What is a Content Marketing Editorial Calendar?
Planning out a content strategy can be easier said than done. That’s because the word “planning” can be subjective. It's common for content strategists to take multiple approaches when aligning their content strategy with their overall marketing goals.
Why? Because in the world of digital marketing, content is everywhere. This content includes social media posts, blogs, website marketing copy, email newsletters and videos. There are also different ways your team may want to create these assets, such as in-house content development, outsourced content, or content curation strategies. Each format requires a specific plan. So how do you merge different types of content to create a comprehensive content strategy for your brand.
The answer is simple: create a content marketing editorial calendar.
A content marketing editorial calendar is a visual workflow that helps content marketers plan out their content strategy on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Editorial calendars allow you to strategically plan out your content throughout the year, while keeping track of each content type and its channels, authors and publish dates.
It's important to note that there is no such thing as a perfect editorial calendar. Each team is different in size and function, and everyone has different marketing goals to achieve. But following the best practices will help you create an editorial calendar that strengthens your brand’s online visibility.
Why Should You Use a Marketing Content Calendar?
Editorial calendars have a track record of success and according to content marketing best practices, they are really effective.
According to a survey by the Marketing Insider Group, 65% of the most successful digital B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy in place, compared to 14% of the least successful. Here are some benefits using a content marketing editorial calendar has to offer:
Make it easier to plan your content strategy
Creating an editorial content calendar will enable you to strategize properly, categorize content by themes and coordinate each member’s responsibilities — while organizing everything all in one place. This will enable your content to flow and remain consistent.
Upgrade your brand from good to great
Think of a marketing communications calendar as a tool! Consistently producing content is unsustainable without a calendar that has deadlines in place to hold you accountable. Consistency is key, and having a calendar will help you stay on top of posting content regularly. Not putting your strategy on paper would be like driving a car without a steering wheel.
Saves you time
Time is the one thing that you can never get back. When you run a business, you have to juggle lots of different tasks. With an editorial calendar, you can stay organized and know exactly when and where your content is going out. This is especially helpful since most organizations participate in posting on multiple channels. Now, you can delegate and assign tasks to people on your team, making it easier to create a cohesive plan.
An editorial calendar propels you forward instead of keeping you stagnant. It can be a huge influence in propelling your business and strategy forward.
How Do You Structure a Marketing Calendar
When it comes to content marketing, a structured calendar is crucial for success in executing your marketing strategies. A team-wide calendar helps with planning and organizing content marketing efforts, thus ensuring efficiency, consistency, and alignment with greater marketing goals. Content calendars can be structured in a wide variety of ways, depending on the needs and sizes of your team. For example: Your teams may choose to have more details on a calendar focused on a specific channel, while an overarching content calendar may only include the dates items are posted.
What Should Be Included in a Marketing Content Calendar
An editorial marketing calendar must include the following elements:
Persona:
Prior to writing a piece of content, it should be clear who your team is targeting and which stage of the content marketing funnel they are located in. By including these details, your team will also ensure that content is being created for each persona in every stage of their journey.
Content Publication Date:
Your marketing communications calendar should incorporate a specific publication date for each piece of content. This allows for better planning, coordination, and allocation of resources. Consider factors such as seasonality, peak engagement times, industry events, holidays, product launches, and more to optimize content timing and relevance.
Content Status:
Tracking a piece of content’s status in your marketing content calendar is essential for effective content management. It allows teams to track progress, identify bottlenecks, and ensure timely completion of tasks. Tracking the status also sets the team up for a streamlined workflow and improved accountability throughout the content creation, iteration, and publication process.
Due Date:
Your editorial content calendar will use a due date to maintain deadlines and ensure timely content delivery. The Due Date provides a clear timeline for each task, helps teams prioritize their work, and enables effective time management, resulting in consistent content production and a well-organized content marketing strategy.
Content Writer:
Delegate a content writer in your editorial marketing calendar to assign responsibility and ownership for each piece of work. Tracking the content owner enables clear teamwide communication and collaboration, and will help your team to create high-quality, consistent pieces of content.
You may opt to outsource your writing to a professional outside of the team. If you do, make sure your outsourced content creator has access to the best licensed content to aid in their content creation process and supplement their work with veritable sources.
Topic for the Content:
Including a topic field in a content calendar is crucial for maintaining content relevance and alignment with marketing objectives. It helps teams stay focused on key themes, ensures a diverse range of topics, and enables strategic planning to address the needs and interests of the target audience effectively.
Headline:
Including a headline field in an editorial marketing calendar is vital for capturing attention and conveying the essence of the content. It allows for early development of compelling and click-worthy headlines, ensuring that content is engaging, optimized for search engines, and aligned with the overall content strategy.
