Among content marketers, there seems to be two schools of thought regarding when and how blog content should be created—and sometimes a third school. The first likes to plan an entire year of content—six months at the very least—complete with up-front keyword research, topic choices, content briefs, and fully written blogs. The second prefers a more timely approach, with a quick keyword check before writing a blog that’s relevant to current events and market news. The third school… Well, we’ll talk about that later.

There are pros and cons to both schools of thought. Perhaps there are benefits and drawbacks you haven’t considered before. We’ll dig into all of them here so you can make the best decision for your marketing needs.

Front-Loaded Content: Pros

Well, it doesn’t get any better than knowing your content is set for the year after a couple weeks of work, does it? What a load off! Even better, with your blogs created for the year, you can also create the images, blog headers, and social post captions and get those out of the way, too.

A good content management system like WordPress will allow you to schedule everything as far out as you need it, so within a few hours, your whole blogging strategy for the year can be done and dusted. A social media planning platform like Loomly or HootSuite allows for social post scheduling.

And just like that…all your blogs and blog shares are done, man. Why wouldn’t someone choose to write them all up front?

Yeah, we’re getting there.

Front-Loaded Content: Cons

Okay, so this hasn’t happened in a while—maybe because the horror stories put marketers on guard—but front loading your content does present the distinct possibility of accidental newsjacking with your blogs and social posts. In the words of Ferris Bueller, “Life comes at you pretty fast.” A lot can happen between the day you write and schedule a blog and the day it finally publishes.

For example, a real estate agent may schedule a blog about luxury retailers and restaurants that eventually publishes after a devastating economic crash. A blog might quote a prominent celebrity or businessperson who is embroiled in a terrible scandal just days before the article actually publishes. You know…stuff that could make your brand go viral for all the wrong reasons.

To avoid this, you may consider creating “evergreen” content, meaning information about your industry that doesn’t really change and therefore is unlikely to get caught up in a scandal of any sort. The problem with that? Well, for one thing, any other marketers in your industry are probably doing the same thing, which means an influx of similar content. You won’t stand out. Also… BORING.

Maybe the timely approach is the way to go.

Relevant Content: Pros

Okay, we’ll be honest here. Little Red Writing is a big fan of the timely approach. The benefits are enormous. First, the content is relevant to the audience needs for that very moment in time. It addresses the latest information, uses up-to-date sources, and, if you’re lucky, scoops your competitors. Let me tell you, it feels great to publish quality, relevant, timely content about a topic your buyers want to read before your competitors can.

Google also tends to like fresh content that provides answers that aren’t readily available everywhere else. They tend to call this type of content “helpful.” And if you’ve been paying attention, the latest Google updatesare all about helpful content.

By planning your content needs on a weekly or monthly basis, you’re less likely to set something and forget that it’s waiting there to publish for months. A quick check of all links before posting, and you’re good to go.

So, what? No drawbacks? Well, sort of.

Relevant Content: Cons

Remember when we talked about Ferris Bueller earlier? Yeah. Relevant content today could be irrelevant tomorrow. That’s the downside to this school of thought. The good news is that you can regularly update the information to keep it fresh and relevant, but that takes time.

In fact, creating fresh, relevant, timely content takes a lot more time than frontloading your content calendar. New keyword research, new industry research, interviews with key stakeholders to get the latest takes on the subject matter—it all takes time. And time, as we all know, equals money.

The benefits far outweigh this drawback, though. You’re more likely to get better traffic, more leads, higher ranking on Google… If you consider the return on your investment, it’s a no-brainer.

We briefly mentioned a third school of thought. By now, you’ve probably figured out that it’s a healthy mix of the two. Evergreen content does have its place in marketing. As long as you regularly update it to make sure it’s still relevant, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with sticking to the basics. Pepper in some timely content that focuses on the latest news in your industry—and keep these updated, as well—and you’ll have a powerful content marketing strategy ready to snag new leads.

Now, we know that writing takes time, and you have a lot of other work to do. We’re here to help.