Planning the content calendar for an assisted living blog or a home care blog takes research, coordination and a thoughtful strategy. For clients of The Senior Care Specialists, it is a process we go through every quarter and on an annual basis with each client. Some of our senior care copywriting clients are very involved and others rely on us to do most of this planning on their behalf. We thought it would be of help to readers if we shared a quick overview of the process.
Developing a Quarterly Senior Care Editorial Calendar
As we are putting together our editorial calendars for each client, a few of the things we take in to consideration are:
- What fresh, relevant and timely topics can we write about?
- What evergreen topic is the client missing or need more of?
- Are there planned company events and new initiatives?
- How many blog posts does the client need each month?
- What key phrases are we targeting?
- What do analytics show us is connecting with family decision makers?
- Are there any past topics that can be curated and turned in to a guide or fact sheet to add as a call-to-action?
- What trends is the client noticing in their market? (i.e. more inquiries from families with a loved one who has Parkinson’s disease)
- What new assets does client have from the past quarter? (i.e. if the marketing director recently presented a talk at a senior center, we can take the PowerPoint and use it to create a blog and also post to Slide Share)
- Are all parts of the senior care decision process represented by content or do we need to focus on building up some areas?
- Are there personal stories that can help adult children see senior care solutions?
Topics Relevant to Seniors, Adult Children and Family Caregivers
Our quarterly senior care editorial calendars include plans for content that is unique, relevant and targeted. It is a mix that incorporates:
- Content that connects with adult children and decision makers at each step of the senior care decision journey
- Evergreen content topics
- Seasonal events (Grandparent’s Day, Veteran’s Day, National Alzheimer’s Month)
- Announcements and news
- Guides and fact sheets that can be used as a Call-to-Action download
- Opportunities identified for social sharing
Two final tips for creating a senior care editorial calendar are:
- Make it easy for key staff members to participate in the process. You can do that by hosting an editorial calendar development meeting or simply by setting up a draft calendar in Google Drive and asking for input.
- Plan to be a flexible. Be prepared to adjust or adapt your content plans if something big happens in the industry or at one of your communities. Don’t be so rigid that you can’t take advantage of breaking news and hot topics.
We hope this gives you some insight in to how to create an editorial calendar that will help your senior care business connect and engage adult children and family decision makers.
If you need advice or guidance, shoot us a note! We are uniquely qualified to help…
Related Articles:
Creating a Senior Care Content Hub
Senior Care Content That Connects with Decision Makers Online