Call to Action:
Including a call to action (CTA) field in an editorial marketing calendar is essential for guiding readers towards desired actions. It helps teams strategically plan and align the content with specific objectives, such as lead generation or conversions, ensuring that each piece of content drives meaningful engagement and encourages desired user actions.
Formats of Content:
Including a content formats field in an editorial marketing calendar is crucial for diversifying content and engaging audiences with various preferences. It ensures a strategic mix of content types, such as blog posts, videos, infographics, and podcasts, optimizing reach, engagement, and catering to different learning and consumption styles.
Languages:
For companies launching a global content strategy, it’s important to consider the languages needed.
Promotional Plan for Content:
Including a promotional plan field in an editorial marketing calendar is vital for maximizing the reach and impact of content. It allows for strategic planning of promotional activities across channels, such as social media campaigns, email marketing, and collaborations, ensuring effective content distribution and amplification to reach the target audience effectively.
Metrics for Success:
Including metrics for success in an editorial marketing calendar is essential for measuring the effectiveness of content efforts. It enables tracking and analysis of key performance indicators (KPIs), such as website traffic, engagement metrics, conversions, and lead generation, providing valuable insights to optimize future content strategies and drive continuous improvement.
Different Editorial Calendar Formats
Keep in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Since each business has different content strategy needs, there are varying editorial calendar formats available.
While there are different approaches teams can take when creating a content calendar, conducting a content audit is an essential first step. An audit can help your team understand what assets are currently available before you commit to developing new ones. Next, the content team should identify any content gaps. Topics and asset types should be added to a calendar and prioritized. Below are some formats content teams can use when developing this editorial calendar.
1. A Spreadsheet in Excel or Google Sheets
This is a fantastic option for content strategists who are new to the realm of editorial content planning. Since an Excel or a Google Sheets document is one of the most flexible options, it may be the solution you need.
A spreadsheet can be the answer if you don’t know where to start with your content strategy and feel overwhelmed. Plus, writing your ideas out in a spreadsheet will help you begin to see what direction your strategy should take. Your ideas don’t have to be perfect, but try to create sections on your spreadsheet to figure out the type of content you want, who will produce it and when you want this completed.
Spreadsheets are great tools as they promote collaboration, allow for workflow transparency between all employees and keep everyone on track to reach a deadline.
2. Traditional Calendar
If you are a content strategist that prefers using a pencil over typing on a computer, a traditional calendar is your answer. Sometimes, all it takes to get organized is to put a large desk calendar in front of your entire team and hold a big in-person brainstorming session. This way, everyone will be together when assignments and due dates are created and distributed.
To go an extra step, you can color-code your calendar based on the category of content, the author and the content format. Traditional calendars can also be digitized with deadlines added to Google or Outlook calendars after the initial brainstorm.
3. Content Calendar App
If you are working on a virtual team — and don’t want to clutter your personal calendars with due dates and deadlines — a separate content calendar app is a great answer. Apps allow you to streamline all your content in a secure place. Some options include CoSchedule and Asana. These tools will include deadlines and can alert reviewers once new drafts have been uploaded.
4. WordPress Plug-ins
If WordPress hosts your website, a plug-in is a perfect, accessible tool. WordPress offers a plug-in option, Editorial Calendar, that streamlines everything. The plug-in lets you look ahead at all your scheduled blog posts in the pipeline, drag and drop unpublished pieces into new deadlines. In addition, it’s adaptable to multiple edits at a time.
7 Steps to Creating Your Editorial Calendar
Now that you have chosen a format for your editorial calendar, it is time to optimize your calendar to work for you. Follow these steps to ensure your editorial calendar can work to the best of its ability.
1. Have your content strategy drive your marketing communications calendar
Your editorial calendar is a tool to help drive your brand’s success. So, you’ll need to have your content strategy guide what you produce. When properly executed, an editorial calendar helps you determine:
• What content to create.
This means the kind of content you want to produce. Do you want to write thought leadership pieces about your industry? Or are you looking to answer frequently asked questions about your products or services? When determining what pieces to prioritize, it is often best to consult other departments on what the business needs. Product may have content needs based on new releases. Alternatively, account managers, sales and business development may have insights based on interactions with prospects and customers.
• What formats are needed.
Before creating the content piece themselves, your team will need to determine the formats. Are you creating curated newsletters and emails or will you be creating white papers? What kinds of content perform best across your marketing channels? It’s generally advised to have a mix of assets available, catered to each target persona.
According to research from CMI, webinars, research reports and short articles were the best performing assets over the last year.
• What languages are needed.
