Every successful business understands three things when it comes to building customer loyalty: the importance of consistency, planning ahead, and good timing. In order to ensure these three key components are executed seamlessly, an editorial calendar is one of the most invaluable tools your company can use. Editorial calendars for businesses and nonprofit organizations map content marketing and PR plans for social media, blogs, webpages, press releases and promotions. When coordinated, the timing and publication of content can generate search engine results, build brand awareness, generate traffic, and grow your business or organization.
Aligned with your marketing objectives, the function of an editorial calendar is to give a company a clear outline of content production needs for the weeks and months ahead. By doing so, it is easier to organize content in a way that is orderly and timely for readers and in sync with your marketing and PR events. An editorial calendar can be as simple or as detailed as you choose to make it, but it should include basics such as the project description, due date, type of content, target audience, distribution channels (i.e. website blog, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) and publishing date. Once these are clearly spelled out, all members of your marketing, PR, and management teams will be better able to collaborate effectively and efficiently.
Be smart. Plan ahead.
As the popularity of social media outlets continues to grow, more and more people are looking to their Facebook timelines and Twitter feeds for updates from their favorite companies. Today, there are over one billion Facebook users globally, and approximately 665 million use the site on a daily basis1. To put it into perspective, if Facebook were a nation, it would be the third-largest in the world, and it continues to grow at a rate of 77% each year2. So, to say it’s an excellent medium for business promotion is an understatement. A recent study shows that the number of marketers who view Facebook as “critical” or “important” has skyrocketed 83% in just two years, and 77% of consumers say they are more likely to buy from a company that uses social media.
With so much potential to expand and grow, it is crucial to have a game plan. Planning ahead…
Ensures your content aligns with your overall goals: The purpose, goals, and target audience of each company is unique, and it is important to align these factors with the way you communicate. Publishing content that clearly and consistently supports your underlying message builds brand trust and loyalty—and it is a great strategy for reaching your key objectives.
Allows you to stay on track by helping you see the big picture: Not only do editorial calendars offer the benefit of planning out future content publication dates, but they also are a great way to review your progress. It is a resource through which your social media history is mapped out, giving you another way to evaluate whether or not you’ve been meeting your goals effectively.
Gives you clear insight into what content works and what does not: Every company that uses social media understands that some stories are better than others. Knowing what type of content appeals to your primary and secondary audiences is imperative, and editorial calendars are an excellent way to see what generates the most interest. You can use this insight to help craft future posts that generate higher levels of engagement.
Automating your accounting can also help grow your business
While an editorial calendar is a valuable tool for any company, it is not the only important aspect of running a successful business in today’s technologically advanced world. Accounting programs allow you to track sales and expenses, create and send invoices, and manage payroll. These programs also save you time by allowing you to print laser checks to vendors and employees from the convenience of your own office. All you need to do is buy blank laser checks from a reputable company, load them into your printer, and fill out the necessary information in your accounting program. In just minutes, the information is automatically recorded and you have professional-looking business laser checks. As a leading provider of small business resources, Checksforless.com offers blank laser checks that are compatible with 4,500 different software titles.
Keeping up with technology, whether it’s utilizing social media for exposure or using electronic accounting software, can make or break a business. Exploring all of these avenues is one of the most effective ways to make your company or nonprofit organization run as smoothly as possible.
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References:
1. “Facebook Reports First Quarter 2013 Results.” Facebook.com. Facebook, 01 May 2013. Web. http://investor.fb.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=761090.
2. McMillan, Graeme. “If Facebook Was a Country, It’d Be Larger than China in Three Years.”Digitaltrends.com. Digital Trends, 6 Feb. 2013. Web. http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/facebook-could-be-larger-than-china-in-three-years-time.
3. Elliott, Aaron. “Using Social Media For Lead Generation [INFOGRAPHIC].”Socialmediatoday.com. Social Media Today, 15 July 2013. Web. http://socialmediatoday.com/socialbarrel/1596276/using-social-media-lead-generation-infographic.