content calendar
Planning weekly content and measuring results
Creating a weekly content calendar helps you to stay on track, measure results and most importantly stay in contact with your customers. I’ve created a template to get you started that you can download below.
The year is broken out by week so you can plan for each week of the year. The week starts on a Monday, and luckily January 1 was a Monday so the weeks are nice and tidy!
SALES
This is an optional item to track each week, but I find it handy to have a comparison to last year to check against while planning for the current year. While it’s only one factor of many that impacts your business, it also helps to see if your marketing strategy is working or falling short. This allows you to notice trends early and proactively make adjustments as needed.
CAMPAIGN
Think of this as your main focus activity for the week. This is a strategic marketing and will be supported by the various channels and platforms you have at your disposal. Perhaps it’s a new product or featured product coming into your shop that you would like to promote, or an event that you’d like to drive participation in. Note key messaging and any photography requirements to complete the campaign.
CHANNELS
How do you plan on activating this campaign on your channels? Will this require a new display or event in store? How can you replicate the in-store experience on your website? A new carousel? Featured category? Will an email be sent to drive traffic to your store or website? How about your social channels? Do you want to create a story or reel to support this activity? You may consider posting different messaging on IG vs. FB (more on this topic to come).
What external channels do you have at your disposal? Local newsletters, emails, websites are great places to continue to support your efforts.
NOTES
This section is here to help you plan for the upcoming year. These can be general observations about traffic in your store and your theories about what might be effecting sales. Was the weather cooperative? Did road construction impact accessibility to your store? Were there more people in your establishment due to other events in the area? Were you low on inventory? Short staffed? Over staffed?
OTHER EVENTS
I’ve noted some other local events in the area that could impact traffic or that you might be able to tie into with your own events or activities.
