dallas marketing blog
May 17, 2018
5 Ways to Build a Useful Editorial Calendar
Executing on a content marketing strategy is a lot of work, but when you combine the efforts of a well-managed team, the results can be downright magical. The challenge, of course, is co-ordination - each contributor has conflicting priorities, and their own, unique style. To keep everyone on the same page you need an editorial calendar.
In its simplest form, an editorial calendar is a document that communicates what you plan to publish, when you'll publish it, and who'll handle each component. But if you choose the right tool it could do so much more - an editorial calendar can also help you clarify the purpose of each piece of content and improve collaboration within your team/s.
But there isn’t one solution that’s ideal for everyone - the trick is to identify a tool that suits the complexity and frequency of your publishing schedule, and that your team will actually use.
Here are five ways to build an editorial calendar, and the pros and cons of each approach.
1. Using a Spreadsheet as an Editorial Calendar
Spreadsheets are great for many organizational tasks, and that includes editorial calendars. Anyone with a computer can access some form of a spreadsheet, and as long as you keep it simple, most people are reasonably comfortable using one.
Spreadsheet style editorial calendars are best for content teams which publish once or twice per week (or less), and it’s useful to set them up in a common environment (like Google Docs or OneDrive) so you can share them with your team members and collaborate on changes.
I sometimes see editorial spreadsheets that have been set up to look like an actual calendar - personally, I find that this limits the tool’s utility. Instead, I prefer to use the traditional row and column layout, so I can manipulate and sort the data when I need a different view.
The information included in an editorial calendar will vary from one organization to the next, but it will usually look something like this:
In addition to the columns shown here, it's often helpful to include other information. For example, I like to add the search volume for my target keywords and links to relevant research.
Pros of a Spreadsheet Style Editorial Calendar:
- Low barrier to entry. Most people have access to and feel comfortable using a simple spreadsheet.
- Limited adoption challenges. Team members can incorporate this tool into their existing file structure and workflow.
- Simple to set up.
- Some collaboration capabilities (if the spreadsheet lives on a shared drive).
- Few limitations. You can use a spreadsheet to do almost anything.
Cons of a Spreadsheet Style Editorial Calendar:
- Spreadsheets require manual maintenance. If your entire team doesn’t commit to using this tool it will become dated.
- Limited scalability. Spreadsheets are great for small teams who publish once or twice a week, but they can become unwieldy if your publication frequency increases.
- Permissions must be carefully managed to avoid unwanted changes to this critical document.
- Limited workflow collaboration capabilities.
2. Building an Editorial Calendar with Google Calendar
If your team uses Google Calendar, setting up a separate editorial calendar in that same environment is another viable option.
From within Google Calendar, click on the plus sign next to “Add a friend’s calendar” and choose “New Calendar.”
Then select your new calendar and click on the three vertical dots to the right of the name to edit the settings and share the calendar with your team.
Now you can populate the calendar with your content plan and keep everyone informed of the publication schedule.
Add alerts, files and links to each entry, so that your authors will have access to everything they need to complete each piece.
Like spreadsheets, using a Google Calendar to manage your content production schedule is best when your publishing frequency is light - although the tool is familiar and there are some collaboration capabilities, it can become frustrating to those who publish a lot of content.
Pros of Using Google Calendar as an Editorial Calendar:
- Low barrier to entry. Google Calendar is free, familiar and easy to use.
- Limited adoption challenges. Those who already use Google’s suite of tools will find it quite natural to integrate this option into their workflow.
- Simple set up.
Cons of Using Google Calendar as an Editorial Calendar:
- If your team doesn’t use Google Calendar they may not be willing to start now.
- Limited scalability. This is a very simple solution. Using Google Calendar to manage your editorial process can become cumbersome if your publishing frequency increases.
- Limited collaboration capabilities. Complex editorial workflows would benefit from a more robust tool.
3. Integrating an Editorial Calendar into Task or Project Management Tools
If your team already uses a productivity solution, you might be able to build an editorial calendar right into your existing tool. This is a terrific option when several team members work on each piece of content - the right solution can help you manage that workflow and keep everyone informed.
There are many such tools, but I prefer Asana and will use it to illustrate this point.
Asana organizes work into “projects” and the individual “tasks” related each project. You can then view those tasks as a list or on a “Kanban” board - here's an example of an editorial calendar project in Asana that has been set up using the Kanban method.
In this example, a card represents each piece of content (or task) you intend to create. As work is completed, you move the cards from left to right to visually track your progress. But the real magic happens inside each individual card.
Within each card, you can break down tasks into subtasks, and assign them to individual contributors. For example, if you need a graphic for your next blog post, you can assign that subtask to your graphic designer, and that person will then get an alert (with the requested due date). They can then either accept the assignment or request a change.
