In order to deliver good content that communicates your brand’s message effectively, planning ahead is necessary. I provide my clients with an example editorial calendar (link below). My strategy clients get a customized spreadsheet for their needs but I like to make the template available for anyone that would like to use it. I wrote the blog 15 Easy Blog Topics which gives you a solid set of ideas for blogs and other content for use on a variety of social media channels. I used those ideas to build the sample editorial calendar.
I can help you build your calendar!
Why Keep a Calendar?
The beauty of using a calendar is that you can plan a year ahead in a very short amount of time. It can be done within one meeting or brainstorming session or it’s something you can work on in bursts over the year. Once you plan a structure for the upcoming 12 months, it allows your marketing brain to relax a little because it knows you won’t be drawing a blank when it’s time to write. You can bank the content ahead of time by creating in batches.
Batch writing is great for tackling a subject that is too large for just one post. You can write parts 1, 2, and 3 in a single sitting then schedule them to publish at preset times. Writing ahead of time will allow you to look for the topical items in the news that you should be addressing, the things you could never have anticipated but fit nicely with your message.
Recreate this from the image below or click on the link to download a spreadsheet that has instructions, a simple version, and an advanced editorial calendar. Think about your subjects and ideas as you adapt it to your needs.
Download the spreadsheet: Editorial-Calendar
This is a great post, I think you should turn it into a 2 or 3 part series.
Thanks, Joshua. I’ll arc it out.