RKIVE AI

Why Master Your Content Planning?

Ever find yourself panic-posting at the last minute, juggling half-baked ideas, lost assets, and overdue drafts? Good planning isn’t bureaucracy—it’s your secret sauce. A solid plan gives you:

• Clarity: Always know what’s next and why it matters.
• Efficiency: Spend less time scrambling and more time creating.
• Collaboration: Keep teammates (or future you) in sync on who’s doing what.
• Scalability: Build a repeatable process that survives vacations, new hires, or sudden priorities.

Whether you choose our free Notion Content Control Center template or your own spreadsheet, the principles below will turn your planning from chaos into clarity.

👉 Optional Template: https://www.notion.com/templates/rkiveai-contentcontrolcenter

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1. Establish Your Content Foundation

Define Your “Why”

• Start with your big-picture goals: brand awareness, lead gen, community growth, or product education.
• Jot down 3–5 core pillars (e.g., “AI Best Practices,” “Customer Stories,” “Weekly Tips”).

Set Your Categories

• Translate each pillar into repeatable Content Categories (or “PostTypes”).
• For each category, note its ideal frequency (e.g. 2×/week), purpose (engagement vs. conversion), and success metric (likes, comments, demo requests).

Template Tip: In the PostTypes table, create a row per category with fields for frequency, KPIs, and guidelines. In your own tool, use columns or labels to capture the same.

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2. Build & Maintain Your Idea Backlog

Capture Everything

• Use a simple “Inbox” (Notion list, Trello board, Google Sheet) to drop every spark of an idea—no filters.
• At least once a week, triage: assign each idea a category, a rough title, and a tentative publish period.

Structure Your Backlog

• Columns or fields:
  • Title/Headline
  • Category (your pillars)
  • Priority (High/Medium/Low)
  • Notes/Outline (bullet points, links, asset needs)

Template Tip: The “Content” database’s Planning view shows all ideas with status “Planning.” Use it to move entries into your monthly calendar.

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3. Run Monthly Planning Sprints

Step into Strategy Mode

1. Review Pillars & Backlog: Scan your Content table and your PostTypes.
2. Select Your Month’s Assets: Choose enough posts to match your category frequencies (e.g., four “AI Best Practices” carousels if that’s 1×/week).
3. Map to Calendar: Assign each to a date in your calendar view—accounting for holidays, product launches, or events.

Deliverable: A full month’s worth of scheduled Content entries, each with title, outline, and due date.

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4. Adopt Weekly Tactical Sprints

Lean into the Cadence

• Block a 90-minute slot each Monday (or your chosen day).
• In that sprint:
  1. Finalize outlines and asset requests.
  2. Draft copy, design graphics, record videos.
  3. Move entries through statuses: In Progress → Review → Ready.

Quick Wins:

• Use a Kanban board view to drag cards between columns.
• Tag collaborators or leave comments right on each Content entry.

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5. Assign, Track & Collaborate

Who Does What

• Even if it’s just you, explicitly assign every task—writing, design, review—to a “person” field.
• Set clear status values: Planning, In Progress, Review, Scheduled, Published.

Stay on Track

• Use progress bars or checklist properties for multi-step assets.
• Automate reminders or todo integrations (e.g., Notion → Slack, or Asana Zap) for due-date alerts.

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6. Centralize Your Assets & Guidelines

One Source of Truth

• Create an Asset Library section or folder—link to images, video files, brand guidelines, and Figma mockups.
• In each Content entry, attach or link directly to the files you need.

Keep Your Style Handy

• Maintain a Style Guide page with tone, voice, and visual rules.
• Reference it in your PostTypes guidelines so you never wonder, “Does this caption fit our brand?”

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7. Optimize & Iterate Every Cycle

Review Performance

• At month’s end, filter your Content entries by published date and compare against KPIs.
• Note: engagement, conversions, view time—whatever matters most.

Refine Your Plan

• If a category underperforms, adjust frequency or format.
• If certain PostTypes soar, consider spinning off sub-series or deeper dives.

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How to Use the Notion Template (Without Lock-In)

1. Duplicate it or clone the structure into your own workspace.
2. Customize: Rename categories, set your brand’s posting tempo, and upload your brand assets.
3. Follow the guide above—the template’s built-in views (list, board, calendar) match each planning pillar.
4. Automate your publishing by syncing the Scheduled view into rkiveAI (or Buffer, Later) so scheduling is the last step, not the first.

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Conclusion

Great content starts with great planning. By defining pillars, building a backlog, sprinting monthly & weekly, tracking tasks, centralizing assets, and iterating on results, you’ll transform content from a chore into a streamlined process. Use our free Notion Content Control Center to hit the ground running—or adapt these principles in your tool of choice—and make strategic planning your competitive advantage.

Happy planning!