You can also attach files and communicate with your team right within the tool - this means you'll have everything related to each piece of content in one place.
This is just one example of how you might use a productivity tool to create an editorial calendar and workflow - the list of pros and cons will vary based on the tool you choose and how you use it, but here are the pros and cons of using Asana.
Pros of Using Asana as an Editorial Calendar:
- If you already use the solution you can build your editorial calendar right into your existing task management workflow. This negates the need to juggle documents or manage a complicated solution adoption process.
- Collaboration features make it easy to communicate the status of individual pieces of content and their associated tasks. This will help you avoid bottlenecks.
- Premium features add rich project management functionality that improves the tool’s utility.
Cons of Using Asana as an Editorial Calendar:
- If your team doesn't use a common tool for collaborating on tasks, you'll need to agree on a solution and go through an adoption process.
- Most productivity tools were designed to manage a wide variety of projects and tasks, which means that they may lack features of particular interest to content managers.
- Building an editorial calendar into your productivity solution should work for a moderate production schedule but may challenge your ability to scale.
If you like this concept (especially the Kanban method), but don’t think Asana is right for you, Trello and Monday are good alternatives.
4. Using Airtable as an Editorial Calendar
Spreadsheets and collaborative to-do lists are perfectly fine for managing the content needs of a small team, but you may find that you need a more robust editorial calendar solution as your program matures. Airtable is a good option for people who like using spreadsheets but need something more.
Airtable is a cloud-based application which offers the deep functionality and relational aspects of a database in a visually appealing spreadsheet format. The tool enables you to collaborate with team members, attach files and segment data - a basic version is available for free, while feature-rich upgrades are $20 per user, per month.
This tool is useful for managing a rigorous editorial schedule. There is a learning curve, but Airtable provides use case templates to get you started. Here's a screenshot of their digital content calendar template.
I choose this template because it shows how Airtable can work for a large, prolific team. They also provide simple templates for smaller scale projects, such as the management of the editorial calendar for a blog.
Pros of Using Airtable as an Editorial Calendar:
- Superior collaboration capabilities when compared to spreadsheets.
- Provides robust relational database functionality, combined with easy ways to view and sort the data. This flexibility satisfies spreadsheet fans while also accommodating visual types with calendar, Kanban and gallery views of the same data.
- Offers integrations with many popular applications. This makes it easier to build the solution into your workflow.
Cons of Using Airtable as an Editorial Calendar:
- Significant learning curve, particularly for those who are not familiar with databases.
- Airtable isn’t mainstream yet, which means you’re adding a new tool to the mix and may encounter resistance.
- Spreadsheet power users may expect certain functionality that isn’t yet available. This will require patience. The solution is becoming quite popular and is adding new capabilities all the time.
- Like a spreadsheet, manual updates are necessary to keep the tool effective.
- This solution wasn’t designed specifically for marketers. Marketing-centric features are present but aren't necessarily a top priority.
5. Adopting CoSchedule as Your Editorial Calendar
CoSchedule is a content planning and execution tool designed for marketers. You can use it to build an editorial calendar for all your content and campaigns, while you can also use it to collaborate with contributors and schedule social media posts, all in one place.
The company offers a wide range of pricing options - basic capabilities for bloggers start at $40 per month. The most advanced level of functionality (for enterprises) is $1,200 per month.
Planned content is presented on a calendar, which can show everything or a filtered view. You can manage each piece of content using a customizable, collaborative workflow, so that you always know where things stand. You can also set up a social sharing plan for each piece of content and use it to populate a built-in social media scheduling tool.
Pros of Using the CoSchedule Editorial Calendar:
- Designed for marketers.
- Useful for managing all types of content – blogs, resources, social media content, graphics, white papers, etc.
- Handles the entire content production process – from ideation to publication to social promotion.
- Doubles as a scheduling tool for social media posts. You can set up the entire social sharing plan for each piece of content as part of your content creation workflow.
Cons of Using the CoSchedule Editorial Calendar:
- Yet another tool to adopt and integrate into your workflow. It’s great if all you work on is content, but it doesn’t accommodate the need to manage other types of tasks (the company recently implemented an integration with Zapier, which may make this issue easier to work through).
- Analytics data is limited to the impact of social posts.
- The calendar format is the only option for viewing your plan - you can't convert it to list form.
- Calendar data resides in the tool. You can't extract it for further analysis. For example, if you want to conduct a content audit, you'll need to build an inventory of your content separately.
Choosing an Editorial Calendar Solution
The system you select for documenting and collaborating on your editorial calendar will have a big impact on your efficiency. Defining your requirements, and exploring the solutions above, is a good place to start if you’re working with a small or medium-sized team. There are other options that may be more suitable to your situation, but we'll save that discussion for another day.
