As you make your way across the inbound marketing landscape, you’ve likely come across the phrase “editorial calendar” a few times -- and may be wondering what the heck this is, and if it means that you need to start wearing one of those old fashioned editor's outfits (you know, those wacky green eyeshade hats, pinstripe shirts with rolled up sleeves, pencil behind your ear, etc.).
The good news is that you don’t need to scour eBay for new garb. And the even better news is that, below, we clearly explain the ins and outs of creating a content calendar.
What is an Editorial Calendar?
Simply put, an editorial calendar is a high level integrated map that captures 5 key aspects related to content and strategy:
- The topics that you want to cover with your content.
The topics you choose should be those that are in your area of expertise, but that are also relevant and important to your customers.
For example, if your company offers office moving services, you may want to provide information on how to avoid common relocation mistakes, checklists for preparing employees, and so on.
- Who you want to reach with your content.
It’s not enough to want to “reach customers” with your content – because not all of your customers are created equal! Chances are, you have at least 2-3 (but possibly more) buyer personas. You want to ensure that you’re creating content for all of them, since you want to cast as wide a net as possible.
With this being said, it’s not necessary to target all buyer personas concurrently. For example, if you provide VoIP phone services and are targeting call center managers, small business owners, and school board officials, you don’t have to push content out to all of them at the same time. You can target each of them in different campaigns (and often this is the approach we recommend for our customers since it can be more efficient and can help keep things more organized).
- The methods that you’ll use to share your content.
Typically, this mix of methods includes blogs, articles, press releases, ebooks, infographics, reports, whitepapers, checklists, videos, and other digital assets.
Furthermore, it’s typical for multiple methods to be used as part of the same campaign (e.g. a single campaign can involve 36 blog posts, 1 ebook, 1 infographic and 1 checklist).
- The channels that you’ll use to distribute your content.
In most cases, the answer to this will be your website, since it’s your flagship online property. However, in some cases it makes sense to push content through social media channels, online communities, and so on.
It’s also common for certain types of content to be pushed through multiple channels at the same time. For example, you may want to publish a press release on your website, as well through a distribution network so that it gets wider coverage.
- Who is in charge of what piece of the puzzle.
As you can see, creating a content calendar involves multiple puzzle pieces – and it’s far too much work for a single person to do. Typically, a campaign will involve a project manager, writer, graphic designer, and administrator. There may also be other people involved to provide strategic and/or research support as necessary.
Putting Your Editorial Calendar Together
Once all of the details are laid out, the actual editorial calendar takes shape and becomes a functional tool when one more factor is added: time.
That is, the content must be mapped against a timeline that identifies what, when, and how it is going to be distributed for the duration of the editorial calendar (e.g. a quarter, half a year, year, etc.).
A Final Note
Answering the question “what is an editorial calendar?” wouldn’t be complete without a final important note: while editorial calendars should be robust and reliable, that doesn’t mean they should be carved in stone. Opportunities and advantages emerge along the way – as do risks and threats. It’s vital to monitor an editorial calendar and make strategic adjustments. Otherwise, instead of an editorial calendar working for your business, your business will be working for your editorial calendar!
Learn More
At Leap Clixx, we build customized editorial calendars for each of our customers based on their needs, goals, marketplace dynamics and competitive landscape. And of course, we track and monitor progress, and make adjustments to maximize results and achieve their shortest path to ROI.
To learn more about our approach and how we can help your business succeed and grow, contact us today and schedule your free consultation.
If you're interested in reading more about how a content calendar plays into your inbound marketing strategy, download our FREE eBook "A Guide to Inbound Marketing Best Practices" today:
Topics: Inbound Marketing
