How to Set-up an Editorial Calendar for Your Content Marketing System
This article is part of a series on The 8 Steps of an Effective Content Marketing System for Your Business. A FREE e-book is also available to download.
An editorial calendar is the key to organizing your content marketing system. It ties all of your content goals to a detailed plan-of-action. Ideally, you’ll want to set-up an editorial calendar six months to a year out. If it makes sense for your company and goals, organizing the content around a theme, topic, or event will simplify the content creation process. A spreadsheet or Google Calendar are both good tools to use to create the editorial calendars.
If using a spreadsheet, you’ll want to create a tab for each month.
Within each tab, include the following details:
- The month’s theme / topic
- The question(s) being answered for this topic
- The buying process stage this topic falls in
For each piece of content, include:
- Content Headline
Make sure the headline is keyword focused and engaging. - Content Type
The format (e.g., blog post, video, e-book, email, etc.) - Buyer Persona
Who will this content target? - Due Date
When does it need to be completed by? - Creator
Who will create this content? - Editor
Who will edit the content? - Distribution
How will the content be distributed? (e.g., website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.)? - Accompaniments
What other pieces of content will be associated with this content? For example, you might be writing a blog post on the benefits of using an editorial calendar. An associated piece of content might be a step-by-step video on how to create an editorial calendar in Excel. - Keywords
Focus on incorporating keywords that are in high demand and, ideally, have a low to medium popularity ranking. You can find this info by using Google’s free
Keyword Analytics tool (http://adwords.google.com/o/KeywordTool). - Publish Date
When will this content be published / go live? - Status
What is the current status of this content? (i.e. in production, under review, awaiting feedback, etc.) - Call to Action
What is the call to action for this piece of content? What do you want the reader / viewer to do next? - Notes
Provide any relevant notes. - Metrics
What are the key metrics for this content? What will determine the success of this piece of content?