience. For example, let’s say you’ve created a blog post that’s full of interesting data. You can turn that blog post into:
- A video
- An infographic
- A still image or gif
One piece of content can become four different opportunities for you to connect with prospects. Then, you need to determine where you’re sharing that content.
For example, let’s say you post an article on your blog Monday. Then, you can send a weekly email that features your new blog post on Wednesday. Finally, you can post a gif to social media on Friday to attract more people to your blog.
Strategize
Creating an editorial content calendar allows you to develop a strategy for your content. Learning how to create an editorial calendar will help you remain organized with:
- The content you’re creating
- The topics you’re covering
- Where you’re sharing your content
- What form your content will appear in
Organizing your content using an editorial calendar will help you increase productivity and efficiency. In addition to saving time, you can also use your calendar to create content based on your marketing objectives.
Is your goal to generate more leads from your content this year? Your content calendar can help you test different types of content throughout the week. Then, you can use data to determine which topics and forms of content helped achieve your goal.
Researching blog posts and keywords will also benefit your SEO strategy. By focusing on SEO, you can attract more people to your site. Then, you can use compelling call-to-action language to convert them into customers.
You can create content to support other active campaigns, too. For example, you might have new products you’re releasing. Maybe you’re making a big change to your brand.
Planning your content ahead of time will help you make sure everything is aligned. That way, one tactic can support the other to benefit your entire strategy.
How to Create an Editorial Calendar
As many as 63% of businesses don’t have an actual content strategy. Making the effort to create an editorial content calendar will help you focus on content creation. By posting content regularly, you can increase your chances of reaching new customers.
Here are five tips to help you learn how to create an editorial calendar for your business.
1. Know Your Goals
First, determine your goals and objectives. For example, you might want to focus your marketing efforts on:
- Driving more traffic to your website
- Boosting brand awareness, recognition, and reach
- Strengthening your SEO strategy
- Building brand loyalty with customers to increase retention
- Gaining more leads and conversions
- Attracting new customers to increase sales
Once you determine your goals, you can determine what type of content will help you achieve those goals.
For example, let’s say you want to boost brand awareness. You can create company culture videos or vlogs to keep people informed about your business. Video content is a great way to help people connect with your brand.
If you want to generate more leads and conversions, try posting a product demo or tutorial instead!
2. Research Topics
Next, start making a rough list of ideas for content. Make sure your ideas align with your business goals.
For example, if you want to generate leads, create ebooks for site visitors to download. You can have them complete a form on your website that requires their email. The informative ebook can become an incentive for them to provide their contact information.
If you want to improve your SEO, create content that targets specific keywords.
For more sales, create content that focuses on the benefits of your products or services, such as case studies or webinars.
3. Know Your Audience
In order to create content that attracts customers, you need to understand your target audience. What type of content are they interested in? Which headlines catch their attention?
Feel free to see what your competitors are doing. Which pieces of content generate the most shares?
You can use Google Keyword Planner or Google Trends as a place to start.
Once you know what your target audience likes, you can start creating your own content.
4. Start Writing
Start brainstorming ideas and writing content. Make sure to optimize your content using specific keywords. Then, start writing.
Once you have a few pieces of content, start organizing your editorial content calendar. Try to post at least one piece of content a week to start. Then, determine how you can split that first piece of content into new forms.
Recycling your content will help you discover new ways to connect with your audience.
For example, you can convert a few blog posts into a larger ebook. Then, you can make that ebook a downloadable piece of content to generate leads.
5. Monitor and Optimize
Once you start using your editorial calendar, take a look at the progress. Use Google Analytics to determine which pieces of content are attracting the most visitors and leads.
Monitoring your content will help you recognize new opportunities.
Which topics do people enjoy reading? Which forms of content do they share? Make a note of where you succeed.
Then, use that data to improve your overall content marketing strategy.
Stay On Track: How to Create an Editorial Content Calendar for Your Dealership
Ready to get organized and on track? By learning how to create an editorial content calendar, you can attract more people to your dealership with ease!
Need help getting started? Contact us today to discuss your business goals!
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