Another year gone, another yearly content strategy required. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that sometimes things don’t go as planned. Vacations that never happened, small businesses closing their doors and navigating through a new normal. It definitively made it hard for content creators and businesses to create content. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a plan. As a matter of fact, this is exactly why you should have a yearly content strategy.
When it comes to creating and managing online content it can no doubt get a little overwhelming. Thinking of ideas, executing the content, scheduling when to plan it… If you’re a solo content creator or small business the demands of content creation can become a lot. Pair that with having to think ahead and be prepared for the unexpected and you can feel like you’re in over your head.
READ – Creating A Cohesive Instagram Feed
How To Create A Yearly Content Strategy
1. Set Your Goals
Just like with any successful plan it’s important to clearly identify your goals before anything. Without knowing exactly what you’re looking to achieve it’s impossible to build a content strategy that will get you the results you’re looking for. These goals can range from a wide variety of things to driving sales, building awareness or growing your following. And to be clear, you don’t just need to focus on one goal within your plan. A comprehensive content strategy will encompass a few different goals into one solid plan.
2. Plan In Quarters
There’s no doubt that sitting and planning out 12 months of content can seem like an overwhelming task. That’s why we recommend you plan out your strategy quarterly, working out 3 months at a time. This is a very common business practice in all sorts of areas including finance, sales and of course marketing. You can still go ahead and plan out your entire year, but breaking the year down into quarters makes it a lot easier to focus on planning. It also makes it easy to work in any unexpected changes as the year progress.
3. Think About Seasonal Holidays/Events
The other positive about planning a content yearly strategy into quarters, is it allows you to focus on seasonal Holidays and events throughout the year. Incorporating special dates like Christmas, Spring Break and Thanksgiving into your content makes coming up with creative ideas a lot easier. But don’t just start piling in every holiday and special event throughout the year. Always keep in mind your goals, and your brands tone when planning content. If the holiday or event doesn’t fit with your direction or customer base, don’t be pressured to include it.
4. Determine Content Medium
The great thing about online content, is there are so many different forms of media that can be tapped. And when talking specifically about social media, the options are endless. But just because there are so many different options, doesn’t mean you have to use them all. While it is important to have variety in your content, what is key is that you focus on forms of media that relate to your target audience, and your brand.
5. Create A Content Calendar
Once you’ve determined the direction of your content strategy, it’s time to plop it into a calendar. Creating a content calendar is the best way to stay organized with all your content for the year. There are many different ways to organize your calendar, from the platform to type of content. The best advice is to create a content schedule or calendar that works best for you. If you don’t know where to start, a quick Google search will bring up a wide range of templates you can build upon.
