Today on Inbound Academy, we’re continuing to discuss how you can plan a long-term strategy for your content. In order to build a solid roadmap, you need a compass. A content compass.

Episode Transcript

Jeff Lambert:                00:00                Today on Inbound Academy, we're continuing to discuss how you can plan a long-term strategy for your content. In order to build a solid roadmap, you need a compass: a content compass.

Jeff Lambert:                00:23                Hello, and welcome to Inbound Academy brought to you by Rizen. I'm your host, Jeff Lambert. Last episode we talked about why and how you can put together a plan for your content. Today we're going to talk specifics. There is a tool that can make the planning process an organized endeavor across your entire organization. This tool is called a content compass. Will Avila, who's the COO at Rizen, is back in the studio again to talk about exactly how you can make a compass and simplify the entire content planning process. Will, welcome back.

Will Avila:                     00:59                Thanks for having me.

Jeff Lambert:                01:00                So what is a content compass exactly?

Will Avila:                     01:04                A content compass is a worksheet that you can use to help organize and plan your content strategy. And this can take many forms. You can do it in Excel, you can do it in Google Sheets, it can be handwritten. It doesn't really matter. It's just a document that you use to keep organized basically.

Jeff Lambert:                01:23                Okay. So we're looking at a planning module essentially. What does a content compass look like?

Will Avila:                     01:30                So a content compass is...I guess you could say it's like a bird's eye view of an over a 12-month period or a quarterly period. And you have each month of the year with different columns for you to add in the overall theme, the different types of content you'll be planning for that specific month, and anything around the strategy for, for that month in that quarter.

Jeff Lambert:                01:59                So in this spreadsheet that we're talking about, you have the months laid out and you have an overall theme that you're following. And you said there's different columns that asked for different information each month, right? What are some basic categories that every content compass has?

Will Avila:                     02:15                Sure. You're going to have the month, you're going to have a S.M.A.R.T. Goal...and we talked about that in another episode. Then you'll have the different blog posts with keyword focuses. You'll have the content downloads or offers. You'll have any external events. Say you're doing a...I dunno...a workshop, a live workshop. Include anything related to email marketing and social media as well.

Jeff Lambert:                02:42                Okay. So do I need to plan out content for the entire year? You said it was a 12-month spreadsheet.

Will Avila:                     02:49                Yeah. You could plan out the whole year at a high level, but we suggest doing it at a quarterly level because you know, there's a lot of things can happen in a quarter. So 90-day blocks, 90-day blocks is probably the best. You could do more, but you want to be flexible and don't want to commit to something nine months down the road. You don't know where you're going to be nine months down the road.

Jeff Lambert:                03:20                Now, does Rizen use content compasses with their clients?

Will Avila:                     03:24                Absolutely. We have a template that we follow that we've created and modified. And it's a resource that, that we are actually going to offer to our listeners.

Jeff Lambert:                03:37                Okay. So I'll make sure to put a link to that in the show notes that Rizen has a content compass that you can download. A blank when I'm assuming? To go ahead and get started?

Will Avila:                     03:45                Yep.

Jeff Lambert:                03:46                Will, overall to wrap this up, why is a content compass a good idea for businesses to use overall?

Will Avila:                     03:55                Yeah, a content compass really gets your entire organization in sync with the actual direction that you're going to take your content strategy. It helps you stay organized. It helps your writers understand the different topics and helps you tie it back to a goal because you're generating content. Probably to generate sales for your company. So having this entire process...an organized process documented and set up for the entire organization is really a recipe for success.

Jeff Lambert:                04:41                Well, you know, I think for a lot of people, having something down on paper and having a concrete plan is a great strategy to begin with. So thank you for providing this template and giving this information to our listeners and to our listeners. Stay tuned for finding more information about organizing your content. Will, thanks for coming back.

Will Avila:                     04:57                Thanks for having me.

Jeff Lambert:                04:58                And to our listeners, thank you so much for joining us for today's episode. You can expect a new one every weekday, always no longer than 10 minutes, and always filled with advice that's going to help you grow your business. And remember, if you're looking for an experienced, friendly and results driven team to help you, check out Rizen by going to go www.rizen.com or following us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linkedin by searching for the username Rizen_Inbound, that's one word, Rizen_Inbound. Remember, you can also help us out and reach new people by leaving a review on your podcast app of choice. Thanks again for your support and we'll see you on the next episode.