The Difference Between Your Content Strategy and Content Calendar

Episode 69: The Difference Between Your Content Strategy and Content Calendar

In this episode, Holly Hibbard - Social Media Consultant & emotional intelligence nerd - shares with you...

• the difference between content strategy and content calendar for coaches, consultants, and service providers
• practical tips for setting up a content calendar, such as planning posts and aligning content themes across formats
• how to develop a manageable and enjoyable strategy to attract clients and grow your audience without feeling overwhelmed

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Transcript

Welcome to the Holly Hibbard Show.
I'm Holly, a relationship coach and emotional intelligence nerd turned social media consultant.
This podcast is for coaches, consultants, and service providers ready to simplify their social media strategy, create impactful content, and grow their audience without the overwhelm.
If you want to attract dream clients and free up more time for the things that you love, you are in the right place.
Let's make social media work for you starting now.
Hey, everyone.
Welcome back to The Holly Hibbard Show.
Today, I'm going to be telling you the difference between content strategy and the content calendar.
Now for those of you who've stuck around for a while, you've been with The Holly Hibbard Show and all the variations that I've had with this podcast.
I have done previous episodes on distinctions, and a distinction just means how is this thing over here different from or distinct from this thing over here?
And what I'm learning about my audience lately is a lot of the folks I hear from who are tuning into my content, they are people who are either intimidated by the technology that's involved in making social media content, or maybe they did in the past and they're looking to make a comeback, or they're pivoting from a 9 to 5 to a side hustle or something entirely new and learning social media strategy and creating a social media calendar are things that are almost, like, foreign at this point.
And you might feel like you have all the pieces of puzzle on the board, and then you just don't know what to do with them.
You might know, hey, here are the different platforms that I can choose from when it comes to my social media presence, my content, and then you don't know where to go from there.
Or maybe you have chosen the platform, but now every social media platform has a multitude of ways that you can contribute to it with short form video, with reels and little stories and live streams.
And there's so many options.
So again, all those options are pieces on the board, and then you go, okay, now what?
What do I do?
So maybe you do a Google search and you look up something like content creation help, or I don't know what to say, content creator ideas or topic ideas for short videos or for my YouTube channel or whatever it is.
And when you do this Google search or wherever you search, you come up with so many things that you can listen to and watch.
And you're seeing these terms thrown around specifically in today's case, content strategy and content planning or content calendar.
And it's so easy, much like a lot of distinctions in the world to take 2 terms and think that they mean the same thing.
And not only are your content strategy and your content calendar or your content plan 2 separate things.
But it's very important that you do them in the right order.
And I gotta be honest with you.
I have made social media content for so long now that my strategy is embedded into who I am, and I already have that answer.
So when I go to teach and give you all ideas and options and create things for you to download or courses to take, I almost forget about the strategy because it is so second nature to me.
And here I am today being like, oopsie.
I better explain to you all the difference between your content strategy and your content calendar.
So let's go with the strategy first.
First of all, if you are doing that Google search looking for a content strategy, it is not that you're looking for the content strategy.
You're looking to create your content strategy.
It's not about what works only for other people, but your content strategy and what you put together has to work for you.
It has to feel easy and doable for you, and it has to be something that you genuinely enjoy doing.
And luckily, because content comes in so many different forms nowadays, there's probably at least one type of content that you will have a good time creating and making, producing, whatever word that you want to use.
But if you just think that content strategy, your overarching plan is going to be something that you can adopt from somebody else and that whatever they do was going to work for you.
You're not going to stick with it.
You might not even get started because you may feel lost before you even begin.
So content strategy is your overarching plan of the purpose of your content.
Content strategy is something that you wanna set forth first before you create your content calendar.
It's so important.
So your content strategy, if we were to write this out like a formula, your content strategy has 2 pieces that you need to be clear about.
The first piece of your content strategy is you need to determine the subject matter or your niche or your ideal client, but this is what I like to call your pillars.
When you think about what you do as a coach, a consultant, a service provider, there are certain pillars that makes you and your service unique.
For me personally, I know what my content pillars are.
I know the unique thing that I bring to this profession as a coach, as a content creator, person who likes creativity and strategy and all those things.
So your content strategy, you need to have an idea of the subject that you want to cover.
And I'll go into that in a little more detail in a moment.
The other piece of your content strategy is you need to know the type of content that you want to create.
So type of content are reels, which they're called reels on Facebook and Instagram.
They're called shorts on YouTube.
Stories is a type of content.
Going live on a platform, doing a live stream is a type of content.
A podcast is a type of content.
A specific to Instagram, which you can also put over on Facebook.
But specific to Instagram are carousels, which are a series of pictures with text on them.
And there's so many others.
Your blog is a piece of content.
