In recent years, working on the content side of marketing has become a lot more complicated, and it’s not just because content marketing is increasingly a part of all marketing strategies. The fact is that for every marketing campaign, you now have to create a content marketing strategy that helps you create, deploy and measure a set of content assets—and you can’t afford to get that wrong. You can’t afford to be an average marketer.
Everyone has a blog, but not everyone knows how to use it. In this post, we’ll take a look at what planning your next month of content is all about, and the benefits of scheduling your content for social media success.
One of the top reasons for content gaps is a lack of a content calendar. Most publications will still publish updates in spurts, with the result being that the editorial calendar is very unorganized and can create confusion between content teams. A content calendar is a great way to bring order to the chaos, make better editorial decisions, and generate more content.
According to Bill Gates, content is king. That was true in 1996, and it still is.
As consumers become more sophisticated, content continues to play an important role in customer learning and conversion.
However, not all marketers understand how to properly implement a content strategy. If you don’t start with the basics, you can make it harder for yourself to produce content.
To be successful, your content plan must be executable and you must publish content consistently.
This is where the editorial calendar comes in.
We cover the basics, including how to create and manage an editorial calendar and how it can help shape your content strategy.
4 reasons for using the editorial calendar
The editorial calendar allows content publishers to plan, create, publish and promote their content in an organized way. Many bloggers and businesses use editorial or content calendars to streamline content production.
In many ways, the editorial calendar is a lifeline for creatives and business owners. Whether you’re a blogger, freelance writer, business owner or creative director of a marketing company, an editorial content calendar helps you stay on top of your craft and deliver a steady stream of content.
Others use an editorial calendar to help focus, as an organized approach can also limit writer’s block and make content timeless.
There are other ways to use an editorial content calendar, for example. B :
1. Better organisation and delegation of powers
Thanks to the editorial calendar, you can immediately see which articles need to be written. You can then delegate articles to your editorial team and get to work. No more passing on topics to editors at the last minute or wondering if you’ll have time to write this month.
With a calendar, you have everything in front of you.
Ultimately, this level of organization saves time, ensures a steady flow of content, and guarantees that everyone on your content creation team knows what they’re doing.
2. Improved planning
The better you plan your stuff, the better they will do. If you know what you want to write about, don’t waste time doing last-minute research or searching for the sources you need to back up your article.
Some people even feel that planning is more important than the production of content itself. Content planning is necessary for :
- Create content that is as relevant as possible to your audience.
- Write in-depth content that your audience needs and wants
- Publish exactly where and when your customers are.
3. Helping you achieve your goals
Your editorial calendar is part of your content strategy. Ideally, you’ve developed your content strategy based on the goals you want to achieve with your product, your blog, or your business as a whole.
An editorial content calendar helps to achieve these goals:
- So that you can reach the critical steps.
- Support for promotional activities.
- Reach new customers and get new conversions.
- Get more newsletter subscribers.
- Increase your brand awareness.
Whatever goals you set for your business, your editorial calendar plays an important role in achieving them.
4. Timeliness
According to Mark Twain, timing is the greatest source of inspiration.
However, that doesn’t mean you want to get the job done in a hurry.
To take the time to create content, each team member must be aware of their deadlines. This is the only way to achieve your goals and inspire your audience.
Moreover, meeting these deadlines is especially important if you are publishing new content that is part of your business strategy. For example, if you publish blogs to support a new launch or an annual sale.
How to make an editorial calendar
Don’t let the idea of creating an editorial calendar scare you off – I promise it’s not that hard if you make a plan. In the next section, you will learn step by step how to create an effective calendar. This is just a rough description, feel free to customize these steps to fit the needs of your business.
1. Specify tools to be used
The first step is to decide which tools you want to use. It depends on the team, and content managers may need a combination of tools to get the best results.
If you need free options to start, popular choices are Google Docs, Excel or Trello. As for paid instruments, it is interesting to look at some of them:
- Airtable
- Asana
- Monday
- BrightPod
Airtable, Asana, and HubSpot offer free content calendar templates to get started, as well as many others.
Whatever tool you use, make sure it meets everyone’s needs. As Buffer’s editorial director Ash Reed told HubSpot:
Your] editorial calendar should be a tool for your entire team, not just the content creators.
2. Creating a content backlog
Next, you need to create a content backlog. It’s just a list of content ideas to make it easier to navigate and keep article ideas in mind.
You can use Google Sheets or Excel, for example, or one of the free templates mentioned. B. Asana.
Whichever tool you choose, it should allow you to create a clear and orderly list. Remember: It is normal to deviate from your list. Not every idea can become a whole article, and sometimes a change in your content strategy is needed to keep up with new trends or find a new angle.
Make your sheet, then add some titles, such as B :
- Title
- designated author
- Project status
- release date
You can also use the following pay types:
- Special dates and birthdays.
- Themes and distribution channels.
- Current topics/new launches relevant to your niche.
- Seasonal content and important sales dates. For example, Black Friday, where you may want to increase your content production.
3. Developing a content strategy
Don’t let your content strategy overwhelm you. There’s a simple way to make sure your content strategy covers all the bases, and if you keep these details in mind, you won’t go wrong.
First outline the steps, e.g. B. the amount of content you want to produce per month, the topics you want to cover, and your ideal clients.
Then add strategic steps, such as. B. management of existing content and monitoring of objectives. This may include:
- Set your goals: For example, to grow your mailing list or attract new customers.
- Understand your customers: What social media does your audience use? What types of content do they prefer or dislike? What are their problems and how can your products/services solve them?
