[00:00:00] Mel: Hi, and welcome to Less Chatter, More Matter, a podcast about all things communication without the waffle. I'm Mel Loy and in this show, I'll give you short, punchy, practical communication tips and insights you can start using in your communication practices right away. I'm a former corporate communication executive who happily took a redundancy, started my own business, and never looked back.

[00:00:32] Mel: These days I use my 20 plus years of experience to guide organizations of all shapes and sizes in how to communicate more effectively. I'm wife to Michael, auntie to 12 nieces and nephews, a gym owner, group fitness instructor, yoga teacher, and a bunch of other things as well. I promise these episodes will always be short, sharp, and insightful, so let's get amongst it.

[00:00:56] Mel: Hello friends, and welcome back to yet another episode of [00:01:00] the podcast. As always, it is a delight to have you here. And while I do have your attention, could you do me a favor and join the other listeners just like you who have taken 30 seconds to rate and review the show?

[00:01:13] Mel: It is so helpful to know that you find value in it and it helps the show to be seen by more people, which is of course the ultimate goal. I want to share this learning as much as possible. Thank you to those of you who have already taken the time. You are super duper. Speaking of super duper, today's episode is something that I find super duper and that is content planning.

[00:01:35] Mel: Content planning is one of those core skills, I believe every comms person worth their salt should know how to do, and it's why I've included a whole module on the topic in my Communication Careers Fundamentals online course. Our worlds revolve around content these days. We have so many different channels to reach our audiences, whether that's that's internal or external or [00:02:00] both.

[00:02:01] Mel: And all of those channels need to be fed with content to keep them alive and performing. But it can't just be any content. It needs to be purposeful content that has an intent behind it. And that content needs to be tailored for each channel and the audiences those channels serve. So there's a lot to think about.

[00:02:22] Mel: And That's why I find the most effective way to make sure your content will drive your goals is to make sure it is really well planned. Now there's many ways to plan your content, but over time I've pulled together my own content planning process and principles that I'm going to share with you today.

[00:02:40] Mel: And look, I'll tell you what, I'm not above a little bribery. So if you would like a copy of that template, rate and review the show, then send me a message. And look, I figure if you don't ask, you don't get, right? So it is a Google sheet template. It's all there's color coding, there's instructions for it, et cetera, et cetera.

[00:02:57] Mel: So if you'd like that rate and review the show, shoot me a [00:03:00] screenshot or a message and I'll shoot that link over to you. Okay, let's get stuck into it. I'm going to assume that you've already chosen the right channels for your business. And if you haven't done that yet, I recommend you go back and listen to episode 36, which is all about that topic.

[00:03:18] Mel: So step one, after you've chosen the right channels, both internal and external channels, You need to determine what your content pillars are. Now, content pillars are what will help you decide what content you focus on creating, and they will help you also determine the content you won't use. So they act as guardrails for your content planning.

[00:03:40] Mel: You want to identify at least three content pillars, and I would do no more than five because it'll just become really hard to manage and your message could become really disjointed or I guess... it could dissolve the message or just make it really inconsistent because you're trying to include too many things [00:04:00] too often.

[00:04:01] Mel: So, three to five maximum. So what does that actually look like? They could be your brand pillars that could align quite nicely, but it's more likely that they are linked back to the goals of your organization or your business goals with brand underlying those pillars. So for example, let's say that you work for a health organization.

[00:04:25] Mel: The goals of the business might be to grow revenue, increase brand awareness, become known as a trusted provider, and so on. And in doing so, they want to attract more customers and more potential staff members who are of the caliber that they're looking for. So, you might develop three content pillars around the themes of education, engagement, and promotion.

[00:04:47] Mel: Under the education pillar, you could include things like fast facts or how to videos. Insights and research, all those sorts of things, things that are valuable to people that educate them [00:05:00] in what you do or why it is that it's important that they engage with you. Under the engagement pillar, your content could include inspirational stories from your customers or your staff.

[00:05:10] Mel: You could celebrate employee milestones, like people who have been at the business for 10, 20 years, those sorts of things. You could even include some behind the scenes stories that show what it's like to work at your business. And then finally we have the promotion pillar, which is where you share your special deals, essentially sell your products and services.

[00:05:31] Mel: But again, I would caution that in this pillar, lead with what value people get out of those products and services or the problems that those products and services solve. Don't just try and hard sell them. So this is another top tip. If the only thing you ever put out through your channels is promotional content, you will lose followers very, very quickly.

[00:05:52] Mel: And this is why having the other content pillars is important because they'll remind you of the valuable content that you need to be including so that [00:06:00] people will not just follow, but engage with your content as well. So the other piece about content pillars is they are a really good educational tool for your internal stakeholders.

[00:06:12] Mel: So when they're sending you really crap content, you can explain why you won't be using it and link it back to business objectives. So it's not personal. It's just, we've got these content pillars and they help support business objectives. Once you've determined those pillars, it's a really good idea to write a very brief description of what they're about and list some examples as well. So if you need to hand that over to somebody, you've got new staff joining, you're going on leave, whatever that looks like, it's very, very clear for people. So that's step one, determine your content pillars.

[00:06:44] Mel: Step two is then start to compile your plan with known key dates. Now, just quickly in my plans, I like to have automatic color coding because I'm a visual person. And I do that on the different content pillars because it helps me see at a [00:07:00] glance if we're doing too much content in one particular pillar, not enough in another, that sort of thing. That's just something I find useful.

[00:07:07] Mel: So if you want that template again from me, you'll see what it looks like. When I compile that plan, I go week by week and I start with plotting in the key dates that are coming up over the next few months that we or our clients might be recognizing. So, things like National Reconciliation Week, NAIDOC Week, International Women's Day, R U OK? Day, those sorts of things.

