Creating an editorial calendar for your blog or social media will help you organize your content publication, keeping it organized, establishing the dates on which you’ll update the platforms, identifying who’s responsible for each post if you’re working as a team, and so on.
Creating an editorial calendar is one of the most important parts of developing a social media content plan , as we saw in another article, where you’ll also need to consider other aspects such as your target audience, the channels you’ll be posting on, and how you’ll monitor the content you publish.
However, in this article, we’re going to focus on creating an Editorial Calendar, not just for your social media channels, but also for a specific channel, blog, corporate website, or media outlet. Take note!
What is an Editorial Calendar and how to create one?
An Editorial Calendar could be defined as a constantly updated document that reflects the content to be published on a specific social network, blog, or website, detailing the publication date, who will be responsible for creating the content and publishing it, as well as any other relevant details.
Creating an Editorial Calendar will be useful for planning your content, especially if you work with others, so you can manage your publication more easily and optimally. It will also help companies interested in your content know what topics you will cover in the future, so they can tailor their content accordingly to send you information or even plan digital marketing campaigns on your profile or platform.
Additionally, creating an Editorial Calendar will allow you to have a comprehensive overview of the content you’re going to publish, rather than leaving everything to chance. You’ll be able to track the progress of the development and publication of topics and improve your workflow with your team.
Steps to create the Editorial Calendar
Follow these steps to create an Editorial Calendar for your blog or social media account:
Identify your objective. Although you may have already done this when considering your Content Plan or Social Media Plan , you should keep this in mind when creating your Editorial Calendar. If you’re creating your Editorial Calendar independently, without creating a Social Media Plan, you’ll need to establish at least the objective you want to achieve. This way, you’ll know what type of content you’re going to create and, for example, when you’re going to publish.
Know your audience. Similarly, you’ll need to identify the people you want to target so you can create content that meets their needs.
Publishing plan and template. Now it’s time to establish the editorial calendar itself. You’ll need to consider your resources—the time you can dedicate to the publication, the collaborators you’ll have, etc.—to avoid creating an overly ambitious publishing plan that won’t be easy to adhere to later.
Always remember that it’s better to publish less, but with better quality, than to fill your profile or blog with superficial content. Establish an appropriate publishing rhythm so that when someone accesses your platform, they don’t find it outdated.
Now, choose a template for your Editorial Calendar. It can be a simple Word document or a shared Google Docs. It’s also very useful to use an Excel or Google Sheets template to share with the rest of the team. You’ll also find numerous websites online that provide Editorial Calendar templates, but the reality is that all you need to create a document that includes the necessary fields and that you can share with other users and easily update.
Editorial Calendar Fields. You’ll be responsible for determining the fields included in your Editorial Calendar, based on your needs. As a guide, they should be as follows:
-Topics and content type: Indicate the title of the content and a brief summary of what it will cover. You’ll need to brainstorm and write down all of your ideas, organizing them according to the categories you’ve established on your blog or the thematic units you want to cover on your social media profile. You’ll also need to identify the different types of content—whether they will be posts, Stories, or, in a blog, news, reports, interviews, etc.
Keep in mind important dates in your industry, or special holidays—such as Christmas or Valentine’s Day—to schedule relevant content related to those dates. You’ll also need to leave some space for the inclusion of breaking news or relevant topics when they arise in the future. The Editorial Calendar will never be a 100% fixed, unchangeable document.
-Keywords: If you want to target specific keywords or concepts in your content, reflect them so that the objectives you will address with your publication are clearly stated.
-Request date and delivery date: If you have collaborators, establishing when you requested content creation and when it’s due will help you plan your posts and optimize your workflow.
-Responsible: You can indicate who is responsible for creating that content or, for example, who will be responsible for taking the photograph or infographic that will be included, creating a video, or editing the text, etc.
-Publication date: When the content will be published, specifying the day and time. As for frequency, you can establish a monthly, quarterly, or annual editorial calendar, depending on your needs, although working three months in advance is generally the most advisable approach in most cases.
Share the Editorial Calendar. Once created, it’s essential that the calendar is accessible to all contributors so they are aware of the publication schedule and can also edit it and add comments.