So your content strategy, this overarching plan that you have, you've gotta know what are the pillars of what you're gonna talk about?
What's your subject in general?
Who are you talking to in general?
And then you've got to know, how am I going to talk to them?
Is it going to be through reels?
Is it going to be through stories?
Is it going to be through longer videos on YouTube or only through live streams?
And so how do you choose with your content strategy what these pieces are?
So I wanna break down both of these first.
Your content strategy with that subject matter.
Okay?
I want you to consider the person that you most love to work with, but also I want you to consider the person that, you would like to work with.
And imagine what they would like to hear you talk about.
So if you are a service provider and you have clients or people who come into your office space, think about the questions that they ask you.
Think about anytime they've ever maybe given you a review, think about the reasons why they come to you.
Those are each a content pillar.
So one pillar, for example, for me is I'm a certified coach, and I my specialty is in relationships and emotional intelligence.
There's many facets to emotional intelligence.
So any time I can incorporate emotional intelligence into content creation and I can teach people how to do that, that is something that makes me stand out from other people who teach on this subject.
I also know that one of my pillars, something that I feel so, like very is so important to me, I guess, is it's important for me to feel like I can be authentic in my content.
And what that means to me is unfiltered and not over edited.
So I'm not looking to make perfectly polished content at this point in my career.
And I want to encourage others more so than, you know, hiding because you can't be perfect.
I push people to show up even when you are not doing it perfectly just yet.
That is another pillar is get over the imperfection and just take an action and get your message out there and get yourself out there.
So those are two examples for me of pillars, subjects that I can use to, focus on in my strategy.
Okay?
So content strategy, again, our subject matters.
So ask yourself in your subject matters, what are things that people ask you about?
What is your reputation?
What do people know you to be?
What makes you unique?
Or what's a hot take or unique opinion that you have about this particular service that you provide?
Or when I was relationship coaching, for example, I had client after client after client that was going through the same trouble at different points in their relationships or in their dating experience.
And so I would create content about, you know, I see this general theme with the people that I'm coaching when it comes to relationships.
So you could have a pillar that's called hot takes, a pillar that's called your reputation, a pillar that's called, this is what I love about my work, a pillar called, here's how you can DIY what I do in your own life.
There's so many different ways to do that.
Okay?
So that's one big component of strategy, but you at least wanna have an idea for your content strategy of, okay, what am I gonna talk about?
And that's some way to get started on that.
Now the other piece of content strategy, and yes, I haven't even gotten to the content calendar yet, so don't worry.
You didn't miss anything yet.
The other piece of the content strategy is once you know the subject pillars that you want to talk about and teach about or share about, it's now time to to make the decision of what type of content are you going to create.
And as I already alluded to, there are so many different options out there, not only in terms of platforms, but also in terms of which type of content on that platform are you going to, create content, in what style.
So I am a major advocate.
If you are new to creating social media content to promote your business, your service, what you offer, I highly, highly recommend choosing just one platform to begin with.
Choose a platform and start there and learn what you can about that platform and go all in with creating content on that one platform consistently.
Okay?
As opposed to thinking, okay, but I know I know, Holly, that I can go ahead and put this piece of content.
The same one that I put on Facebook, for example, I know I can just take a second and upload it to TikTok or to YouTube.
Don't put the pressure on yourself in the beginning.
If you are just beginning in this journey, or it's been a long time and you've taken a break from social or from marketing, or you're going through a pivot in your business and what you offer, don't don't do it.
Don't multitask your platforms just yet.
Just choose 1.
So because I started on Facebook, okay, I'm going to talk about Facebook as an example.
So let's say I have chosen I'm going to go all in on Facebook and create content for Facebook.
So, again, part of my content strategy is know the subject I'm gonna talk about.
Got that covered.
Now I'm gonna determine for Facebook, in my example here, what type of content am I going to create?
Now I know for certain now here's how you make the decision.
Okay?
Because I can say I know for certain, But let me tell you the things that you need to base this on.
Number 1, I want you to consider when you're choosing the type of content you're gonna make, what is the content piece that your audience likes to engage with?
So for example, and this might be a little bit of trial and error in the beginning, or maybe you have a vision of the person that you really want to work with, or these are current clients or previous favorite client, and you automatically know the kind of content that they love to consume.
So for example, I know that pretty much 90% of every client I've ever worked with not only has a TikTok account, but loves consuming TikToks.
They find it funny, relaxing.
They have a good time on that platform.
Okay?
So from that, even though I'm saying I'm gonna focus on Facebook in this example, I do know that they do like short form content.
Okay?
So let's say I I say to myself, okay.
I'm going to choose Facebook to go all in, and I'm going to make Facebook Reels.
I'm going to make Reels for my Facebook.
And, the second thing I wanna consider is what also, like, do you like to create?
