Planning content is not easy. It requires coordination, creativity, and a strategic mindset. At OYG, we try to keep the planning efficient and streamlined which is why we’ve developed a quarterly planning process that helps our team stay organized and on track. In this blog, we’ll walk through our content planning process, breaking it down into sections such as social media, blog, newsletter, webinars, and more.
Airtable is Your Friend
We swear by Airtable for our content planning. Before our quarterly planning meeting, will have someone get the ball rolling by setting up an Airtable board. We add in all the dates we know, starting with our Monday newsletters, Wednesday blogs, and preplanned webinars. This will act as our roadmap for thinking up content that keeps our audience hooked. It’s great to have this prep work completed before the meeting, that way everything stays on topic and moving forward.
Pro tip: Have someone be your designated scribe who will type out all that is discussed. This is a very important job that will make content creation easier (or harder, if done incorrectly) after the meeting is completed.
Quarterly Planning Meetings
Every quarter, our team will meet to start our planning and brainstorming. This process is very informal and open, which works best for our team. We throw around ideas, catch up on the latest trends, and just let the creative juices flow. Everyone’s welcome to share their thoughts and input, and together, we create concepts and key topics. Our content ideas originate from lots of sources. Whether inspired by real-world experiences or building upon existing content, we try to make sure that our topics are relevant, engaging, and interesting.
Pro tip: Add any and all information you are discussing (This is where that scribe comes in!). This is going to be essential information for whoever is tasked to create content to refer back to and have a starting point.
Finalizing Tasks and Due Dates
Once the content ideas are solidified and we feel good about everything, we will finalize our Airtable by assigning tasks and adding due dates. We usually assign due dates about a month before the posting date. Since this is planned quarterly and months ahead of time this gives everyone ample notice of their responsibilities and deadlines, contributing to a well-organized and efficient workflow.
The beauty of using Airtable is that it can be viewed by the entire team. This transparency allows everyone to see what content is upcoming, what is pending, and what has been completed. This visibility helps with accountability and collaboration, making sure that the team is always on the same page.
Ideas to Reality
Once we’ve wrapped up our planning, it’s time to create and post! For visuals, we use Canva. We often jumpstart things with some premade templates, whether is a template we made or a Canva template we customized, any template will help speed things along. Our posts are essentially cut from the same cloth. It’s not about being repetitive, but more about streamlining the process. Why reinvent the wheel every time, right?
Now, onto newsletters – we use Hubspot. And again those premade templates are gonna come in handy. We keep our text short and sweet, so it’s super skimmable and friendly. Because let’s face it, nobody wants to read a novel in their inbox. We make sure to add in links to our course, blogs, and resources for readers to learn more. Links are great to help with interaction and engagement.
For scheduling there are a lot of options out there. We use Meta Business for our main accounts Facebook and Instagram. FYI – If you have a business account, you already have a Meta Business account, so check it out! We’ve also used Canva Content Planner in the past, and while it has its quirks, it’s a solid option if you’re using Canva design consistently.
Content planning is a dynamic process that requires careful consideration and a well-organized approach. But we hope with a little insight into OYG’s process, it will be a bit easier for you and your team!
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