From content ideation to promotion, producing engaging content takes a lot of work. If you want your efforts to be successful, you need a plan. That's where an editorial content calendar comes in. An editorial content calendar helps your content reach as many people as possible.
What Is an Editorial Content Calendar?
An editorial content calendar is primarily concerned with the logistics of publishing content, such as scheduling and coordinating with other team members. You can use an editorial calendar for any content, from blog posts to social media updates.
It can be as simple as a list of topics with due dates or as complex as a detailed spreadsheet with assigned tasks and deadlines. This helps to ensure that content is published in a timely and consistent manner.
There are many benefits to using an editorial calendar:
- Stay organized. This is especially important if you work with a team of writers, editors and designers. An editorial calendar ensures that everyone knows what needs to be done and when it needs to be done.
- Improve ROI. An editorial calendar can help you improve your content marketing ROI because it forces you to think about your goals and objectives before you begin creating content. This allows you to avoid wasting time and resources on content that will not allow you to achieve your goals.
- Create high-quality content. An editorial calendar can help you to improve the quality of your content because it gives you the time to plan, research and edit your work before it is published.
Different Types of Editorial Calendars
Which editorial content calendar will help you achieve your goals? It all depends on your needs and your process.
Here's a quick rundown of the most popular editorial calendar types:
The Linear Calendar
This is the most traditional type of editorial calendar, and it's also the easiest to create. Start with a list of topics, and then assign each one to a specific date. The linear calendar works well for tracking content that doesn't need to be updated often, like blog posts or articles.
The Reverse Calendar
As the name suggests, the reverse calendar starts with the end date and works backward. This is ideal for time-sensitive content, like event listings or news stories. It's also helpful if you need to space out your content so it doesn't all go live at once.
The Hybrid Calendar
The hybrid calendar combines elements of both the linear and reverse calendars. With this type of calendar, you start with a list of topics and then assign due dates as needed. The hybrid calendar is great for content that needs to be updated regularly but doesn't have a strict publication schedule.
No matter which type of editorial calendar you choose, the important thing is that it helps you stay organized and on track with your content strategy.
What Is Content Strategy?
Like most things in the business world, "content strategy" sounds a lot more complicated than it really is.
A content strategy focuses on the larger picture. It is focused on the overall business goals and objectives of the content, such as building brand awareness or generating leads. It considers your audience, your platform and your resources, and it provides a framework for creating compelling and consistent content.
A content strategy answers questions like: Why are we creating this content? Who is our target audience? What are our goals for this content?
Approximately 62% of the most successful organizations in terms of content marketing have some sort of documented strategy in place. Despite this success, most companies (60%) do not document their strategy.
A content strategy should include a business plan, brand identity and story, defined goals, target audience, channel plan, keyword research and competitor analysis.
Target audience
The most important step in creating a content strategy is defining your target audience. It’s impossible to create a brand or piece of content that resonates with your intended audience if you don’t understand them. An effective tactic is to create personas for each kind of person you plan on targeting in your marketing campaigns. For B2B marketing, use the following criteria to begin:
- Job title
- Education
- Challenges or pain points
- Motivations and goals
- Industry publications
- Day-to-day responsibilities
- Preferred social media platforms
The data can be collected via current customer surveys, industry publications and your own marketing data.
Brand identity and story
Your brand identity and story give your content strategy direction and help you create compelling authentic content that resonates with your target audience. Before creating any content, it’s important to understand the tone of your brand, so that each piece of content is distinct to your brand.
In Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why, he outlines how successful brands discover their “why” or purpose. According to Sinek, Apple is different from its competitors due to its messaging. Instead of focusing on how its products are better, the company focuses on connecting with the right consumers through its message of challenging the status quo. This message is so firmly established within Apple that it can be seen in the company’s store design and advertisements.
For brands looking to connect with customers, it’s imperative to develop a brand story that resonates with a target audience. This story must then be carried out across all forms of marketing and customer interactions.
Defined goals
A business plan provides the foundation for your content strategy by mapping out your goals, objectives and KPIs, which are essential to your content strategy's success.
For assets that aren’t focused on lead generation, it can be difficult to assess which content marketing goals and KPIs should be prioritized. Consider the following:
- Brand awareness surveys
- Brand recall surveys
- Newsletter clicks and open rates
- Social media engagement
- Overall impressions
- Website visits
When creating assets, get clear on how the piece of content will be used and its purpose. Business goals and KPIs should be decided prior to the content being written, so its success is measured appropriately.
If your company is focused on customer retention, consider how email marketing and social media engagement can help achieve those goals. If new business is prioritized for the upcoming year, consider how content can assist the customer journey.
Channel plan
Having a clear channel plan in place will help you determine where and how to distribute content to your target audience. Be sure to use the data you gathered in creating your personas to inform which platforms should be included. These channels can include:
- Your company blog
- Email newsletters
- Content syndication
- Social media
Competitor analysis
By taking the time to understand your audience and developing a thoughtful content strategy, you'll be in a much better position to achieve your business goals. You need to understand what your competitors are doing to stay one step ahead of them.
Who Should I Involve in My Content Strategy?
A content strategy is only as good as the buy-in it gets from key stakeholders.
When developing your content strategy, be sure to involve key stakeholders from across departments.
Here’s why:
- They can offer an outside perspective on how clients engage with your offerings and what concerns prospects may have.
- Stakeholders from different departments help ensure that your content strategy aligns with your business goals.
- Involving stakeholders in developing your content strategy can help build buy-in and ensure that your content is relevant and engaging.
- Stakeholders can bring fresh ideas for blog posts, ebooks and webinars.
What Makes a Successful Content Strategy?
Content strategy is built on a solid foundation of research, planning and execution. Without these key elements, your content might miss the mark with your target audience, fail to meet your business goals or quickly become lost in the noise.
A winning content strategy will keep your business relevant and competitive. Here are a few tips to get you started:
- Understand your audience: What are their needs and how can your content help them?
- Plan how to develop and distribute your content.
- Set some goals for your content, such as increasing brand awareness or generating leads.
- Create high-quality content and promote it through the right channels.
Whether you're looking to raise awareness, build thought leadership or drive sales, there's no one-size-fits-all solution. But by carefully planning and executing your content strategy, you can ensure that your brand will be heard loud and clear.
In Conclusion
By using an editorial content calendar to keep track of the details, you can ensure that your content is being published on a regular basis. And by using a content strategy, you can keep your content aligned with your business goals. The key is to use both in tandem.
A calendar and a content strategy go hand-in-hand, informing each other and helping your business create content that will engage your audience.
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