Creating a content schedule doesn’t have to be super difficult or overwhelming. You can start slow and build on your efforts as you get used to each new platform you use while creating systems that make it easier. The trick is to create a realistic schedule that works for your life and your business.

Here are a few things to consider when creating your content schedule:

Understand Your Sales Cycle

How often do you plan to launch new products or services? This is an important factor in determining how much content you should create and when you should publish it. If you have just one product or service then you’ll be able to create an entirely different type of calendar than someone who continuously launches new products.

Know the Platforms You’re Using

Each platform you use has different content publishing preferences. Content on your blog will look different from what you send in your emails. Social medial platforms and third party publishing sites like Medium will have different rules and formats yet again. It’s important to pay attention to the style of content each platform needs, and check your analytics so you will know the best times and frequency to post.

Know Your Ideal Audience

It goes without saying (but I’m going to anyways) that you should know your audience before creating any content. And you should think of them as you create your schedule. That way you will understand their tolerance for content. Create a good mix of educational and informational content that compliments to products and services you want to share. You’re better off creating more content than less but some audiences will not be tolerant of being sold to several times a day. You may need to test it out to find out what happens.

Decide on Your Topics

The best plan focuses on choosing the topics that you’ll create content for based on your launch schedule. If you only have one product then the best thing to do is start from the beginning and work on creating pillar content from which all the rest is derived.

Another way to do it is to publishing a series of shorter posts related to your product, and then combine all of those together to create a pillar post at the end. That way you’re not keeping your audience waiting for new content while you’re writing your 3000 word pillar post, and your content schedule doesn’t have huge gaps in it.

Schedule Publishing, Due Dates & Promotion

Since the whole point of this post is about creating a content schedule, it’s important to get dates on your calendar for things like research, creation, outsourcing, publication, and promotion. Setting deadlines and knowing what has to be done each day is crucial to having a consistent schedule that works for you. Make sure to build in time for outsourcing, if you’re doing that. Be realistic when you schedule to ensure that you really can meet your goals.

Track & Tweak

Nothing is ever complete until the tracking and tweaking is done. Once you’ve published, give your content some time to start getting results then look at your analytics. When you notice anything amiss you can correct it on the fly. Maybe you need to tweak the headline or the images to get a better response. And when you see something that’s working, do more of that.

When you’re done creating your content schedule it should be a reflection of the goals you want to achieve, and be a tool that can keep you focused on the path to your success.

*Note: This post includes affiliate links, for which I will receive a small commission should you make a purchase.