Passed on 7 April, 2025
6. Creating a content calendar
In this lesson, we’ll explore how to create a content marketing calendar to help support your digital marketing goals.
✅ Learning objectivesBy the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:Create a content calendar that supports your business' digital marketing strategy.Tailor content to fit your audience’s preferences and behaviours.Analyse post performance and refine your strategy for better results.
Learning objectives
By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:
Create a content calendar that supports your business' digital marketing strategy.
Tailor content to fit your audience’s preferences and behaviours.
Analyse post performance and refine your strategy for better results.
Structure your content marketing
Planning and structuring your content marketing using a content calendar can save you time and help you achieve your business goals.
Promoting a Pizzeria
Sharing content can be an effective way to help your business grow. Let’s check out a case study.A link to the full case study will be available in theHelpful Resourcesmodule.
A link to the full case study will be available in theHelpful Resourcesmodule.
A link to the full case study will be available in theHelpful Resourcesmodule.
Pizzeria Ibris in Trento
Ibrahim Songne’s Ibris pizzeria in Trento, Italy, is a small place that’s just around the corner from the very central Piazza Duomo. He posts regular content to help boost his sales.
Ibrahim says…
I always update my Business Profile on Google with photos and new products. In fact, every week I create a new pizza and publish a post to advertise it. The response has been incredible, I’ve estimatedI sell up to 7% more after each new poston my Google profile.1
Why does this matter?
If you knew how to boost your sales by up to 7% once a week, you’d make sure you planned to do that. A content calendar is that plan. And, once you know how to boost your sales once a week, you can begin to experiment to achieve bigger increases and more regular boosts over time.
What is a content calendar?
A content calendar is a structured timeline that organises your content marketing activities, outlining what to publish, when to publish it, and on which platform. This approach helps ensure a consistent and efficient content process, which, as shown in our case study, can also boost your sales.
Getting started
Let’s find out how to create an effective content calendar.
Choose your tool
A content calendar can be created in a spreadsheet. There’s also a variety of tools available, both free of charge and paid, that can publish content to social media accounts and help you collaborate on content with your team. These tools can save you time by automating some of the content creation and distribution process. You could even use help from AI.
Remember your goals
Keep your digital marketing goals in mind. For example, if your goal is to increase visits to your website by 20%, the content in your calendar should regularly encourage people to go there.
Know your audience
If you segment your audience, specify which group you’re targeting with each post. Find out when your audience is online and which digital channels they use at those times to ensure your content reaches them when they’re most likely to engage.
Remember your purpose
You explored the purposes of content—entertain, inspire, educate, or convince—in an earlier activity. Use what you learned there to decide which types of content to post and on which platforms to best reach your audience. This will help ensure your content supports your overall goals effectively.
Identify key calendar moments
Make a note of any public holidays or festivals, plus seasonal moments or relevant events such as ‘Back to School’. You can tailor content to those dates.
Create your content
As you create your content, link posts, images, videos, and more to your content calendar to stay organised. A content calendar not only helps you stick to realistic time frames for producing content but also ensures easy access to past content for reference. It also allows others to review content before it gets published.Revisit the lessonsCreating digital contentandUsing AIfor tips on how to speed up the content creation process.
Revisit the lessonsCreating digital contentandUsing AIfor tips on how to speed up the content creation process.
Revisit the lessonsCreating digital contentandUsing AIfor tips on how to speed up the content creation process.
Analyse and iterate
Keep track of the data. It will help you experiment with how often to post, which types of content are most effective, and how different campaigns impact your sales, website traffic, and more. As you start getting results, you’ll be able to adjust your approach to keep improving.
✅ ActivityCreate your own content calendar. You can find templates online or use an AI assistant. Start with a short timeframe and expand it over time.If you’re using AI, remember to use theT-C-R-E-Iframework to help get the best results.Check the items off as you go.Start by selecting a tool, like a calendar app or a template, to map out your content schedule.Remind yourself of your goals and your audience’s preferences.Choose the purpose of your first piece of content and what the topic will be.Plot the content on the calendar, including what time of day you will post and which channel you will use. Consider using analytics tools to determine the best times and channels for your audience.Think about what types of content would complement your first piece. Plot that on the calendar, too. Remember, you can use different digital channels to support the same message.Keep planning until you’re happy with the amount of content and the variety of channels. It should be manageable – you don’t have to post every day.
Activity
Create your own content calendar. You can find templates online or use an AI assistant. Start with a short timeframe and expand it over time.If you’re using AI, remember to use theT-C-R-E-Iframework to help get the best results.
If you’re using AI, remember to use theT-C-R-E-Iframework to help get the best results.
If you’re using AI, remember to use theT-C-R-E-Iframework to help get the best results.
Start by selecting a tool, like a calendar app or a template, to map out your content schedule.
Remind yourself of your goals and your audience’s preferences.
Choose the purpose of your first piece of content and what the topic will be.
Plot the content on the calendar, including what time of day you will post and which channel you will use. Consider using analytics tools to determine the best times and channels for your audience.
Think about what types of content would complement your first piece. Plot that on the calendar, too. Remember, you can use different digital channels to support the same message.
Keep planning until you’re happy with the amount of content and the variety of channels. It should be manageable – you don’t have to post every day.
Download PDF
Download PDF
Check your knowledge
It's time for you to check and reflect on what you've learned so far.
Question 1 of 1
Lydia is a business student working for a hotel's marketing department for the summer. She’s responsible for creating content across the hotel's online channels. How can she improve the effectiveness of the content the hotel usually posts?
Review existing data
Stick to what the hotel is already doing
Experiment with how often to post
Explore how new campaigns impact bookings
Submit
Submit
Yes.To improve the hotel’s content effectiveness, Lydia can review existing data, explore how new campaigns impact bookings, and experiment with how often to post.
To improve the hotel’s content effectiveness, Lydia can review existing data, explore how new campaigns impact bookings, and experiment with how often to post.
Lesson complete
Great job!You know what a content calendar is and how to create one.You’ve completed the module onContent creation. Next up,Analytics!
You know what a content calendar is and how to create one.You’ve completed the module onContent creation. Next up,Analytics!
You’ve completed the module onContent creation. Next up,Analytics!
You’ve completed the module onContent creation. Next up,Analytics!
1Grow with Google:Quality, inclusion and digital tools: the three ingredients behind the success of the Ibris pizzeria in Trento
1Grow with Google:
Quality, inclusion and digital tools: the three ingredients behind the success of the Ibris pizzeria in Trento
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