HSH 096: Creating an Editorial Calendar with Lacy Boggs
Today I’m joined by content marketing expert Lacy Boggs, to talk all about how to create really engaging content. More importantly, how one figures out what kind of content to promote to his or her audience. The reality is that a calendar with content is going to help you get consistent and better results, which makes this such an important topic to pay attention to for all online marketers!
Lacy runs The Content Direction Agency, a boutique firm that acts as a marketing department for businesses, without the huge investment. She’s been in this line of work for about the last 6 years, although before running the agency she had a strong journalistic background.
Content marketing happens any time you have a conversation with your audience, in the hope that it will eventually result in a sale. You can use multiple channels for content marketing, including blogging, podcasting, videos and more.
More specifically, content marketing is inbound marketing, because we’re asking people to come to us. Seth Godin refers to this as “Permission Marketing.”
Lacy recommends starting with the end in mind, and determining what your goal for the content is first. Then ask yourself if the way that you’re structuring your content is getting you closer to your goal.
An editorial calendar is really just a calendar that shows what content you’re going to produce, and when it will be published. She also likes to add that a good editorial calendar should show why you’re doing the content as well.
There are key pieces of content you should be doing as you approach a launch. Ideally 3 to 4 months before the launch, you should do some sort of list building event or exercise, such as a challenge or webinar. You can then spend the next few weeks figuring out what people need to know to be ready to buy what you’re selling.
As you get closer to the launch date, case studies, Q&As and Frequently Asked Questions posts all are good content to focus on.
You’ll have to determine where your prospect is starting from, and then decide where to take him or her next in the nurture process, when you educate your audience with solid content. Discover the real problem and then focus on selling that!
Some ways you can do customer research is by simply asking your list, or hanging out in Facebook groups where your audience is gathering. Another way to find out what the real problem is is to look up what people are saying on Amazon book reviews.
LINKS:
https://lacyboggs.com/undercover/
Free Editorial Calendar Template
https://www.facebook.com/ghostbloggergb
https://www.instagram.com/lacylu42/
https://twitter.com/blogspiration42