How to create a calendar for your content

At Shared Vision, one of our favorite things to do is make affiliate marketing work for you. While signing up for our tool is a great way to accomplish that, don’t forget to make sure time is on your side. 

In other words, setting up a calendar for your content posts can not only take less time and effort, like the wardrobe updates that come with a new season, it can provide inspiration! And whether you’re going solo or collaborating with an entire team, a little organization goes a long way.

Well, you’re already posting content, but that’s not all that the most successful affiliate marketers do. Apart from your primary social media posts, you should schedule time for all of the administrative content that needs to be delivered to your audience. Some examples of what should be in your content are:

• Longer form content (like YouTube videos) on social media
• Shorter form content (like TikToks or pictures) on social media
• Email campaigns
• Blog posts or website updates
• Participation in interviews or podcasts

Here are the questions you’ll want to answer when you’re making this to-do list. It will probably be most helpful to work backwards from when you want to publish the item, then how long you will need to edit it, create it, etc. to know when you should start working on it.

• What is the name of this piece of content? What is a short description to identify it?
• When does this need to be completed?
• How long will this item take me to accomplish?
• Who or what else do I need to complete this item? Can I include any links or images to refer to later?
• How does this topic relate to my other topics? Would it make sense to publish before or after another piece of content?

Remember that you can incorporate a Shared Vision shopping list across any of these platforms.

One thing you can really get creative with is how exactly you’re going to set up your calendar. You’ve got at least a little bit of an artist in you if you’re creating content, so take advantage of colors and mediums! Here are some options to get you started:

• Google calendar: This is probably one of the most popular options to get your schedule set up. Not only is it free (and you probably even already have a gmail address), it syncs with all types of phones and is easy to use.
• Microsoft Outlook: If you need some more features, Microsoft Office is the way to go. Color coding, flagging, extra notes, accompanying to-do lists, and more.
• Microsoft Excel: While still requiring a Microsoft software purchase or subscription,
• Paper Planner: Yes, it’s old school, but if it’s not broken, don’t fix it! Buying the right planner with sections for brainstorming or doodling can help you capture ideas that a phone just can’t. Another great advantage of using a written planner is that studies have shown that your brain remembers things much better when you physically write them out. Now you just have to remember where you put that pen…

Whiteboard: A whiteboard (or several) can be a great addition to any one of these calendars. If you purchase a whiteboard that already has a week or a month drawn out on it, it can be a very visual reminder of what you have coming up. Not to mention that anyone entering your workspace will be super impressed with your organization!

Now that you’ve set up your calendar, let’s get into the nitty gritty on how to fill it out. Use the months and seasons to your advantage and break up your content on an annual basis. You can do this by considering:

• Holidays: No matter what kind of affiliate marketer you are, holidays are going to be your best friend. Holidays can provide amazing, unique themes for your content as well as some spectacular sales that your audience will appreciate you flagging. If you want to get especially creative, jump on a “social media” holiday or two, like national donut day (June 8), pizza day (February 9), or burrito day (April 4). But maybe you should take a lunch break first!
• Trends: While less predictable than holidays, trends are similarly universal. Consider if there are any times that would make sense for you to revisit some of the trends in your niche. For example, many companies’ fiscal years end in September, so if you create content related to business, this would be a good time to analyze the stock market for trends.
• Seasons: Depending on your niche, seasonality might be a great inspiration for your content. Also consider the calendar of your niche; for example, if you are a home décor content creator, you might want to use spring to focus on plants and winter to focus on blankets and pillows.

Your Own Schedule: As an affiliate marketer, you might be doing what you love, but don’t forget that you’re a person that needs a day off every once in a while. Do you already know that you need to take a week off around July 1 to visit your Canadian relatives? In that case, you’ll want to plan ahead in the few weeks before that.

Before we get too far into 2024, take a fresh look at your time management and content calendar. Make sure you use Shared Vision to embed your products so that all of your hard work will be put to its best use!