With so many channels and touchpoints to consider it can be easy to fall into a “spray and pray” approach to marketing, but this haphazard approach will slowly but surely diminish your credibility as a brand. If you aren’t effectively communicating your values, how will your prospects ever differentiate you from your competitors?
To blog effectively, you need a game plan. Without a content calendar, you’re effectively shooting into the dark. So where to begin?
At a minimum, your calendar should include the following:
- Title
- Due date
- Publish date
- Topic & Purpose
- Keywords
- Assignees
- Status
- Hyperlinks
To save yourself time, download our free content calendar template.
When the goal is to produce a steady stream of relevant and engaging content, a content calendar will keep you and your team organised and on track. Here are 7 steps you can follow to make sure you’re getting the most out of yours:
1. Define your target audience
Before you dive into planning content, take a moment to figure out who you’re actually creating it for. It makes a big difference.
You could add a quick section on who your ideal clients are – like:
- First-home buyers
- Downsizers
- Investors
- Landlords
- Sellers
Having a clear picture of your audience helps you decide on the right tone, topics, timing, and where to share your content. Even just a short paragraph here can set the scene and make the rest of your planning much easier.
2. Create a timeline
Work out how often you should be posting new content.
Companies that post more than 16 blogs a month get 3.5 times more traffic than those who post four or fewer, but you’ve got a lot on your plate, so finding the time to write four blogs per week is probably not gonna happen.
If you can manage one blog a week, or even just one every fortnight, that’s totally fine. The great thing about blogs is that they continue to direct traffic to your website for months or even years after you post them. Plus, roughly one in every 10 blog posts is compounding, meaning that clicks from Google searches actually increase over time.
3. Plan your content topics and purpose
Ask yourself what you’re trying to accomplish with the post. Be as clear as you can. When you’re planning content, keep these things in mind:
- Know what you want to achieve – Start with the end in mind. Are you trying to teach people about your services? Or maybe give the readers a taste of your own expertise, through a market update? Figure that out first.
- Mix it up – To keep your audience from disengaging, ensure you mix up the types of content your audience receives. Variety is key.
- Stay on brand – It’s easy to run with fun ideas, but make sure they fit your brand. Go over your calendar and make sure everything still lines up with your business’s values and voice.
Pop it into your content calendar so you stay focused on your goals and KPIs.
4. Brainstorm content ideas in advance
Forcing creativity within an unrealistic time-frame is a recipe for disaster. Learning to plan ahead and compile a plethora of content ideas is a lesson marketers often learn the hard way, but an important lesson nonetheless.
When those ‘light-bulb’ moments spring to mind, write them down. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to getting creative, but freeing up the time to produce content that feels inspired will pay dividends on your brand's engagement.
With a stockpile of content ideas, your blog posts will be easier to write (because you’ll know what you’re going to say before you put your fingers to the keyboard) and you’ll find yourself writing a flow of great content.
5. Don’t forget about SEO
Thinking strategically about your keyword usage is one of the most important steps of running a successful blog. If your articles aren’t backed by keywords, how will you ever get found on a search engine?
When choosing your keywords, you should think carefully about how relevant they are to your business and how competitive they will be to rank for. If you’re new to SEO, here are 10 best practices to get you started.
On the flip side, overusing keywords is one sure way to get your website penalised by Google. By leveraging a healthy amount of keywords at the right time, your business will find a welcomed increase in traffic over time without spending a cent on advertising.
6. Decide where you’ll distribute your content
If you’re serious about squeezing as much value as possible out of your blog posts, you should be distributing them across various channels. We would recommend at the very least:
- Your email list
For example, if you decide to write a blog post that’s designed to encourage conversation (say, perhaps about local community news), that could be shared on Facebook. If you’re writing to your local market, that could be suitable for LinkedIn as it could help establish you as a subject matter expert for professionals.
Not sure how to distribute your content in social media? Rex Reach offers a simple solution to help your agency reach thousands of buyers, sellers and promote your agency in just a few clicks. Book a demo today to see it in action.
7. Review and update your calendar regularly
We all know how turbulent the real estate market can be. With the goal posts shifting, you’ll need to adjust your calendar to account for emerging trends. Make sure that the topics you’re covering are topical, if not relevant and timely. As your business grows and evolves, so too should your content.
So what are you waiting for? If you’re ready to start properly planning and tracking your content marketing initiatives, download our customisable content calendar here.
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