Well, I personally like creating short form video.
I find I can get a lot done, a lot of pieces of content done in a very little amount of time.
Like, I'm gonna record this podcast episode, for example, for about 20 minutes, but I could have created, like, 10, 8 short form videos in that time and be set for, like, over a week.
So it's something to consider.
So number 1, what's the type of content the audience likes?
So I think my audience likes short form content, like reels.
K?
Number 2, do you like to make the content?
Now let's say you're you're thinking, oh my goodness.
Holly, I don't think I could make a short form video or a reel.
Like, I barely can make a post.
Well, then start with where you can.
So this is the 3rd component of what type of content are you gonna make.
What kind of time do you have?
So if you are in a season of your life where you have the time to go and practice or learn how to make a reel very quickly and upload it to your Facebook, in this example that I'm using, we're gonna stay on one track.
Go ahead and learn it.
But if you are in a season of your life where time, free time is fleeting, and you just really wanna do something that feels effective and consistent, but doesn't take up a lot of your time, then you can post on Facebook instead.
Write put a a picture if you want and write something along with the picture, or ask your audience a question, but stick to text.
Because Facebook will always, especially if it's a piece of text or information or education that you're giving your audience, Facebook, in this example, will encourage you, will push you out further in viewership because it wants you to give people a reason to stay in their app.
So anytime you're asking your audience a question or anytime you're writing a longer caption or a longer post and people have to watch it or read it for a while, they're on the app a little bit longer, and your account is going to be rewarded for that.
So those are the 3 questions to determine what type of content you should make.
Okay?
So what do you enjoy making?
What type of content do you think your audience likes to consume in the 1st place?
And then what how much time do you have, realistically to put into it?
So your content strategy, again, is are those two components.
Your subject matter.
Okay?
What are you gonna talk about?
What are the different pillars of who you are, what you do, what you bring to this industry that you are in?
And the other piece of your content strategy, your overarching long term plan, is what type of content are you going to create?
So again, when I first got started on Facebook, I specifically focused on Facebook lives and I did live after live, after live, after live.
And that became the main thing that I was creating for Facebook.
And yes, I would post here and there, but I was most known and followed for my live streams.
Now as time went on and I I decided, okay, now I'm done growing my Facebook for a minute.
I'm gonna go learn another platform.
Well, I decided to learn TikTok.
And when I learned TikTok, I had to take the time to learn how to make a short form video, and I had to challenge myself.
Can I even make something that short?
And it took practice, but I had the time in that season of my life, unlike the 5 years prior when I started, I had the time to finally teach myself how to do it.
But overall, my content strategy was I still have the same subjects when I'm talking to my audiences.
And type of content, stick with what you like in the beginning.
If you just wanna do Facebook, Facebook Reels and Facebook post to start, do it.
Go all in with it.
And then as you go on, if you wanna add something new, try to still stay on the one platform and keep growing it for a while.
Okay?
So maybe you decide, I think I'm gonna do some Facebook stories, or I'm going to do a Facebook live, or I'm going to create a Facebook group.
But if the more you can stay in one platform and grow that platform well, it is just deepens the impact that you have in one space.
Okay?
Especially if you are very limited on time.
We don't wanna be spread out all over the place.
Okay?
So that's your overarching plan.
That's your strategy for your content.
And you very likely are not going to alter your strategy for a long amount of time.
Once you have it, you have it.
It.
Okay?
And you can at least oh my goodness.
At least for a year, if not longer, you can stick to that strategy.
You can even if you're just getting started and you don't know what's gonna work yet, maybe your strategy, you stick it around for 3 months, 6 months, something like that, and just play around with it.
But your overarching strategy should not change that much, which then brings me to the second component, which is your content calendar.
You have to like I said earlier, you have to have your content strategy in place first.
You've gotta be clear on what your subjects are, what are you going to be talking about, and you've gotta be clear on which platform and which type of content are you going to make in general.
Don't worry about the ideas for it, but in general, you've gotta know that piece first.
So then you can create a calendar.
So with a content calendar, a simple way to do this would be to say to make a Monday through Friday template of a calendar.
And so what I've done previously is I will pull out a Monday through Friday calendar.
I'll make one in a in a Google Sheet or just write it on paper or in the back of my my planner, my yearly planner.
And I write, you know, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and I write down what is going to go up on each day.
So let's say, in in this case, today, okay, let's say I have a commitment that I'm going to do a podcast episode on Tuesday and a podcast episode on Thursday.
I also know that other content that I create, I put an email out on Tuesday and an email out on Friday.
And I just start by plugging in what I'm going to do.
So back to our Facebook example.
Let's say you've committed to Facebook and you're going to be creating Facebook posts and Facebook reels.
Okay?
