The best way to attract new people and potential customers to your small business is by releasing content. The RedFork Team talks about content A LOT, but that’s because it’s such a vital piece to every marketing strategy, no matter the size or history of a business.
As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, the term content simply refers to the creation and sharing of material – typically digital – such as pictures, videos, and blog posts. Other examples include, ebooks, infographics, and even gifs!
One of the big problem areas small businesses can run into when launching a content strategy is time management – specifically, the time it takes to create and publish each piece of content. The solution is simple – it’s time to get organized!
Calendars and schedules can feel like a burden at times, but the benefits of giving your team a specific timeline are that they provide accountability, they establish a process that leads to success, and they allow team members to address the most important things when necessary.
Let’s check out a few things you should do to get your content strategy organized and efficient!
5 Quick Tips For Organizing Your Content Faster
1. Choose Your Platform(s)
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Start your strategy small. Think of this step as a test drive before going all out and buying a new Tesla (I really want a Model 3!)
Choose a platform, or two, to focus on and get running correctly. I certainly suggest that Facebook be the first place you start because that’s where the entire world lives right now (digitally that is). After that, feel free to add another platform if you or your team can manage the workload.
By focusing on just one or two platforms, you’ll make sure that your strategy and planning are not only executed well, but that your workflow gets refined, and you’ll have time to learn about what works well with your content, and what doesn’t.
2. Identify The Author/Content Creator
Many times small business owners, especially start-up businesses, have very small teams of 5 or less, and it’s common that within these team sizes that each member has multiple responsibilities.
If you are fortunate enough to have help when creating content, it is going to be very important to identify who is actually creating which piece of content throughout the week. When you download our free content calendar, you’ll see a column that identifies the Author/Content Creator.
As you develop your content calendar, make sure you consider the daily/weekly/monthly schedules of each team member who is assisting with content creation. Understanding their other responsibilities will help you create a content production schedule that works well for everyone!
3. Set Your Deadline & Publish Times
Speaking of schedules, after you identify who will be developing content and what each piece of content is, it’s time to focus on finding the ideal times to share it with the world! For this, you’ll need to set two important dates and times for every piece of content: a deadline and a publish time.
PUBLISH TIME
Starting with the latter, your Publish Time is the date and time at which you share your amazing content with the world through you active platform (e.g. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). At times, the Publish Time is going to be very time sensitive, such as holidays or other annual events. Other times, the Publish Time could simply be based off data that shows that the ideal time for you to release your content on Facebook is between 1:00PM EST to 3:00PM EST.
DEADLINE
Some content takes longer to produce, such as a blog post or a 5 minute YouTube video. Other content is much more simple to create and release, such as a Poll on Twitter. Knowing your Publish Time will allow you to create a realistic Deadline for each piece of content to be developed.
4. Plan For The Obvious
As I stated just before, some content can be planned far in advance, like holidays! While you develop and plan you content into the future (I recommend having at least a simple draft of a content calendar that extends 3 months ahead), holidays are some of the easiest to identity and plan for.
Marking these down and starting the conversation early will allow your team to get really creative with the content they want to release (does anyone do anything cool for Flag Day?).
5. Be A Little Unique
Don’t just limit your planning to major holidays and federal holidays, though! Fun and wacky holidays, National Popcorn Day and Talk Like Shakespeare Day, have been taking over social media platforms, so join the fun with your own content!
Also, who wouldn’t want to celebrate Star Wars Day?!?! (It’s on May 4th… Get it… May Fourth… Like, May The Fourth Be With You… Get It??? Ok, you got it…)
Outro
Now, doesn’t it feel so much better getting your content organized? Of course, planning and scheduling does take a lot of work, but your team of Content Creators will certainly thank you for it!
Don’t forget to download our FREE Content Calendar Template so you can start planning right now!
Your Turn
Have any other suggestions about how to get your content organized? Or perhaps I’ve left some things out that your team includes when developing a content strategy.
If you have any additional thoughts, please share them in the comments below!
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Content Marketing Tips EVERY Small Business Should Know, by Daniel Aharon of RedFork Marketing
How to Build a Content Calendar, by Jamie Griffiths of Convince & Convert
4 Steps To An Awesome Content Calendar (And 6 Things You Need On It), by James Scherer of Post Planner
The Social Media Content Calendar Template Every Marketer Needs, by Lindsay Kolowich of HubSpot
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