Mozilla User Engagement Content Calendar

Quick! Sum up content marketing in two words! (Yes, only two.)

Word 1: Relationships.
Word 2: Relevance.

The two words go hand-in-hand. How do you build relationships? Enter into conversations that are already happening. How do you do that? Create content that’s relevant.

A content calendar (a.k.a. an editorial calendar) is an important tool of the trade when it comes to creating relevant content. Seasonal and special events are always easy conversations to participate in. Calendars also allow you to see industry trends, keep track of product announcements, and more. Magazines use content calendars so journalists and advertisers know what “themes” each edition will feature, which is also a handy tool for email marketing. With the rise of social media, content calendars have taken on more importance. Sometimes, it’s just hard to get your brain working to get even one, much less two or three useful, conversational updates out each day. A calendar is a great tool to help you organize your thoughts.

Mozilla’s new content calendar will do all these things. It will show holidays, sporting events, entertainment events, specialty holidays (Argh! Talk like a pirate day!) and product release dates. We’ll share planned email themes based on these new product releases, and try and adjust with the season. And that’s just in the North America calendar!

The content calendar is a living document. I’m almost ready to hand off the 2011 calendar – and the 2012! calendar – off to be used and enjoyed. But I’m sure I’ve missed some key elements. If you live in North America (especially my Canadian friends), and you’d like to make sure all of the holidays/events/your favorite themes are covered, we are accepting volunteers!

Here’s how to get involved http://guides.mozilla.org/Marketing , comment here, or send me a Tweet @CShirkeyCollins.

But don’t worry, rest of the world! You have not been ignored! Stay tuned for my another content calendar post, wherein I will share our global content plans for Mozilla – maybe you, too, can help!