You may have heard the term “editorial calendar” and had a variety of responses:
“That seems like a really good idea, but I don’t know where to start.”
“My business is too small to need one of those.”
“We have an editorial calendar in place and it works…ok.”
Regardless of the size of your business, marketing budget, or marketing team, we could all use an editorial calendar for our social media, blog, and email marketing content creation. Not only are editorial calendars great for keeping everyone on task and show clearly where responsibilities lie, but they will help you manage the bigger picture and your larger marketing goals.
1. Plan at least 2-4 weeks in advance
It’s easy to go onto your social media accounts or your blog a few times a week and slap something up there. But think of how much less time consuming your job would be if you planned ahead? By taking a few hours and planning out several weeks in advance, you already know what you’ll be posting for those rainy days when there’s not much to say.
What if something time sensitive comes along? No problem. Simply move your regular content back to allow room for it.
2. Get organized
Create a system that makes sense to your entire team. For example:
- Where do images for future posts go?
- How do you mark which posts have been published and which have not? (e.g. strikethrough, highlight, etc.)
- What link shortening app will you use?
3. Be as specific as possible
The goal here is to literally be able to copy and paste your post (at least for social media) when it comes time to publish. For blogging and email marketing, you’ll at least want to have the title of your post and some main ideas jotted down. Ideally, you want to save yourself as much time in the future as possible by spending a little more time now.
You should also be specific about where the content is going (what mediums) and who is responsible for that content.
There are a number of free editorial calendar templates available online, but here is the template we use.
What are your best tips for creating a successful editorial calendar?
