How to Create a Content Calendar

Creating a content calendar sounds simple enough – just jot down the topics you’re interested in creating, right? But the reality is, the content you want to produce isn’t always aligned with what your audience actually wants to consume.

Top content creators invest time studying their audience’s needs, analyzing competitors, and understanding trends before creating a single piece of content. If you’re struggling with creating a content calendar, this guide is for you.

What You’ll Learn in This Guide:

• How to understand what your audience truly wants
• Steps to create a yearly content calendar
• Tools for audience research and competitor analysis
• How to organize and templatize your content creation

1. Start with a Template

Your template needs to include specific information that you’ll populate with relevant details. Here’s what to include:

• Titles
• Themes
• Due Dates
• Live Dates
• Responsibilities
• Resources
• Links
• Key Information Points
• Goal of Each Content Piece
• Speakers / Panelists / Host Names

Consider using a tool like Airtable or Google Sheets for easy access by your whole team.

2. Topic Research

2a. Start with What Worked for You in the Past

Analyze your past content to identify what generated the most engagement, downloads, or traffic. Document these topics for potential reuse, but don’t add them to your template just yet.

2b. Competitor Research

Look at recurring topics at competitor events, webinars, and conferences to spot themes that consistently attract attention. For example, using tools like Ahrefs can help you see popular content and keywords on competitor sites. This provides insight into what topics may also resonate with your audience.

Action Item: List topics you can realistically create content on.

3. Customer Research

Knowing what competitors are producing is valuable, but to truly connect with your audience, you need direct insights. Instead of asking customers directly what they want, use The Mom Test approach:

• Focus on understanding your audience’s daily challenges.
• Ask about specific tasks they found challenging recently.
• Listen more than you talk, and take notes to refine your content ideas.

4. Begin to Craft Your Calendar

With insights from past content, industry research, and customer feedback, you’re ready to start building your calendar. Refine the broad themes you want to cover into 4 main areas – one per quarter, if that works best for your business. Each theme can then inspire monthly or weekly content.

5. Create Sub-Topics Using Questions

Now that you have your core themes, identify specific questions your audience has. Analyze questions asked in webinars, client calls, and platforms like Quora. Tools like Answer The Public can help you see what questions are trending around your topics.

If your content focuses on “Retirement Planning,” for example, Answer The Public will generate common questions about “who,” “what,” “why,” “when,” “how,” and “versus” for that topic.

6. Refine Your Template

Now that you’ve identified topics, continue to fill in your template with more detailed information. Estimate timelines for each piece of content, factoring in time for writing, editing, and publishing. Keep holidays and industry-specific events in mind when scheduling.

For instance, if “Tax Day” is relevant to your audience, consider aligning content with that event.

7. Calendarize

Once your template is ready, add it to your calendar. This step ensures you’ll stay on track, as it’s not just a list of ideas but a working schedule. Set small milestones within each content piece, and adjust if any parts of the process consistently take more time than expected.

Putting It All Together

Creating a content calendar doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By using a template and following these structured steps, you’ll have a well-organized plan filled with content that resonates with your audience.

Now, take this guide and start building a content calendar that delivers value and keeps your audience engaged throughout the year!