The more content you share on the internet, the more difficult it is to keep track of it all. A content calendar aids in the organization of all your current and planned marketing initiatives. Also, a calendar tool ensures that everyone on your team is on the same page regarding everything.

• Before digging into new content, take a moment to reflect on prior social media efforts.
• A good rule of thumb to follow when deciding what type of content to post is the 80/20 rule.
• When determining what to post, consider the type of content your readers appreciate and the subjects that are most essential to your organization.

Tips for creating an effective content calendar

In this section, we will consider some of the critical tips to consider as a nonprofit when creating a content calendar.

1. Keep your content calendar plan simple

As you begin the journey of content creation, the process can quickly snowball as more and more details and tasks get added in. Hence, it is rather preferable, to begin with the basics. Then, slowly build in the more detailed portions or functionality once the foundation is in place.

Also, this can be central to training your team to work with and from the calendar.

2. Perform a social media audit

Before digging into new content, take a moment to reflect on prior social media efforts. To begin with, make a list of your social media accounts. List them all – even if you don’t post on the platforms. Afterward, evaluate your content’s performance.

As with any marketing endeavor, it’s critical to evaluate your efforts regularly to maintain momentum and ensure you’re investing your time and money in the best way possible. Most social media platforms have analytics you can look at. Essentially, what you need to track should be based on your social media and content objectives. Use key metrics to figure out which of your platforms are working for you (if any).

3. Choose your channels

After reviewing your various social pages, decide which channels you’ll be posting on going forward. As a nonprofit organization, it may not be realistic to assume you can stay abreast of every popular social media platform. Rather than attempting to manage too many pages, focus on a few channels where you can be active, responsive, and consistent.

To choose the right channels for your organization, start by keeping your best-performing channels. If you’ve already built up a strong follower count or your engagement is high on certain platforms, it would make sense to keep building on this momentum. Also, you’ll want to keep your high-performing channels and evaluate whether the others are worth putting more work into.

4. Develop your content strategy

A good rule of thumb to follow when deciding what type of content to post is the 80/20 rule. By and large, 80% of your social media posts should attempt to engage, educate, or entertain your audience, and the other 20% should be used to promote your organization. You develop deep relationships with your audience by delivering useful content that is valuable to them. Essentially, this increases the likelihood that they will pay attention when you upload promotional content with a call to action.

In the past, what kind of content worked best? Examine your top-performing posts from the social media and website audit to determine what type of content received the most attention.

5. Track engagement on a content calendar

Content calendars aren’t just for planning. They can also help you track back-end statistics, such as the ROI of each piece of content you’ve published. Furthermore, you may want to compare what is and is not working by including engagement (and other backend) metrics in your content calendar.

Discover which themes, formats, and publication platforms produce the best (or worst) outcomes. This might assist you in refining and improving your overall content marketing efforts.

6. Plan your content using a content calendar

Plan at least one month’s worth of content ahead of time. When brainstorming content ideas, start by marking essential dates in your calendar that you definitely must post on, such as holidays and important campaigns. Then begin brainstorming.

What works now may not function in the next 6 months or at some point in the future. Likewise, your organization’s needs may change over time, and new software and solutions may become available. Hence, make it a habit to regularly assess the functionality of your content calendar.

Conclusion

A content calendar can be used to manage and organize your social media and web publishing schedule. As a result, when determining what to post, consider the type of content your readers appreciate and the subjects that are most essential to your organization.

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