Let’s start with a statement which you should always remember when planning your calendar. I would suggest you write it down on a sticky note and place it near your desk space, or in your business binder, or wherever you want to keep your content calendar (physical or digital).

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“Your content calendar and the posts planned therein should always be relevant and super helpful to your audience.”

For instance, if your business is a combination of fitness for busy working women and nutrition to keep energy up, posting about your shopping spree for Christmas items on sale might not be very helpful or relevant. Such a post might also throw off your audience, so just don’t.

In Part 3, we’ll talk more about identifying, targeting, and planning topics for your audience. For now, here’s how your content calendar will benefit your audience:

1. It builds trust and anticipation.

When your audience knows they can expect a full-packed, crazy helpful post on a certain day of the week, they are eager to devour it.

For example, I’m a lover of good blogs and there are three to five main influencers I follow. I have them in my Feedly, I follow them on any social media platforms they are on, and I regularly check their websites for new content. When I see something new from them, I want to read and absorb almost immediately.

Why? Because I trust them. They’ve always delivered insanely helpful information, the kind they could have sold but give away for free. Plus, they are usually very intentional about posting on the same day(s) every week so I know what to expect (and when they don’t post as expected for whatever reason, I am eager for when they finally will)!

THAT is what you should aim for. Readers that trust and devour, and share!

2. It can guide buyers through a complex system.

If you’re smart, and I KNOW you are (!), then you will have introductory posts to what you’re offering as a product or service.

For example, Ann would like to offer interior design consultations, but doesn’t have any testimonials to back up her skill and expertise since she left her former 9-5 day job. So she asks friends and family who would like her to consult with them for free, or pass it on by word of mouth.

Her free session is booked and she successfully transforms the client’s living room after her consultation. The deal also included some pictures for Ann’s website, which she carefully takes and edits.

Now, Ann hasn’t offered consultations on her website before, this is her introduction to her audience who have been following her for interior design tips and tricks. So she writes up an article that reveals her consultation process, and adds plenty of before and after shots of the work she did for free with her first client’s living room, plus adds a small quote from their reaction, and the follow-up email she sent them a month later.

This one article is a great introductory post, and guides potential customers through Ann's consultation process. When Ann starts booking after her introduction, she can plan to continue to build her portfolio for her services by posting similar articles once a week, on the same day every time, or however often is realistic for her lifestyle.

These posts not only build portfolio and reveal Ann's ability to create jaw-dropping transformation, they also guide readers, step by step, through how Ann works with a client. They reveal her style (feminine, industrial, modern, vintage, a mix, etc.), her skills, her 'eye for design,' and her personality.

This is only one example of how certain posts can guide the reader through a complex system or process. It says "this is what it's like to work with me, this is how I do it, this is my style, and this is the transformation I offer."

"Because ultimately, customers are buying your service or product to see transformation in an area of their life."

3. It ensures you aim for quality over quantity.

Lastly, planning your content calendar helps you set realistic goals when it comes to content, especially if you're just starting you calendar.

Once you first start, if you're only able to post a quality, helpful, relevant article once a week, so be it.

It will ALWAYS be better to post one super duper helpful article a week, then two, three, or four not-so-helpful, vague, not-really-relevant articles.

And don't worry about the gap of one week because you can also recycle your old posts via social media, and link back to previous articles in your new one if applicable.

Suggestion: Add a section at the bottom of your articles which links to three or four related posts from your archives (if they’re lined up horizontally and have a small thumbnail picture, it’s much more appealing than a simple list with titles. We are visual creatures after all)! That way, if your visitor loved what they read, they might just keep going and you'll have made a loyal reader!

Next, we'll look at more audience aspects, and how to take a visitor through the process of becoming a customer!

TAKE ACTION: Take inventory of all your articles and put them in one place (whether you save them in a cloud, or on your computer, etc.), then file them folders labeled by category. That way, when you go to choose your ‘related posts’ near the bottom, you won’t be sorting through chaos, and what you want will be easier to find.

BONUS! If your related posts on your site interest your readers, it’ll keep them on your site longer, consuming more of your content, slowly building more trust in your expertise!

Next read How To Create A Content Calendar That Works Part 3 where we dig into identifying your audience and creating avatars for your ideal client, or How To Create A Content Calendar That Works Part 1 where we discuss how creating a content calendar benefits you & your business!

Have a question? Write me in the comments below and I’d be happy to chat with you!