A Culturally Adjusted Content Calendar

As I mentioned in a previous post, I spent a lot of time developing an editorial content calendar for Mozilla’s user engagement team. Why? Because I think it’s really important to have an editorial calendar in mind when developing content. What events are happening that we can tie into with content? Are there opportunities for campaigns around relevant holidays? Etc., etc.

The trouble is, I now have a very full calendar for the U.S. and Canada, but I want to know more! I want to know more about events in your country!

The community of Mozillians is global – so for this editorial content calendar to be a success, I need YOU! Yes, YOU! Would you be so awesome as to help me fill out the relevant events in your country? In your region?

Right now, the plan is to roll out calendars for 2012 in the following locales:

1. N. America
2. Latin America
3. Europe
4. East Asia
5. West Asia
6. Australia & New Zealand
7. Africa and the Middle East

So if you always know what’s going on, if you know when the key sports tournaments or concert events or entertainment events are in your location (or you just want to research and find out!) I want to work with you!

If you would sign up to help on this Etherpad, or send me an email: ccollins AT mozilla DOT com (replacing the AT with @ and the DOT with a .) so that I may communicate with you (I’ll send you the link to the calendar and some instructions) and give you a hearty high-five and a well-deserved thank you, that would be great!

I am so looking forward to my first project using global contributors!

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!