The Ultimate Guide To Writing A Consistent Blog With

A Content Marketing Editorial Calendar

Blogs have a tendency to not last very long. The best way to keep your blog from

an untimely end is to use an editorial calendar to make regular publishing–the

lifeblood of any blog–a reality.

What Is Content Marketing?

What Is A Content Marketing Editorial Calendar?

Why You Need A Content Marketing Editorial Calendar

1) Content Marketing Requires Strategy

2) Traffic Growth Is Usually Intentional

3) It Will Make You More Consistent

4) Our Team Will Thank Us

5) Our Audience Will Love It

Why You Really Can’t Live Without A Content Marketing Editorial Calendar

Content Marketing As SEO

You Need To Pivot

What You Need To Start A Content Marketing Editorial Calendar

No More Spreadsheets: The Digital Content Marketing Editorial Calendar

The Step By Step Guide To Managing A Content Marketing Editorial Calendar

1) Know How It Will Improve Your Marketing

2) Understand Who You Are Talking To

3) Who Will Participate? Take An Inventory Of Your Team

4) What Will Your Content Look Like?

5) How Often Will You Post?

6) How Will You Plan?

Managing Your Content Marketing Editorial Calendar

A content marketing editorial calendar sounds like a great idea, but is it really worth the hype? Many

blogs that struggle with consistency have found an editorial calendar to be the perfect solution. Even

blogs that don’t have that problem have been using an editorial calendar for years. So, what about you?

Could you benefit from adding an editorial calendar to your content marketing plan?

Most of us know that the answer to that question is yes.

We know that the number one way to get traffic to our blog is through the very habits that an editorial

calendar will help us develop. Many of us still struggle with knowing exactly how to get there, and this is

exactly why I have written this guide. This the step-by-step formula that we use here at CoSchedule to

plan and share great content. Even better? This guide is free!

All we ask in return is that you share it with your friends.

What Is Content Marketing?

Before we get too far, we need to make sure that we are on the same page with some of the basics.

It is absolutely essential that both you and your team fully understand what content marketing really is.

Many times, we hear the buzz words like ‘content marketing’ and ‘editorial calendar’ without fully

understanding their implications.

According to wikipedia, content marketing is:

“Any marketing format that involves the creation and sharing of media and publishing content in

order to acquire customers. This information can be presented in a variety of formats, including news,

video, white papers, e-books, infographics, case studies, how-to guides, question and answer articles,

photos, etc.”

So, basically it’s marketing that doesn’t suck. In fact, it is marketing that is helpful to its audience. Let me

share a simple example.

Weber Nation

Weber grills knows how to do content marketing. A few years ago they launched a new site called

‘Weber Nation’ that was 100% committed to helping its audience. They provided tips on grilling the best

steaks, caring for your grill, and how to use a great grill to entertain your guests.

While the advice worked great for customers of

actual Weber grills, it wasn’t required. After a recent

re-launch and a new iPad App, Weber is now

doubling-down on its content marketing efforts.

What does that tell you?

Content marketing pays off.

Does that mean that everyone who has visited their

site has purchased a Weber grill? Probably not, but

it’s likely that Weber has gained millions of new fans

that could all be potential customers. And that is the

high goal with content marketing. It’s not about a quick sale, it’s about building an audience that trusts

you over the long-term rather than someone that you convince for a quick sale.

What Is A Content Marketing Editorial Calendar? Most of us are familiar with the idea of a traditional editorial calendar that helps us visualize our content

publishing on a calendar-like interface, but how does that differ from a content marketing editorial

calendar?

Content marketing is highly strategic.

You need to understand your audience, what motivates them, and what they need to hear from you in

order to make a connection to your brand. The content marketing editorial calendar is essentially a

planning document that gives you and your team a plan of attack for doing what Weber grills does so

well. Like a traditional editorial calendar, it should give you a bird’s-eye-view of what is going on, but in

addition it should:

● Provide a place to generate post ideas and key topics.

● Assign writing and other editorial tasks to key members of your team.

● Create a publishing schedule that helps you maintain a consistent presence.

● Allow you to make in-process adjustments with drag-and-drop ease.

