You wake up on Monday, ready to start managing your content calendar. You take a sip of your favorite coffee (or tea) and breathe. Then, you decide today’s the day you’re going to get it all together. You open your calendar, and it hits you.
It looks like a mess! Where do you even start?
Right when you start to organize, you remember a client meeting you have in 10 minutes. At this point, it’s easy to let the idea of planning go and move on. But then you’re back at square one every following morning. It becomes a pattern that you don’t know how to stop.
Don’t give up yet! There are steps you can take to reach peak efficiency and productivity. You can find a way to crack down on managing your content calendar – no matter how many meetings you have.
Even if you don’t have the time, we do! Hire a copywriter to help create your business’s content.
10 Steps To Managing Your Content Calendar
Take each of these steps at your own pace. It’s essential not to feel overwhelmed while you make changes to your content management process. Loading up on too much can leave you feeling burnout and unmotivated to follow through.
1. Applications To Use For Improved Prep & Planning
Today, there’s an app for everyone! Regardless of what industry you’re in, everyone from social media managers to engineers can use these tools.
ClickUp
This project management app has everything you need in one place. Delegate tasks, track progress and even insert documents, pictures, and so much more. ClickUp is popular with marketing and advertising pros, IT teams, and project managers.
Monday.com
A nod towards the beginning of the workweek, monday.com is an app with plenty of templates for every industry, business, and team. People like it because it’s ultra customizable and has in-app automation. This app is good for growing businesses, enterprises, and small businesses.
Hive
Program managers and even attorneys like Hive. Why? Because it’s a visual project and time management tool that keeps things organized. Users note that it even saves time on billing.
2. Utilize App Features For Your Benefit
Don’t be afraid to dive into whatever project management tool you use. Explore all of the features that your app has to offer. You don’t need to use every feature, but experiment to find what works best for you. Hate the way your dashboard looks? No problem! Most applications are easy to alter without changing the settings for everyone.
You can find a video on YouTube to walk you through using the app and find what you like. Features like color codes can highlight the client you’re working on, which stage in the process you’re at, or pinpoint your task among many. And don’t forget to use your calendar to ensure you don’t miss a thing.
3. Organize The Old School Way
Physically writing your notes helps you remember and understand better than typing them up on a laptop. This doesn’t mean you need to write everything down, but there are some classic tools you just can’t beat, like a notebook.
Additionally, use sticky notes for ideas or notes you need to jot down quickly. If you allow too many of them to pile up, you’re more likely to take a look at them to clear them out.
Also, it’s important that you don’t leave out a handy desk calendar. Yes, you can still have all of your meetings recorded online. But let’s face it, computer and mobile alarms fail! So, it’s helpful to write it down and increase your chances of remembering it later.
4. Map Out Your Content Ahead Of Time
Plan ahead and make your life easier by having the following information ready to go.
- Your Industry
- Products or services
- Strengths and goals
- Social platforms you plan to post on
That way, the content can flow out of you, and you’re already on top of your publishing schedule.
5. Prioritize To Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed
Prioritizing goals is a must for any industry – delegate responsibilities wherever they need to go. If you’re a perfectionist or even a people-pleaser, assigning duties is tough. Talk to your people and ask if a task fits in with their workload. Set reasonable and defined goals for yourself and others to avoid feeling like you have to do it all.
6. Treat SEO As A Separate Task
Don’t lump your search engine optimization (SEO) tasks into your writing tasks. Not only is there a chance you’ll skip it, but SEO should be its own assignment. You don’t want to rush the process of searching for keywords. Additionally, you should allow yourself time to compare, do a little research, and give your content a better chance to rank higher than other pages.
7. Ensure Your Team Is In The Loop With Open Communication
Errors and mistakes happen, but you don’t want them to become part of your regular routine – especially if a lack of communication causes these mistakes. Diminish the chances of making a copy fail by keeping the conversation open with your teammates. If you have questions, ask! Check-in with your colleagues, so you’re all on the same page.
Doing so keeps everyone involved in your process as you go.
If you need a content writing team in your corner, we’re here to help!
8. Keep An Eye On The Workflow
Don’t lose track of where you are on a project. Think about adjusting certain calendar settings that can help you keep up. Using features like weekly views and time slots will help you remain aware of which phase a project is in. However, avoid going overboard and onto the extreme micromanagement side. Finally, stick to deadlines, so you and your team don’t fall behind.
9. Leave Room In Your Schedule When You Need It
We’ve all overbooked our planners on the self-made promise of… I can absolutely get all of this done today.
But how’s that going for you so far?
Spread out your workload, remain within client deadlines, and keep your clients happy. But more importantly, leave room to breathe and make yourself happy, too.
10. Have Extra Content Ready To Go Just In Case
Missing information, unreachable clients, and emergencies happen. So work every month and get ahead of the game! Create evergreen content (for your business and your clients) like blogs, newsletters, and social media posts. That way, they’ll never age out, and you can use them to fill in the gaps when you’re behind on regular content.
Talk To The Team At FocusCopy For Your Next Project
We know managing your content calendar is important. Clients appreciate the extra effort, and that effort allows the work you produce to truly shine. We know because we’re always working on multiple projects at once. Without processes for content management, we’d be lost!
Looking to partner with a group of content writers for your next task at hand? Give us a shout!