For international businesses looking to create a comprehensive global content marketing strategy, multilingual content can add an additional obstacle. Marketing leaders will need to understand nuances associated with business communication and work with translation agencies to meet deadlines. Alternatively, teams can work with reputable publications to license content. Curating news stories or thought leadership in your audience’s native language can be a great way to scale efforts globally.
• When to create the content.
Are you going to create your content on a daily, weekly or monthly basis? How often will you post the content? Are there any seasonal trends that you should keep in mind?
• Where to post the content.
Is your goal to make a more robust blog, or are you trying to build a larger following on social media? Answering these questions will help the team determine where content should be shared.
According to CMI, the most common channels for content distribution on owned channels included the company website, blog, and email newsletters. These channels are all great places to nurture those already in your database. For gated assets, it’s important to also consider partnering with industry leading publications, to generate new leads for sales to reach out to.
• How content has previously performed.
Did past content pieces meet your content marketing goals? Are there ways you can take the next quarter or year to improve your content marketing ROI? Developing a content calendar can be a great time to collaborate with the team to understand what worked well and how to create better marketing and sales collateral and content.
• How to create the content.
Will you be creating the content in-house, or do you want to work with an agency? Do your current employees have the bandwidth to take on content as a full-time responsibility? Will you be licensing content? Will you be curating any content or featuring news?
• Why you are creating the content.
In simple terms, your “why” should propel your content strategy forward. Think long and hard about why you are including content into your overall marketing strategy. Are you trying to build brand authority, boost brand awareness or bolster sales?
• Who your audience is.
Think about what type of people make up your target audience. How are you going to capture these viewers and inspire them to convert? A great first step is to create personas, detailing your target demographic’s challenges, needs, and job role. To gather this data, leverage industry research, insights from sales and account managers, as well as client interviews.
• What stage is your audience in?
Your content calendar will need to cover prospects who are various stages in the customer journey, including top, middle, and end. Additionally, don't forget to create content for your current customers. Improving your customer retention rates by only 5% can improve revenue by 25% to 95%.
Once you answer all these questions, you’ll be in the right direction for your content strategy plan.
2. Set up your editorial content marketing calendar with efficiency in mind
It’s always a good idea to develop your calendar with an emphasis on collaboration and efficiency within your team. The content calendar should include due dates, who is responsible for the content, and who will need to be included in the review process. Outsourced and licensed content should also be included in the plan, so your team can better align on publication dates and promotional efforts. Once you have a draft of your calendar, work together with team members so that expectations are clear. KPIs and metrics of success should also be discussed during this stage, so that everyone is clear on the goals before creating assets.
3. Keep your marketing content calendar filled
A great rule of thumb is to always keep your calendar filled with due dates and assignments. This not only bolsters your productivity, but it also keeps you motivated and accountable. Having your calendar filled with assignments will ensure that each member of your team has a clear understanding of due dates and deadlines.
Additionally, so you don’t lose creative steam, have a separate tab or section within the calendar where you can brainstorm potential ideas and future content themes. Keeping everything together makes it much simpler for streamlining the content creation process.
Also, you should make your calendar actionable. You want to show long-term accomplishments, so each piece of content you assign should have a designated author and due date. Plus, it’s always best for you to include helpful information for the author, such as potential resources to leverage and examples of other blogs for them to reference.
4. Gather Content Ideas
Gathering ideas for content development is a continuous process. Your editorial calendar should be agile, should priorities shift. The first step when gathering ideas is to conduct an audit of the materials your team already has in place. If possible, this list should be documented somewhere alongside relevant metrics, including leads generated or organic visits in Google Analytics.
Once you have gathered the data and collected an audit of existing assets, it's time to begin the content ideation process. Leverage different team members across departments to get a better understanding of topics that may be of interest. These brainstorming sessions can include business, sales, marketing and product. By using ideas across departments, you can create unique content for your website and marketing materials.
5. Measure Results
The best way to monitor performance is by tracking your KPI’s. Identifying attainable goals at the start of your editorial calendar journey will keep your focus on what really matters. Whether your goal is to increase lead generation, improve in search rankings or position yourself as a thought leader in your desired industry, measuring your results will give you key insights on what is currently working and what should be adjusted.
6. Update your Content Calendar Based on Data
Your editorial calendar should be an outline of where your content is headed. Ideally, the data you track should inform and determine your strategy, and how you choose to plan the long-term content on your calendar. Since data and metrics tend to shift, staying up to date with your editorial calendar, based on these changes, is vital. The following data can be tracked for performance and should be used to inform further decisions moving forward:
- Targeted keywords
- Relevant images
- Channel the content was published to
- Content category
- Call to action buttons or banners
Maintaining an editorial calendar that shifts with your data will help tie in your overall strategy and goals.