● Visualize your marketing strategy in a way that everyone can understand.

● Act as a communication point to team members.

A content marketing editorial calendar gives you and your team a framework for being deliberate and

intentional about how you are reaching and building trust with your audience. In part, it is a strategic

marketing tool. In another way, it is a place to keep your team organized and on top of things. Both of

these things are going to be very important as you move ahead.

Why You Need A Content Marketing Editorial Calendar

In some ways, the content marketing editorial calendar is a simple tool for making our content marketing

focus count. It’s what we use to make sure we are making the most of our efforts, and many times it is a

game changer for us and our audience. Here’s why:

1) Content Marketing Requires Strategy

Content marketing itself is a strategic venture. It’s all about understanding what our customers want and

giving it to them in a digestible way. This is a strategic goal, and it requires a strategic tool. The editorial

calendar is a place where we can see a panoramic view of our content marketing strategy.

2) Traffic Growth Is Usually Intentional

We usually accomplish what we focus on. If you are focusing on building traffic or blog growth, then

making a concerted effort to plan your content will only make reaching these goals easier. Website visits

will increase when you make consistency and quality your top priority. The content marketing editorial

calendar puts these goals front and center.

3) It Will Make You More Consistent

There is something powerful that happens when we write down our plan. It becomes tangible for our

team, and everyone will be more likely to stick with it as they go along. The editorial calendar will give

our team the accountability it needs for building the discipline of creating content day after day.

4) Our Team Will Thank Us

There is a good chance that our team could all benefit from better communication. Many teams use such

a wide variety of tools that they often have a hard time staying on the same page. A good editorial

calendar will bring them to a single place to visualize and execute their shared goals.

5) Our Audience Will Love It

One of the easiest ways to please your audience is to give them something that they’ll love. Better

content that is more focused on what they need is always welcome, and they will appreciate our your

efforts.

Why You Really Can’t Live Without A Content Marketing Editorial Calendar

If you use WordPress as your starting point, it is easy to estimate that there are at least 2.73 million blog

posts published each day. How on earth are you suppose to compete with all of that noise? It isn’t

enough to simply publish content. You need more than that.

Content Marketing As SEO

Content marketing is the new SEO.

Sure, many of the techniques that we used to catch the attention of search engines still work, but those

search engines are getting much smarter. Search engines like Google and Bing are heavily favoring

unique high quality content over the typical SEO tricks. A focus on content marketing is more important

now than ever.

You Need To Pivot

Let’s face it: what you’re doing now isn’t working.

Sure, you are getting content out there–sometimes–but there is room for improvement. By

implementing a calendar, you pivot your content into something far more intentional, and prevent your

efforts from going to waste. While it certainly isn’t a silver bullet, it is most definitely a way to turn your

content into a tool for growth. 

What You Need To Start A Content Marketing Editorial Calendar There is no shortage of free editorial calendar templates available for creating your editorial calendar.

Some are digital, and some are even written out on paper, but none are more prepared for the modern

age like the fully digital solutions. Here are a couple examples, but feel free to explore other options.

Free Content Marketing Editorial Calendar Templates

These free templates are designed to break your

content down into three tools:

1. An annual overview to rough-out your content plan

for the entire year.

2. An idea zone to plan out individual posts and

content ideas.

3. A one-month calendar to plan out specific posts for

each day of the month.

Download Our Free Content Marketing Editorial

Calendar Templates!

You can download these free templates and an easy step-by-step guide on how to implement them into

your daily workflow from our website. Just follow the link above.

The best part about using a paper editorial calendar is that it can help you start the habit of using one to

plan your content marketing. Eventually you will need bigger and better tools, but this is a great way to

ease-in without a major financial investment.

No More Spreadsheets: The Digital Content Marketing Editorial Calendar

A tool like CoSchedule provides a fully digital content marketing editorial calendar that allows you to

connect your calendar directly to you WordPress blog, and to your social media networks. This powerful

tool combines social media and content marketing scheduling with a robust productivity tool that will

allow you to share tasks with your team and leave comments or critiques on their work. You can also

schedule your blog posts with drag-and-drop ease.