- Analyze your competitors: Using a tool like Ubersuggest, which is available in both free and paid versions, you can find out what keywords your competitors are targeting.
- Positioning: What makes your company unique and how do you distinguish yourself in the market? You can do this in several ways, for example B. by specializing in a target niche or by telling your brand story. Ask yourself how the content you create can achieve this.
- Make an estimate of your budget: How much will your content strategy cost, and how can you maximize the return on your investment?
- Measure your key performance indicators to see if your content is working: For example, if you want to increase your brand awareness, an increasing number of shares and views shows that you are going in the right direction.
4. First month program
Many of us produce content at the last minute or create it when we just have time. If you’re looking for a less stressful (and more effective) approach, plan your content in advance.
One month is usually sufficient, but up to six weeks is possible. You can use Google Calendar to do this.
Add each step to your process and make sure you have enough time. For example, you can set a deadline for writing on the first Monday, then schedule one article per week, two days for editing, set a publication date, and then put it in your calendar for posting on social media.
The process depends on the amount of content you produce and the number of people on your team, but I highly recommend breaking down each piece of content into manageable steps.
5. Transfer of items to production
When you’re in the middle of the content creation process, it can be easy to skip certain parts, especially if you have multiple people working on the project. Creating a Trello account will help you stay on track.
The first step in using a Trello account to create content is to decide what steps to take for each post.
What you need is up to you, but here are some suggestions for your Trello cards:
- order a writer
- incomplete letter
- ready for mounting
- ready to be loaded and programmed
You can also make the task more complicated and add extra steps, for example. B. :
- Last corrections
- SEO audits
- published by
Your Trello cards could then look like this:
6. Construction content queue
If you are just starting to use an editorial calendar, you will need to prepare a few articles for publication.
Choose a schedule that works for you, but for most teams a 4-6 week prospecting schedule is good.
It sounds like a lot of work, but you can tackle this task in two ways. First, you can spend a few weeks writing content until you have a paper you can publish. However, this method is not suitable for everyone unless you have a team of writers who can help you.
The alternative is to spend months creating additional content every day, which most content producers can do.
7. Continuously optimising your process
So far, we’ve talked about how to produce content. However, you cannot install it and then forget about it. Over time, you may find that there are bottlenecks in your process or that certain tools do not meet your needs. Regularly review with your team whether the editorial process you’ve created is working for everyone.
The common areas to be considered are as follows:
- Your schedule and the tools you use
- storable content
- Time between levels
- the indicators you follow
Over time, you’ll have a better understanding of whether the tools you’re using are a good fit for your team and whether the number of articles you’re publishing is helping your business grow.
Frequently asked questions about editorial calendars
Why do I need an editorial calendar?
An organized approach to content creation reduces time and helps you publish better content. An editorial calendar streamlines all stages of the process, from ideation and writing to publication and promotion.
Do I need paid tools to create an editorial calendar?
Not if you don’t want to. Free tools like Trello and Google Docs are good, but there are also paid options like Asana.
What headings should be included in the editorial calendar?
The timeline is not the same for everyone, but most marketers list the title, publication date and author of the article. Once you’ve added the most obvious headings, write headings that meet your specific needs.
What is the difference between an editorial calendar and a content calendar?
These terms are often used interchangeably. However, an editorial calendar usually describes each step of the process, while a content calendar usually covers one aspect – for example, the schedule for publication or social media posts.
Summary of the Editorial Calendar Guide
A content editorial calendar is a must for any content marketer or small business that wants to get the most out of content production. This will help you focus on your goals and produce quality content consistently.
While it may seem like a lot of work, creating a calendar is not complicated and allows you to seamlessly produce ongoing content while responding to seasonal trends.
How do you use the editorial calendar? Tell us what you think below.
- SEO – Unlocks a large amount of SEO traffic. To see real results.
- Content marketing – our team creates epic content that gets shared, attracting links and traffic.
- Paid media – effective paid strategies with a clear return on investment.
Everyone knows that content is critical to a successful website. But what does that mean in a marketing sense? And what does that look like? This article will help you define what content is, and what it looks like, and how to create a calendar to manage your content strategy.. Read more about editorial calendar template 2023 and let us know what you think.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you create a strategic content calendar?
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How do you assemble an editorial calendar for content marketing?
An editorial calendar is a tool that helps you plan your content marketing strategy. It’s a way to organize your content and make sure it’s consistent with the goals of your business. The editorial calendar is a tool that helps you plan your content marketing strategy. It’s a way to organize your content and make sure it’s consistent with the goals of your business. The editorial calendar is a tool that helps you plan your content marketing strategy. It’s a way to organize your content and make sure it’s consistent with the goals of your business. The editorial calendar is a tool that helps you plan your content marketing strategy. It’s a way to organize your content and make sure it’s consistent with the goals of your business. The editorial calendar is a tool that helps you plan your content marketing strategy. It’s a way to organize your content and make sure it’s consistent with the goals of your business. The editorial calendar is a tool that helps you plan your content marketing strategy. It’s a way to organize your content and make sure it’s consistent with the goals of your business. The editorial calendar is a tool that helps you plan your content marketing strategy. It’s a way to organize your content and make sure it’s consistent with the goals of your business. The editorial calendar is a tool that helps you plan your content marketing strategy. It’s a way to organize your content and make sure it’s consistent with the goals of your business.
What makes a good editorial calendar?
A good editorial calendar is one that helps you stay organized and on track. It should include a list of all the topics you want to cover, as well as deadlines for when each topic should be published.
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