An editorial calendar is a concept that has only recently emerged on mainstream marketing circles. Disciplined publishers have used editorial calendars as a way to maintain a consistent flow of content for years. The practice has been mostly a domain of big publishers since they, by the nature of their business, have to produce quantities of content that has to be delivered with predictability and consistency.
For most of us small to medium business owners and consultants, and especially for us in the Real Estate and Mortgage Industries, we are still grappling with trying to put together a cohesive business plan. And I would lay money, most of us have not heard of the “editorial calendar”.
So why is this something we need to now pay attention to? Only if you want to create an effective online presence without having to stress about coming up with content ideas every time you decide to publish content for your audience. If you are like most of us, you probably have anxiety attacks when you even think of publishing a new blog post, an article, newsletter piece, etc. Which is probably the reason your blog/social media properties are… well, ghost towns!
Writing and publishing content is just not something most of us have a natural ability or inclination to do. That is where an editorial calendar can come in very handy. By setting out time to plan your content in advance, you can invest a few hours at a time and easily plan a whole quarter’s worth of content so at the very least you only have to sit down and endure the process 4 times a year.
If you really want to be efficient, you can actually wireframe a whole year’s worth of content and fill in the slots once per quarter, or better yet, outsource the actual content creation once you have outlined what content you need. This is where you can really leverage your time and minimize 90% of that which gets in the way of you creating consistent, high quality content for your online presence.
Having a well laid out publishing/editorial calendar will help you achieve a balance in three areas which are critical to building an effective marketing mix:
- Consistency – this is probably the area in which we need the most help. Without a scheduled plan of action, our marketing is haphazard and we all know very well the results from that. Our goal as marketers (anyone that sells anything is at the very core, a marketer) is to be consistent not only in the frequency, quantity and quality of our content but also, the look, feel and sound of what we publish. By “chunking” our content planning and creation, we can achieve that consistency much easier.
- Frequency – our audience need to hear from us, and not just around the Holidays. We need to schedule regular “touches” with our customers if we want to build a strong business based on relationships, referrals and repeat business. If you want to get a little more advanced, during your planning, you will figure out who your A, B and C customers are. Your “A” customers need a lot more “touches” than your “C”. Relationship building 101. By segmenting your list (you do have a list right?!) you will mine the diamonds with laser like precision rather than a shotgun approach. The investment of time to do this will pay back handsomely.
- Variety – the spice of life and a key ingredient to building an engaged and loyal tribe. There is a lot of noise out there in the marketplace. Your content needs to be fresh, engaging and have, not only variety of style and message but also a variety of distribution platforms. By linking and cross promoting your direct mail with your blog, social media and other online properties, you can engage your customers where they are. And they don’t all hang out at the same place, or consume your message via the same media. “Meet them where they are”.By carefully planning where and when you will publish content, you can have a high level view of how you are reaching your audience, and you can strategically plan each piece to compliment other components of you marketing mix.
Now that you have a good idea of the concept of the editorial calendar, you probably want to know how you can get your hands on such a calendar right? Well, you are in luck. I have a couple resources for you. The first time I heard the first iteration of the editorial calendar was on Katie Lance’s website @ katielance.com if you go there now, you can sign up and get her “content grid” which is a great starting point. The Real Estate version, on which she has collaborated with the crew over at Placester.com can be found at http://goo.gl/IdBBLm – I have shortened the URL for you since it is a very long one, plus I want to keep tabs on how many of you actually take the next step in finding out more on how to put this concept to work for you J
It’s mid November 2014. For many of you, activity is slow during this season, it is a great time to invest in planning your 2015. Now you have an idea you can start to build on. If you take it and run with it, it is highly probable that come this time next year, you can run a comparison of closing between 2014 and 2015 and find yourself with a little more Christmas cash for 2015!