No matter which option you consider, the real magic is in how you put it to work. Let’s dive into some of

the actual nuts and bolts of using a content marketing editorial calendar.

The Step By Step Guide To Managing A Content Marketing Editorial Calendar There are a few key steps in managing your content marketing editorial calendar.

1) Know How It Will Improve Your Marketing

If you’re going to try and implement an editorial calendar with your team, you will need to be able to

make the case as to how it will help you grow your traffic, and improve your business.

This will take you right back to some of the things we discussed earlier in the guide about the business

value of content marketing as a whole. Just remember Weber grills. It may even be useful to have your

entire team review what they are doing as a group.

2) Understand Who You Are Talking To

It’s a cliche to say that you need to understand who your audience is, but it couldn’t be more true.

Not only do you need to make sure that you understand your audience, but your entire team will need to

know who they are as well. A good place to get started would be with some basic customer profiles.

3) Who Will Participate? Take An Inventory Of Your Team

Who’s on your team, and how will each of them be contributing to the end product?

This may sound simple, but it is an important question. If there is only one of you on your team, this step

may be better spent writing down some of the tasks that will need to be completed and the order in

which you will do them.

4) What Will Your Content Look Like?

Not all content is equal, so you should decide what yours will look like.

The basic starting point is usually a WordPress blog, but it can vary. With a blog, however, you will give

yourself the most flexibility to experiment with long-form writing, short-form writing, video, audio and

even images. You may already have a knack for a certain type of content and if that is the case, let it be

your guide. You should also identify the overall topics and themes that you want your blog to cover.

5) How Often Will You Post?

Determining how often you will post new content to your blog will also determine how far ahead you

plan your content. This is a very subjective question, but a good rule of thumb is “the more the merrier.”

Start with a minimum of two days a week and work your way up from there.

6) How Will You Plan?

Most teams that use content marketing editorial calendars like to have regularly scheduled meetings to

plan out their content. You can use this free guide on running the perfect content planning meeting for a

suitable format. 

Managing Your Content Marketing Editorial Calendar

So, you’ve decided to take the plug and start using an editorial calendar for your content marketing.

You’ve made the right call. Not only will you find yourself producing better content, but you will also

become more consistent with your publishing. In turn, all of this should lead to a steady increase in traffic

headed to your site.

As you go, there are seven things that you are going to need to keep an eye on at all times.

1. What’s Happening This Week? What’s Happening Next Week?

If you are doing it right, you should have an answer to these questions at all times. How does your

calendar make this easier?

2. Does Your Team Know What To Do?

Tools like CoSchedule allow you to assign tasks to each member on your team, making communication a

cinch. Everyone should know what they are suppose to do, and when they are supposed to do it.

3. Is There Healthy Communication?

Discussion about a new piece of content and how to make it better should be a normal part of the

process. You should have something in place that allows you to have discussions, and share thoughts with

your team.

4. What About The Assets?

Images and graphics can be important elements for great content marketing. Who will be responsible for

them, and how will they be assigned? Again, CoSchedule makes this pretty easy with simple tasks that

can be assigned to each team member.

5. Implementing Editorial Review

At our office, we use a peer review process to improve the quality of our work. Gathering feedback

from our peers is a low-cost way to constantly improve the content that we create. Your calendar and

editorial plan should accommodate for a step like this.

6. Reschedule As Needed

One tip for users of a paper editorial calendar is to use sticky colored note papers rather that just writing

on the paper calendar itself. This gives you the same drag-and-drop flexibility that you will find in a tool

like CoSchedule.

7. Keep Your Social Media In Check Too

While it is often missed, promoting your content on social channels is also very important. It is really the

best way to spread your content online. CoSchedule makes this easy, allowing you to schedule your blog

posts and your social media messages on the same calendar interface.

No matter what tool you choose, you need to select something that will set you up for success. I often

find that those who take the time to plan, edit, and execute their editorial calendar are far more likely to

succeed, and build the traffic that they need for the long run.

Content marketing editorial calendars aren’t necessarily new, but you might be surprised at how many

people choose to not use them. This is their loss, and your advantage. The content marketers that

dedicate themselves to great planning and creating content will always come out ahead.