![\"Effective](\"https:\/\/media.coschedule.com\/uploads\/2023\/09\/organize-an-effective-schedule.png?w=3840&q=75\"\/)
<\/span><\/p>\nYou may believe that spending time organizing takes time away from getting work done. The thinking goes that if one focuses on the work itself, everything else can be set aside, and things will somehow work out.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s time to squash this myth. According to a CoSchedule survey, marketers who are organized are 397% more likely to report being successful<\/a>. So how can your marketing team actually begin getting organized? Start by investing your time in creating a clear marketing schedule. <\/b>From there, your schedule can act as your home base. You can refer to your schedule and accurately plan everything you need around it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In simplest terms, a marketing schedule can be anything that’s used to track the following:<\/p>\n
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\n<\/ul>\n Plus, it can also include any other information your team might find useful. This may vary depending on what you\u2019re working on. Our template included in this post, then, is intended to be flexible in order to suit your own organizational needs.<\/p>\n There are a lot of reasons to use a marketing schedule for all your content, too. Here\u2019s a short list:<\/p>\n
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\n<\/ul>\n It’s important to note we’re not talking about a public schedule of marketing events (like an event calendar, or something to that effect).\n<\/p><\/div>\n So, you’ve decided you\u2019re ready to build out a complete marketing schedule for your content. The first thing you\u2019ll need to do is figure out which projects need to go on your schedule. Start by listing out all your recurring project types<\/a>.<\/p>\n Possible content types could include:<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n Essentially, what we want to first establish is which recurring types of content do you know you\u2019ll create regularly on an ongoing basis.<\/p>\n Once you have this figured out, start planning out the specific ideas for each content type<\/a> you\u2019ll create. This means developing a list of specific titles and working headlines for each piece.\n<\/div>\n We\u2019re big believers in group brainstorming here at CoSchedule. If you don\u2019t have any specific ideas for content lined up yet, this quick process may help you change that. Here\u2019s how our 30-minute three-step brainstorming process works:<\/p>\n
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\n<\/ul>\n Once you have a list of awesome ideas, hold onto them. These are the content pieces you\u2019ll use to kick off your organized marketing schedule.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Next, determine who will be creating each piece of content<\/a> on your schedule. This means including everyone involved in seeing each project through from ideation to completion.<\/p>\n Possible team members could include:<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\n<\/ul>\n Color-coding your schedule makes it easier to tell projects apart at a glance. Assign one color to each type of project. For example, all your blog posts<\/a> might be green, while videos could be orange, and so on. Alternatively, you might also want to color-code projects based on the teams or individuals they\u2019re assigned to.<\/p>\n CoSchedule Tip:<\/strong> If you\u2019re using CoSchedule, you can use Custom Color Labels to color-code everything on your calendar:<\/p>\n If you have recurring project types you create on a regular basis, odds are you have pre-defined workflows for each project. If you don\u2019t, it\u2019s time to consider documenting checklists you can use to make sure every project on your schedule is completed thoroughly. This helps prevent wasting time to fix errors later and enables teams to work more efficiently and effectively.<\/p>\n Get out a text editor and lay out your steps like this:<\/p>\n Step 1<\/strong>: [INSERT STEP]
For a blog post, a hypothetical checklist might look like this:<\/p>\n Step 1<\/strong>: Find a target keyword
Simple stuff. To build your own checklists, ask yourself:<\/p>\n
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\n<\/ul>\n If you\u2019ve never thought about this in detail before, you might discover you\u2019re either missing key steps in your processes, or are wasting time on things you can eliminate. Either way, you can easily boost your productivity this way.<\/p>\n CoSchedule Tip:<\/strong> If you\u2019re using CoSchedule, you can easily build reusable checklists called Task Templates<\/a>:<\/p>\n Checklists are essential for making your marketing schedule more useful. Planning projects ahead of time loses its value if those projects aren\u2019t completed properly. Plus, if part of our goal is to increase efficiency and effectiveness, ensuring steps aren\u2019t missed is crucial.<\/p>\n For more insight into the power of checklists, watch this video of Atul Gawande, author of The Checklist Manifesto<\/a><\/em>:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Every project should have a clear and realistic deadline. But, how do you determine what a realistic deadline looks like? There\u2019s a data-backed solution to help you figure out.<\/p>\n Start by roughly estimating the amount of time it usually takes you to complete a certain type of task or project. Set your first deadline accordingly. Then, track your actual time spent working on those types of projects over time.<\/p>\n Set realistic deadlines by tracking the actual time it takes to complete projects.<\/p>\nWhat Do We Mean By “Marketing Schedule”?<\/h2>\n
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Step 1: Determine Projects to Place on Your Schedule<\/h2>\n
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![\"Determine](\"https:\/\/media.coschedule.com\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marketing-projects-icons.png?w=3840&q=75\"\/){kind=icon}
<\/span><\/p>\nFill Your Schedule With an Effective Brainstorming Process<\/h3>\n
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Assign Projects to Team Members<\/h3>\n
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![\"Decide](\"https:\/\/media.coschedule.com\/uploads\/2023\/09\/team-roles.png?w=3840&q=75\"\/)
<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nEstablish a Color-Coding Scheme<\/h3>\n
![\"Custom](\"https:\/\/media.coschedule.com\/uploads\/color-coding.png?w=3840&q=75\"\/)
<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nStep 2: Determine the Steps Required to Complete Each Project<\/h2>\n
\nStep 2<\/strong>: [INSERT STEP]
\nStep 3<\/strong>: [INSERT STEP]<\/p>\n
\nStep 2<\/strong>: Write 20 headline options<\/a>
\nStep 3<\/strong>: Craft an outline
\nStep 4<\/strong>: Write your post
\nStep 5<\/strong>: Proofread \/\u00a0edit
\nStep 6<\/strong>: Schedule publish date<\/p>\n
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![\"Task](\"https:\/\/media.coschedule.com\/uploads\/2023\/09\/task-templates.png?w=3840&q=75\"\/)
<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhy Are Checklists Important?<\/h3>\n
Step 3: Place Projects on Your Marketing Schedule<\/h2>\n
\nNow that you\u2019ve got all your ducks in a row, it\u2019s time to start dropping your content onto your marketing schedule.
\n<\/p>\nSet (Realistic) Deadlines<\/h3>\n