The rise of Douyin is particulary interesting
Live streaming and short videos have become a greater focus for marketers and media agency professionals in China over the past year, according to a survey by AdMaster and TopMarketing.
In 2017, 22% of respondents said this medium was one of the leading social media marketing tactics they used. Fast forward one year later, and 62% of respondents said they use it.
While many are focusing on other tactics as well—including influencer marketing and social CRM—the shift in short videos and live streaming is a significant one.
So why the refocus?
Since the end of 2016, short videos—which typically last for about 15 seconds to a few minutes—are one of the fastest-growing mobile app categories in China.
Consumption of short video content is simply more suitable for consumers seeking bite-size entertainment in today's on-the-go lifestyle. So it's no surprise that marketers are focusing their attention on short video apps as the ideal storytelling medium to convey their message, whether it is through endorsements from key opinion leaders or advertising.
Among the many short video apps, the rise of Douyin—also known as Tik Tok in some countries outside of China—is particularly interesting.
Originally launched in September 2016 by parent company ByteDance, Douyin saw its daily active users more than double between December 2017 and March 2018, jumping from 17.4 million to 45.6 million, based on data from Jiguang.
March 2018 data from Cheetah Mobile found that Douyin users are primarily female (60.7%), and 66.7% are between the ages of 18 and 24.
Douyin's concept is simple. Users can produce video of themselves lip-syncing and dancing to their favorite tunes, and share it on the app or other social platforms. Users can also apply filters and other editing features to video.
In terms of ads that might be most effective on short video platforms, a March 2018 Tencent survey found that both male and female short video app users are most tolerant toward those that feature creative and interesting content, while they are least interested in ads that feature "traditional" celebrities.
Article Written by: Man-Chung Cheung - Emarketer
January 10, 2018
How to SEO Audit Your Website in 15 Minutes
So, you’re embarking on an SEO campaign - but first you want to carry out an SEO audit to see how you're currently placed?
Ahrefs share their 10-step process in this infographic.
Here are the tools mentioned:
- Ahrefs
- Google Analytics
- Google Search Console
- Google PageSpeed Insights
- Google Structured Data Testing
- Panguin
This post was first published on the Red Website Design blog.
Author: Mark Walker-Ford
Infographic: David McSweeney
Photo by: Pineapple Supply Co- Unsplash
April 26, 2016
Beyoncé and the Value of Surprise Marketing
Whether you're a Beyoncé fan or not (and really, who isn’t a Beyoncé fan?) you can’t deny the way her team has perfected their marketing strategy. Beyoncé utilizes a technique I like to call 'surprise marketing'.
For her team, gone are the days of going on publicity tours and spending countless hours promoting her latest endeavor. Instead, Beyonc̩ springs her latest projects on us with little to no warning Рa tactic that's helped generate significant buzz and sales success for the artist.
WHAT IS 'SURPRISE MARKETING'?
Surprise is arguably one of the most powerful marketing tools. When a marketer's able to build value in a product or service through genuine excitement, anticipation and surprise, the results can be exceptional. Let’s take a look at the different methods Beyoncé and her team have utilized to surprise their audience:
LEMONADE - HBO EVENT AND ALBUM RELEASE (2016)
Most recently, Beyoncé released a teaser video on HBO for a “world premiere event” that would air the following Saturday night. The teaser didn’t divulge what this event was: a horror movie? A new album? A music video? No one knew for sure, and that uncertainty helped build buzz and drive more fan discussion about what the announcement could mean and the various possibilities of what Beyoncé could be launching.
As fans tuned in to HBO to watch the event, it became apparent that Beyoncé had created a full visual concept album. Midway through the HBO Event, Beyoncé then used Instagram to announce the release of her album on Tidal, and then eventually iTunes - a complete surprise to fans everywhere.
Of course, it's too early to say how successful this tactic has been at this stage, but if it's anything like her 2013 album, this latest surprise marketing push could boost Beyoncé to more record-breaking success, and the surrounding buzz and anticipation generated by this approach suggests that she's definitely on that path.
“FORMATION”- SINGLE RELEASE (2016)
On the eve of Super Bowl 50, Beyoncé released the single “Formation”, along with an accompanying music video to her website. Rather than marketing the single prior to its release, as most performers to, Beyoncé chose the surprise marketing route once again. Beyoncé capitalized on the buzz of her upcoming halftime performance by releasing the song the night before the show, and then performed the single at the actual Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show.
BEYONCÉ - STUDIO ALBUM (2013)
Back in 2013, Beyoncé surprised fans around the world with the release of her self-titled studio album, complete with full music videos. There was zero promotion or warning to anyone, it was simply released on iTunes and promoted via social media after the fact. Many wondered if the lack of promotion would hurt sales, but this surprise marketing technique did the opposite: The album entered the US Billboard chart at No 1, and became the fastest-selling album on iTunes worldwide with an estimated total sales of over 5M.
