With 1500 locations and growing, Chipotle Mexican Grill is quickly becoming one of America’s favorite choices for fast, fresh, quality Mexican cuisine. It was founded on the principles of friendly customer service, fresh ingredients, transparency, and innovative marketing. The latter has particularly stood out in the past couple of years and provides an excellent case study for companies of all sizes.
Content Marketing Calendars
Jim Joseph of Entrepreneur.com recently posted an article titled Follow Chipotle’s Lead and Create a Content Marketing Calendar. Do you know what a content marketing calendar is? If you are in the business of marketing products and services, the answer should be “yes!” But if you are like many business professionals, the term is a bit foreign to you. Also known as an editorial calendar, a content marketing calendar is a simple and useful way to stay consistent and organized.
The calendar is basically a month-by-month view of the type of content your company will create, when and where it will be published, and by what style guide to which it will adhere. Content marketing calendars are typically developed in spreadsheets and have column headings like: Content Headline, Content Type, Reader Persona, Writer, Date Due, Distribution Channels, and more.
Chipotle’s Content Marketing Calendar
Chipotle does a fantastic job utilizing content marketing calendars – and they’re being noticed because of it. While the details of what their calendar looks like are not known, Chipotle’s consistent creation of quality marketing content proves that they are adhering to a regimented plan.
Chipotle doesn’t just follow the lead when it comes to marketing; they take the lead. From the website and media production to the cohesiveness of Chipotle’s message, the company has taken their content marketing to the next level – and your business can learn a few things from them. Joseph mentions three particulars to keep in mind when developing a content marketing calendar: (1) Utilize your limited resources effectively, (2) Follow your industry’s natural cycles, and (3) Consider the timing of pop culture.
Lessons from Chipotle
Chipotle understands the idea of using their limited resources effectively. They may not have the marketing budget of a restaurant like McDonald’s, but they do have enough to be effective. Businesses must understand the resources they have and utilize them, without trying to do everything at once. Additionally, it’s important to listen to your industry and respond to the natural cycles, as opposed to forcing something that goes against the grain. And as far as pop culture goes, take a page out of Chipotle’s book and time the distribution of your content. You’ll be glad you did!