And so let's say you make a commitment of, I'm going to post on Facebook Monday Wednesday, and I'm going to post a Facebook reel on Tuesday Thursday.
Now, you might be saying, Holly, you skipped Friday.
But I'm doing this intentionally because you don't have to post every single day.
In fact, when you first get started, you could choose 2 days a week that you're going to put a post.
You can choose one day a week.
You can choose 5 or 7.
It's up to you.
But I wanna remind you that, again, when I first started, my commitment was to do a livestream every Wednesday morning at 9 AM for 4 weeks.
I kept it to a month long commitment.
I wanted to see how my audience would respond.
Like, going back to those question, I wanted to see if I liked making that content.
And I also wanted to see if it fit into my schedule and if it worked well for me, which it did.
So then I kept it going.
So my first content calendar ever was livestream on Wednesdays at 9 AM for 4 weeks.
That was my first content calendar.
Now as I expanded, then it became, okay.
My content calendar is the livestream on Wednesday, but then I'm also going to write a post on Monday and a post on Friday.
Okay?
And that was it.
Something Monday, something Wednesday, some something Friday.
Now, again, sorry.
Back to the example.
I know I keep diverting away.
If you say, okay.
I'm going to make the the reel for Tuesday Thursday, and I'm going to a post on Monday Wednesday, and you leave that Friday empty.
Now that Friday, if you want to, Friday can be a day where you're recording your reels for the next week, or you could choose 1 Friday a month that you're going to record 8 reels, and then you're covered for an entire month.
You can do the same thing with your posts.
Some people do really well planning out super, super far in advance, and some people do better, just recording it and posting it on the day of.
But regardless of which one you choose, it is important that you have, some general theme that you're going to follow.
Okay?
So in this case, you could make the decision Monday through Thursday.
I'm going to do these things.
This is the type.
So your strategy is going to lay the foundation for how your calendar is going to look.
So then from there, on your content calendar, once you've determined you're going to have, you know, Mondays and Wednesdays posts and Tuesdays Thursdays reels.
Now what you can do on that calendar is underneath, you know, each one, you make a list of this is a topic for this post on this particular Monday.
This is the topic for this post on this particular Wednesday.
So I tend to like to do all my post ideas together, and then later do all my real ideas or short form video ideas together.
Because if I'm going day by day and going back and forth and back and forth, and, okay, today, I'm gonna do a post.
Alright.
The next day is gonna be a reel, so let's film that, and then let's go back to a post.
It's too much energy that my brain has to use to to go back and forth and do that.
So I come up with a bunch of ideas at once.
And, also, here's really fun.
You really wanna save time?
Your Monday post can be the same topic as your Tuesday reel in this example.
And your Wednesday, post can be the same thing as your Thursday reel.
Absolutely.
You can even choose a theme for the whole week and have a long post on Monday, have your post on Wednesday be a recap of it, and then your 2 reels could be you literally reading the post.
It can be that simple.
Okay?
Because no one is gonna see every single thing that you put out there and be like, oh my god.
This is so repetitive.
So, anyway, that is one example of a content calendar and how you could get it set up.
So I hope this was helpful today for you to know the difference between a content strategy and a content calendar.
If you're thinking about your, you know, upcoming 2025 or what your content calendar needs to look like, how often should you post and things like that, first, make sure you have a content strategy.
Relisten to this, episode again if you need to.
Get the pause button ready, get your pen, get your paper, and jot down what you think your subject matters are going to be and also what your types of content are going to be.
Choose a platform and go all in.
Or if you're already very comfortable with a platform, maybe use this episode to decide which social media platform will be the next one that you want to grow in.
Okay?
But doing none of that means that your content, will either get created, but feel like it's all over the place and not have a purpose, and that doesn't feel very good.
Because we wanna be able to use your content where, again, you feel like it can it's doable in the time you have.
You enjoy making it.
And, also, it helps you grow your audience and attract clients and do so in a way that frees up your time so that you can go live your life and do the things that really matter most to you.
Okay?
I hope this episode was supportive.
That's your distinction, between content strategy and your content calendar.
I'd love to hear what you think about this episode.
So drop me a comment.
Send me a message.
I just I love to hear from you.
And if you have any questions, you want me to do a deeper dive on either or, let me know, and I'm happy to help.
So until next time, I love you.
I mean it.
And until you next time, I'll talk to you next time.
Thank you for listening.
I'm giving you a virtual high five for prioritizing your personal growth.
If you enjoyed today's episode, I'd be so grateful if you could take a moment and leave a 5 star review on Apple Podcast.
Share the show with friends and family, or can I have a screenshot of this episode and tag me on Instagram at the hollyhibbard?
You are not alone on this journey, my friend.
I'm always here cheering you on.
So until next time, stay curious, stay encouraged, and keep empowering yourself.
You are doing better than you know.