[00:07:29] Mel: For many industries or sectors, there are some very specific days you'll recognize. So for example, in childcare, there's International Educators Day, International Teachers Day, International Day of the Child, and so on and so on. Now, as a business, you can't possibly recognize every single day of recognition that's out there.

[00:07:50] Mel: It's just, there's so many of them. So. I strongly suggest you make a list of the days you think your business should recognize. And obviously that should be aligned [00:08:00] to your business' type or sector that it operates in, but also the purpose and values of the business. And then get that list approved by the powers that be early on in the year or even later the year before.

[00:08:14] Mel: And that way you've got those key dates that you will and won't recognize. You can be very clear on why you are recognizing these dates... and why you can't recognize all the things that you could possibly recognize. So once you've plotted in those key dates, it's time for step three, which is the key milestones in your business.

[00:08:34] Mel: So for example, these could be things like your business' annual general meeting of shareholders, full year and half year results. Maybe you do an annual award ceremony or you celebrate your business' birthday, those sorts of things. So these are important dates to celebrate your team and your customers, but they're also really good sources of content.

[00:08:56] Mel: Now you've got all those dates plotted in, it's time for step four, which is [00:09:00] filling in the gaps. So this is the part where you need to switch on both your logical and your creative sides of your brain and use your content pillars to guide you. Now I will pause here quickly to remind you that the content plan should be created within the bounds of the guidelines that you have in your channels governance matrix.

[00:09:21] Mel: If you don't know what a channels governance matrix is, it's one of those foundation documents I think every business should have, and it details what channels you use, how frequently you use them, what kind of content goes through them, the audience, the purpose, rules around the use of them. Et cetera, et cetera.

[00:09:41] Mel: And again, this is something I teach you how to create in the Communication Career Fundamentals course. So if your channels governance matrix, for example, stipulates that we only post twice a week on Yammer and twice a week on LinkedIn, then that needs to be factored into your content planning. Of course, now, as [00:10:00] you're filling out the content plan, you are going to go week by week and put in what you're going to post on what date on what channel and what content pillar that content aligns to.

[00:10:11] Mel: Now, you'll also see in my template, I have another couple of dropdown options. One is the content status. So that just helps me know, okay, is it started? Is it drafted? But it's in for review. Has it been approved? Has it been published? So it just helps me see where everything is at. The other dropdown I have is responsibility.

[00:10:29] Mel: So who on the team will actually develop and post the content. Now that's much more useful in bigger teams or when you're working with clients and sharing the load. The other thing I put in a content plan is the lead or the angle for that piece of content because it will be slightly different depending on the channel.

[00:10:49] Mel: So, for example, let's say it's International Teachers Day and you manage comms at a school. On your Facebook and Instagram, the lead might be about saying thank you to [00:11:00] teachers at the school for all their great work. There'll be photos of the celebrations, etc, etc. Because it's likely that the audiences for those channels are families and, and potentially their children as well.

[00:11:12] Mel: But on LinkedIn, because the audience is different, the angle might be about how teaching is such a rewarding career. And that is really in the hope of reaching potential candidates, right? So it still could be about International Teachers Day, but we're going to change the angle of that particular content.

[00:11:30] Mel: Now, as you work through this plan and start plotting this in, you'll start to get a complete picture of what you're going to say and when you're going to say it. Now, of course, the content plan will never be set in stone as much as we would like it to be. That's just never going to happen. So don't even expect it and you won't be disappointed.

[00:11:49] Mel: You should review it every week because I guarantee there will be changes. If not every week, then certainly very regularly. So take that mindset. You never [00:12:00] know what you're going to have to change and when. So be prepared to pivot. Also, you never know when you're going to have to put all of that gorgeous, proactive content on hold and jump into a reactive or crisis mode. So that's just life. That's what happens. So be open to pivoting. Use the content plan as your ideal world... but it's open to change.

[00:12:21] Mel: Okay, we're going to recap the four key steps in creating a content plan. The first thing is determine your content pillars. So these are the three to five themes you will base all of your content around and should be linked to business goals and your organization's brand.

[00:12:38] Mel: The second step is to plot in the known key dates. So these are the dates of recognition that your business will likely celebrate or recognize. So things like International Women's Day or Harmony Week.

[00:12:50] Mel: Third step is to plot in the key dates for your business. So your annual general meeting, business birthday, start of term, those sorts of things.

[00:12:58] Mel: And the final step [00:13:00] is fill in the gaps. So assign content pillars to each of the pieces of content that you're plotting on the map, as well as the channels and who will be responsible for developing and publishing content. In this step, you should make sure that while the topic might be the same across different channels, there will be different leads or angles for each one of those channels, depending on the audience.

[00:13:23] Mel: So that's it. The four steps to creating your content plan. And again, I covered this and other core competency skills in my online course, communication career fundamentals, which you can find out more about by the link in my profile, but also in the show notes. Now, also, if you haven't already, make sure you sign up to the Less Chatter, More Matter mailing list.

[00:13:43] Mel: You'll only get one email a fortnight. It'll be filled with comms tips and the latest podcast episodes and blog posts, so you'll never miss anything. And finally, drumroll please. I finally finished the first draft of my book, which is on all things change communication. [00:14:00] It's only the first draft, so obviously still needs a heap of work, but it's a nice milestone to achieve nonetheless.

[00:14:07] Mel: So if you are interested in being alerted when the pre-sale eventually opens, you can join the wait list. And again, the link is in the show notes. In the meantime, have a super duper fabulous rest of your week. And I will see you all again next week for a fresh episode of the podcast. Keep doing amazing things and bye for now.