HOW CAN BRANDS ‘”PULL A BEYONCÉ”?
For most companies, attaining the level of excitement and suspense that Beyoncé is able to garner doesn't come easy. However, brands can definitely incorporate some of these techniques of surprise marketing into their overall marketing strategy.
1. PROVIDE SOMETHING UNEXPECTED
Give your customers some sort of surprise reward for each purchase. Brands that advertise a “free gift with every purchase” or something to that extent, can build more excitement and drive customers towards making a purchase. It doesn’t matter what the surprise actually is, the essence of the “surprise” itself is the value for the customer.
2. EXCLUSIVE SALES
Provide a sense of exclusivity and surprise for your customers. Many brands have been creating “scratch and reveal” or “peel and reveal” advertisements, where customers will scratch a box or peel a sticker to reveal what discount they will receive on their purchase. This creates anticipation and excitement for the customer, especially when they get the “best” discount possible.
3. SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Rather than marketing your next sale several days in advance, try a surprise announcement for your next sale or giveaway. Email marketing is a great vehicle for utilizing this technique. Use a subject line like “SURPRISE: $5 off all purchases for the next hour”, or something of that nature that will work best with your audience. This creates a sense of excitement and urgency that can help drive consumer action.
HOW WILL YOU SURPRISE YOUR AUDIENCE NEXT?
March 31, 2016
3 Ways to Optimize Your Website for Social Media Marketing
While just about every website undertakes some form of SEO these days, there’s another marketing opportunity that's often missed altogether - optimizing your company’s website for social media marketing.
There’s much more to effective social media marketing than simply setting up a Facebook page with your company’s name attached to it. Unfortunately, many small businesses treat their company’s website and social media accounts as two mutually exclusive parts of their digital marketing strategy. In reality, both should be closely intertwined.
Here’s the deal - when your website and social media platforms are working in unison, your digital marketing results have the potential to grow exponentially. An increased number of site visitors, a more engaged social following and - most importantly - more sales are sure to follow when you successfully integrate these two important elements of digital marketing. The following are three key ways to ensure that your website is optimized for social media success.
1. SOCIAL MEDIA CONNECTIONS
Before anything else, the first thing you need to do is make sure that there are links between your website and your social media accounts. While including your website URL in your social media bio is a fairly straightforward practice, far fewer companies use their website to directly link to their social media accounts.
Sure, it may take a bit of extra coding or the installation of extra apps to accomplish this for your site, but it's well worth the effort. Just like you put your website URL in your social media profile in the hope that it'll generate visitors to your site, so too do your website’s links to your social media accounts increase your likelihood of gaining new followers on these platforms. As long as these links are prominently displayed, your website can easily generate new social media followers.
That’s not your only option for generating social connections, however. Tools such as AddThis and ShareThis allow you to embed social media share buttons on each page of your site, making it easier for site visitors to share a piece of content on their own social profiles. And when sharing sidebars also include share counters - like the below example from Content Marketing Institute - it provides a level of social proof and credibility, further increasing the likelihood that visitors will view your information as trustworthy and authoritative.
If you’re not sure where to begin in this process, start with the basics - connections to Facebook and Twitter are a must, but integration with other social media platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest can also give your business a major boost. And if you need help, there are plenty of tools available online that can notify you if any social media elements haven't been properly integrated on your site.
2. CONSISTENTLY PROVIDE NEW, QUALITY CONTENT
2. CONSISTENTLY PROVIDE NEW, QUALITY CONTENT
Producing unique, high-quality content isn’t only an SEO essential. If you want your website to make a legitimate contribution to your social media marketing, you need to consistently provide interesting and unique content through your blog. And the better your content is, the more likely it'll generate shares on social, thus building awareness for both your website and your various social media accounts.
And you don’t need to limit yourself to written blog posts either. Infographics, videos and other forms of content can make your website more engaging and give your followers a greater incentive to share your posts on their own social media accounts. Visual content that sparks an emotional response is much more likely to be effective in this regard.
Another bonus is that by creating quality content for your website, you also provide material that can be used in crafting your own social media posts. For example, let’s say you just published a blog post titled “6 Essential Spring Gardening Tips.” This is the perfect type of content to push through your own social media channels - especially since Buzzsumo’s analysis of the most viral content of 2015 found that posts that included practical tips, quizzes or a unique spin on trending topics tended to be among the most shared.
3. MAKE IT INTERACTIVE
Users flock to their many social media accounts for interaction, and your website can take advantage of this as well by letting users comment and generate their own content on your site. But rather than forcing site visitors to undergo a convoluted registration process to participate, you can follow the example of Mashable and others who further leverage social media to their advantage by allowing users to register with their social media accounts.
Lucas Miller-Social Media Today
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