Content Planning

Do What Works for You

For the Rotman School of Management, each of the four professional MBA programs I was marketing had its own budget and marketing plan. As well, the target audiences differed in some respects. Each MBA program also had its own sales and program staff, plus its own recruitment events and application deadlines throughout the year. .

Since the four programs functioned fairly separately, I didn’t follow the traditional content calendar format of one week per row for all content. Instead, I created a template and used it for a separate calendar for each program.

The content plan had several purposes. Its main function was to ensure that information went out at the appropriate time. I brought it to meetings with program staff, because it was a useful tool to show them how their programs would be promoted.

And since I was bouncing content ideas off my colleagues, I began to add results to the plan as well: engagement (and spend where applicable), so I could quickly compare ROI and ascertain which platforms and messages performed best. This proved useful in meetings because I could demonstrate why I was proposing certain content.