How to Plan Your Content for the Year

While the Montessori Method isn’t new, the way Montessori schools market themselves is ever-changing.

In our modern world of digital-everything, content marketing is absolutely essential to any Montessori school’s digital marketing strategy.

But it’s not as easy as writing a blog once a month.

In many ways, creating an effective content schedule is a lot like creating a lesson plan for a Montessori class:

It’s all about asking questions, considering what theories and topics matter most, and preparing your environment.

In the next five minutes, I’ll outline how to plan your content schedule for the entire year.

Bring on the Brainstorming: What Are Your Goals?

Are you hoping to bring in more families for infant care? Perhaps your school is launching a new program and you want to get the word out.

Whatever your goals are—large or small—make a note of your incentives for the upcoming year.

Now, consider how these goals could be achieved through content.

Who Is Your Target Audience—or, More Specifically—Family?

We all know Montessori programs hand-crafted for families who value their child’s independence and unique skills and abilities.

So, here are some additional questions to consider when defining your target audience:

• Who consumes your content?
• Does your audience persona (i.e. older families, single-parents, working-mothers) change across different channels, (think blogs, videos, social media and white papers)?
• What does your target audience want? What do their children need?
• What are their challenges?

Create One Topic for Each Month

This is where your brainstorming starts to take shape.

Considering your Montessori school’s goals and your target family, ask yourself:

• What problems, questions or challenges are your families facing?
• What are the missing holes in your current content?
• What past content performed well that you can expand on?
• What new programs are launching this year?
• What topics can you discuss that result in a solution provided by school or program?

Narrow your list of ideas down to twelve topics—one content topic per month.

How Should These Topics Come to Life Through Content?

In other words, what channels will best embody each topic? Content can be in the form of:

• Blogs
• Infographics
• Videos
• Slide shares
• Case studies
• White papers
• Press releases
• …and much more

So, which topics would be best consumed as a blog? Or as a video? Keep in mind, much of this content can be repurposed into multiple forms of content.

Finally, Create Your Content Schedule

With topics and channels determined, create and document a year-long schedule.

And make sure to always create content a month ahead.

Have Questions About Content Marketing?

Nido Marketing has a fiercely dedicated team of content marketers who can answer your questions.

In fact, our writers have specialized experience with Montessori schools, so we understand the history, concepts, and value of the Montessori Method.

Become a member for access to courses, resources, and a community of Montessori leaders engaging around marketing.