How To make an Editorial Calendar and remain Organized

The editorial procedure revolves around deadlines. Every piece of content needs a publication date, from blog posts to email campaigns. To visualize these deadlines, you can turn to an editorial calendar. Whether you’re just starting your editorial operation or running at packed capacity, an editorial calendar can advantage your content creation and publishing procedure. discover how to make your own.

What is an editorial calendar?

An editorial calendar, or content calendar, is a visualization of your content schedule across your owned media channels, such as blog posts, emails, and social media posts. The most detailed calendars capture your content workflow from ideation to publication, making your editorial calendar the source of truth for your content throng.

Editorial calendars range from calendars that chart out content dates to assignment management systems with multiple views that incorporate every step of the editorial procedure from writing to delivering visual assets. The more frequently you post—especially across different channels—the more you must track.

Elements of an editorial calendar

These are some ordinary items included in editorial calendars:

• Content types. The calendar will specific what type of content you’re creating, such as articles, social media posts, emails, and videos.

• Content categories. Content types often include categories based on your content schedule. For example, you might shatter down your blog articles into guides and listicles, while your social media post types fall into categories like occurrence promotion, external links, or product posts.

• Topics and subtopics. Listing topics and subtopics in your editorial calendar can assist paint a broad picture of what themes your content is covering at any given period.

• Keywords. SEO keywords are terms you target to rank in search engine results. If SEO is part of your schedule, you can include keywords and additional context in your editorial calendar.

• Content marketing channels. Channels are where you distribute your content, such as your email list, social media platforms, and your blog. An editorial calendar will shatter down how you schedule to distribute your content across channels.

• Key dates. Editorial calendars include publicationdates for all content across owned media channels. They may also include draft due dates, art due dates, and review periods.

• Contributors. Your calendar can include the name of the author creating content. You can also use it to track everyone who moves a piece of content from one stage to the next.

• Content statuses. As a piece of content moves through the editorial procedure, statuses keep everyone involved on the same page. Statuses can include “Assigned to writer,” “truth checking,” “Awaiting art,” “Ready to publish,” “Scheduled,” “Published,” and so on.

3 types of editorial calendars

Editorial calendars vary from a single spreadsheet to a customized assignment management tool. Here are four of the most ordinary types:

1. Spreadsheet

A spreadsheet-style editorial calendar is an accessible alternative; it’s straightforward to use and affordable—and you can even use a free tool like Google Sheets. make drop-down menus in columns for statuses and content categories, add fill-in sections for contributor names, and use calendar formulas to track dates. The downside is, it’s all manual, and it doesn’t provide a factual calendar view, so you may require additional tabs if viewing your content by week or month is significant for your procedure.

2. Calendar

You can use a tool like Google Calendar to visualize your publishing schedule by week, month, or year. However, a calendar’s focus is on dates and not statuses or steps in the procedure, meaning it’s not as detailed as other methods. You can still view the topic and date, and you can write additional details in the note section. You can also color-code each entry to display content types or distribution channels.

3. assignment management tool

assignment management tools like Airtable and Asana propose multiple views, such as calendar views and spreadsheet views with position, category, and contributor details. They often let you expand any element for a detailed overview of the content piece.

A assignment management tool is an efficient type of editorial calendar because it updates in real period as any throng member makes changes. You can also tie significant actions to trigger other actions. For example, if a writer files a draft, the tool can notify the editor that the draft is ready for editing.

Benefits of using an editorial calendar

Here are three benefits of using an editorial calendar for your business’s content marketing efforts:

schedule strategically

A content schedule is your roadmap for how content can assist you achieve your business goals. An editorial calendar breaks down that schedule into actionable steps. By planning ahead, you don’t have to make content last minute and your throng knows what they should aim to make at any given instant.

Work efficiently

A tight, transparent procedure captured in an editorial calendar can assist everyone on your throng work more efficiently. When statuses and responsibilities are straightforward to view, it creates greater accountability for everyone. It also makes communication easier and faster because everyone can access the details for each piece of content. The most advanced editorial calendars also empower people to manage their own responsibilities and even communicate and tag throng members within the tool.

Publish consistently

Without a calendar, it’s challenging to stick to a consistent posting schedule for your social media, blog, or newsletter. When you tie your content to deadlines, you’re more likely to post regularly.

How to make an editorial calendar

1. Consider your content schedule
2. Determine your steps
3. Choose your editorial calendar type
4. Pick your channels
5. Assign roles
6. Update regularly
7. Track engagement

Here are seven steps to pursue when creating and using editorial calendars:

1. Consider your content schedule

A content schedule lays out how you’ll use content to reach your goals. Before you organize your editorial calendar, refer to your content schedule to navigator everything from the topics you’ll cover to posting frequency to promotional channels.

2. Determine your steps

Generate an outline of your step-by-step procedure for creating each of your content types and turn each into a position. Anything that defines a piece of your content deserves a spot on the calendar. For example, while the publish date is significant, so are due dates for first drafts. Your procedure for a blog post may look like this:

I. Assign to writer

II. Edit first draft

III. truth check

IV. Add visuals

V. Final approval

VI. Upload to CMS

VII. Publish

3. Choose your editorial calendar type

Decide what type of editorial calendar works best for your business. For example, if you have many details to track, you might use a assignment management tool. If you schedule to publish sporadically, a spreadsheet may be plenty for the job.

4. Pick your channels

Three of the main marketing channels for your business are likely your website, email, and social media. Account for every place you aspiration to distribute your content so that you’re tailoring content for each. For example, if you use X and Instagram, you might post about the same topic, but your way to that topic might differ according to the platform.

5. Assign roles

Assigning roles ensures everyone knows their responsibilities. You can include a variety of roles, such as writer, editor, reviewer, approver, and artist.

6. Update regularly

An editorial calendar is only useful if it’s up to date. For example, if you schedule a social media post but overlook to transformation the position on your calendar, someone else on your throng might try to schedule the same piece.

Update your calendar every period there’s a transformation so it can remain the source of truth for your throng.

7. Track engagement

After you publish a piece of content, you might not provide it any further thought, but this is the most significant step: analysis. How readers engage with your written content or how followers react to your social media content is invaluable data that can shape your upcoming schedule. Adding act information from tools like Google Analytics to your calendar can assist you assess where you can enhance.