7. Consider Leveraging Licensed Content
Don’t let a small team hold you back. You may not have the resources or staff to fulfill your editorial calendar goals, and that is where licensed content can help you elevate your brand. A great way to get more content on your calendar is to use licensed content or get a copyright license from a reputable publisher. By curating content, you can establish yourself as a thought leader in your space while building brand credibility.
Content Calendar Best Practices
As you develop your content calendar, consider the following best practices:
Establish Clear Goals in Advance
By establishing clear goals, your teams can get aligned on expectations. It’s important the content marketing goals be aligned with business goals. For example: If your company is focused on improving client retention rates, focusing primarily on pieces that engage current customers can be a great strategy. It can also be productive to involve other department leaders in conversations surrounding success metrics. Collaboration across teams can help showcase the importance of content marketing across your organization.
Work Across Departments
Sales, product, account managers, and business development will have different insights from the marketing team, in terms of prospect and customer feedback. By leveraging their ideas, your team can create a more comprehensive editorial calendar.
Document Your Strategy
62% of the most successful organizations, in terms of content marketing, have some sort of documentation in place. 90% are also measuring performance. By having a strategy that is written down, your team can better determine what is successful.
Outsource Content Development Efforts
Outsourcing content marketing can help your team scale, while still delivering high-quality content. Since many companies are facing high turnover rates and budget cuts, outsourced content can be a great solution for content marketers looking to create more assets. In fact, nearly 7 out of 10 marketers (67%) note that they have been asked to do more with the same size team over the last year.
Outsourcing content has been a successful way for companies to mitigate this gap. 57% of the most successful companies are outsourcing at least some of their content efforts. Large companies are also more likely to outsource, while less successful content marketing teams are less likely to leverage outsourced content. Generally, large companies have a more sophisticated content marketing strategy in place, while smaller teams may just be starting out.
However, according to 65% of those surveyed, finding the right partners to produce content remains a large challenge. Partnering with reputable publications that license content can be a great solution for businesses looking to showcase fact-checked and insightful information to their audience.
Final Thoughts
Creating a streamlined, comprehensive editorial calendar is one of the best ways to reach your content marketing goals. Designing your content marketing editorial calendar with some consistency, creativity and collaboration will ensure your content works for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a content calendar include?
A content calendar should include the following elements
- Persona
- Topics
- Content Formats
- Status
- Metrics for Success
- Due Date
- Content Writer
- Promotional Plan
How does a content calendar work?
A content calendar works since it makes it easier for your team to take a strategic approach to content. By outlining goals, due dates, and team members, it’s easier to ensure content efforts align with overarching business goals.
Should your content calendar include social media content?
There is no wrong way to create your calendar. Your editorial calendar should reflect the day-to-day operations of your team. If it’s easier to keep your blog content strategy and social media updates in two different locations, since different teams are responsible for these tasks, that is fine. However, it’s important that these calendars be kept in a location that is easy for everyone to access, so that your strategy can be consistent across teams.
Where can I find examples of editorial calendars online?
There are numerous templates online that your team can leverage to get started with an editorial calendar. Additionally, industry publications may feature editorial calendars in their media kit, which showcase which topics they will be focusing on in each issue.
How do you manage a content calendar?
A content calendar will need to be managed regularly to ensure it is aligned with current product releases and business objectives. To effectively manage your content calendar, consider the following:
- Document your strategy: Documentation is a very important step, since it outlines clear expectations and KPIs for each asset.
- Updates: Your team will likely create content calendars on a yearly, quarterly, or monthly basis. It’s important to establish regular intervals to review the editorial calendar to determine if topics need to be updated or priorities need to shift.
- New products or messaging: Are there new products that are being released or new messaging that shifts how the company positions itself?
How do I create a content calendar for digital marketing?
Creating a content calendar for digital marketing will involve all the steps mentioned above, including:
- Creating personas
- Generating ideas
- Establishing KPIs
- Documenting your strategy
If your team also has a content calendar in place, focus on print materials, such as direct mail campaigns or marketing a magazine, it is also important to ensure that digital and print teams are aligned. Both strategies should work together to support overarching business goals.
How do I make a monthly content plan?
If your team is determining what content should be created on a month-to-month basis, consider the following steps:
- Determine what assets have been successful over the last month or quarter.
- Consult with product to determine if there are any new features or releases that need to be promoted.
- Are there any important industry trends your team should speak to? (Consider leveraging Twitter and Buzzsumo to see what your people in your target persona’s industry may be discussing).
What’s the difference between an editorial calendar and a content strategy?
An editorial calendar and a content strategy differ in terms of focus. A content strategy will focus on the big-picture items, including sales goals, persona, and overarching marketing objectives. An editorial calendar focuses on the tactical and logistical side of getting published.
