Here’s What’s Working: Planning a Month’s Worth of Content in One Sitting

Planning leads to results. It’s that simple! When we plan out our day, we stay productive. When we plan the information we want to share with our audience, we’ll maximize our time and reach our goals.

This is why planning content is so important. By starting at a month’s view of goals and needs, then narrowing that down into individual blogs, videos, emails, and social posts, you ensure everything that needs to be shared, is.

And this is how you do it.*

*This is one method. But we think it works pretty well.

Begin with Your Goals for the Month

What is the #1 goal for your brand? Do you want to increase engagement, successfully release a new product, or begin using influencer marketing?

When you acknowledge your goals, you can better plan out your content to match. Picture every piece of content as a step towards that goal.

Recognize Content Needs for the Month

Content needs vary by company, but think of this as the promotions that need to occur, brand partnerships, your Instagram grid and/or color blocking, and other “must haves” in the content department.

Content needs may look like this:

• 3 posts about a partnership
• 4 blog posts and corresponding posts on social
• 3 product posts
• 5 pieces of content curation
• 2 videos

These 17 posts need to be spread throughout the month and meet necessary deadlines. Once you know what you need, you can begin backdating accordingly.

Plan Blog Post and Video Topics

Once you know the types of content you need, you can begin the fun part! What blog topics and videos will you create this month? Because you’ve already determined your goals, you can choose the right content to meet each goal.

This is when you bring in the rest of the team. (If you haven’t already.) You need your video producer, designer, writer, and social media manager all focused on the goal, so you can create relevant content.

Your social media manager also needs to be involved so they know what content they’ll have throughout the month.

This may seem like a one-way ticket to a two hour meeting, but it’s not. We hate long meetings, and we can typically get through this specific section in 15–20 minutes for all clients.

This system helps us work efficiently, and you’ll get faster over time.

Add to Your Project Management System and Finalize Dates

You’re almost done! Once you have this all planned out, whether on paper or on a screen, it’s time to transfer to your project management system with finalized dates.

After trying everything from Trello to Basecamp and Asana, we’ve landed on Dapulse, and we still love it, two years later. It’s visual, has a great user interface, and there are both team and client account types.

Regardless of the platform you use, you’ll want to add your content with dates and assign it to the relevant team members. We keep our board organized by department, but will create separate groups within a client’s board for special events or long running promotions.

Your Content Planning Timeline

Knowing your content planning timeline is as crucial as the content itself. You need to leave enough time to develop and approve assets. This often depends on response time, but when in doubt, always go with more time.

This will leave you feeling prepared for the month, instead of scrambling at the last minute. It’s also particularly important when working with freelancers, because you need to keep their turnaround times in mind.

Phew. You did great. Planning content for the entire month can get hectic, and this is how we make it happen. Stay organized, think ahead, and communicate. You’ll be on your way to an organized content strategy that will help you grow!

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