What a great content calendar looks like (and how to build one)
How to build a content calendar that actually saves you time and streamlines your digital marketing efforts.
Key takeaways:
A content calendar is a planning tool that offers a comprehensive overview of your communication pipeline across different channels and content formats
It saves time, reduces errors, fosters collaboration, maintains publication rhythm, and increases creativity
The right content calendar should provide a single unified view across every platform and allow for extensive customization according to the needs of each project and team
Content:
1. What is a content calendar?
2. Why content calendars matter
4. What a great content calendar looks like
5. What to look for in a content calendar tool
5. How to setup (and maintain) a content calendar?
6. Articulate’s Content Calendar App
An effective content calendar helps maintain a steady flow of content that attracts and engages. Still, many brands struggle to use their content plan as a single source of truth encompassing the brand’s different channels. Managing the different stages of producing, validating and publishing very different content types, such as social media posts, blog articles, video or email marketing is a challenge, even with the wide array of tools available today.
Based on our experience helping brands create and deploy their content calendar, we have summarized a practical guide with the key elements it should contain. We also selected the steps in building and maintaining a content plan so it can be effective – and not just another bureaucracy.
What is a content calendar?
A content calendar, also known as editorial calendar, is a planning tool that offers a comprehensive overview of your communication pipeline. It functions as a roadmap, allowing your team to see who is working on what, be it blog articles, social media posts, videos, or other formats. This calendar is not just a schedule but a detailed plan that includes critical dates for creation, validation, and publication.
Additionally, it encompasses briefings, guidelines, and other pertinent information necessary for production. Essentially, it serves as the single source of truth where content writers, designers, brand managers, and other stakeholders can find what they need to execute their tasks efficiently.
Content calendars are incredibly versatile, capable of managing a wide array of content types, formats, and platforms - or they should be. For instance, some brands use content calendars to plan large number of blog posts, as well as complex production of new videos, or even large-scale marketing campaigns.
Why content calendars matter
A content calendar allows you to plan your publications, ensuring that each piece of content is aligned with your marketing objectives and the needs of your audience. With good planning, you can maintain consistency and coherence in all your communications. These are some of the main benefits of using this tool.
Alignment: A content calendar aligns your efforts towards a common goal. This alignment is crucial for maintaining a coherent brand voice and messaging across all channels.
Consistency: By planning content in advance, brands can maintain a steady stream of high-quality content. This consistency is key to keeping the audience engaged and building trust.
Efficiency: Using the correct organizational tools can improve time management by 38%. With clear timelines and responsibilities, a content calendar streamlines the production process, reducing last-minute rushes and bottlenecks. It allows teams to allocate resources effectively and meet deadlines without compromising on quality.
Visibility: Having a centralized calendar increases transparency within the team. Everyone knows what is expected and when, fostering a sense of accountability and ownership.
What a great content calendar looks like
For a content calendar to be truly effective, it needs to incorporate content-specific data as well as background information. Each of these components plays a vital role in ensuring the content plan is comprehensive, organized, and efficient.
Content-Specific Data
Color coded: our visual content planner
Content-specific data are inputs for each piece of content to be created. This includes details such as task name, content type, creation and publication dates, and owners. Having precise and detailed information for each content item helps streamline production and ensures clarity and accountability within the team. Here are the key elements to consider:
Content Types and Formats: categorize various content types, such as blog posts, social media updates, videos, email newsletters, and infographics.
Timeline: mark the dates for content creation, validation and publication to aid in planning and coordination.
Status Tracking: track the progress of each content piece, from initial draft to final publication. Standardized status - such as “In progress” or “SEO Validation” contribute to a wider understating.
Roles and Responsibilities: state who is responsible for each task, ensuring accountability and a smooth workflow.
Content Briefing: outline the structure, goals, audience, channels, key messages, and language for each content piece.
SEO Guidelines: Highlight primary and secondary keywords, link-building efforts, and heading structures to ensure content follows SEO strategies.
Reviews: have a designated area for reviews, scores and lessons learned to ensure content quality is analyzed and promotes continuous improvement.
Files: keep all relevant files and assets in a centralized location for easy access.
Version History: keeping a version history of each content piece lets you know the effort involved and highlights key changes.
Content Hierarchy: the calendar should allow users to see how each piece of content fits into larger campaigns or topics.
Products or Services: identify which products or services are featured in each content piece.
Regular updates and periodic reviews ensure that the content calendar remains accurate and effective, facilitating a well-coordinated and productive content marketing strategy.
Background Information
Competitor inspiration and keyword explorer - Articulate Content Calendar App
Background information apply to the entire project or brand. This includes performance indicators (KPIs), editorial guidelines, overall content strategy, competitor insights, strategic keywords, and team workload management. Incorporating this information ensures that all content aligns with the broader objectives and standards of the brand.
Performance Indicators (KPIs): Embed key performance indicators like engagement rates, website traffic, and conversion rates within the content plan. When teams can view results alongside the content plan, they are more likely to make necessary adjustments based on performance data.
Editorial Guidelines: Ensure that editorial guidelines are accessible through the same tool. This integration makes it easier to incorporate these guidelines into everyday content production, preventing them from being overlooked or outdated.
Content Strategy: Include a section for your overall content strategy. This provides context and direction for all content creation efforts, ensuring alignment with broader business goals.
Competitor Inspiration: Integrate competitor analysis and keyword exploration. This helps teams stay informed about industry trends and opportunities, and ensures content remains competitive and relevant.
Strategic Keywords: Highlight strategic keywords that matter most to your brand, and your position in search engines. This helps identify which content pieces to update or create to reinforce your SEO strategy.
Key dates and events: Incorporate important dates and events relevant to your industry and brand. This ensures your content is timely and can capitalize on key moments.
Templates: Ready-made templates for specific content types, like “how-to” guides, interviews, or lists, should be available to ensure consistency and reduce errors.
Standard task durations: set estimated durations for each task to help estimate effort and manage workloads.
Team Workload: Include a view of the team's workload to ensure balanced distribution of tasks. This helps in managing resources effectively.
What to look for in a content calendar tool
Technical features are the capabilities that the content calendar tool must possess to streamline work processes and save time. These include functionalities such as collaboration tools, version history, change tracking, publication features, and automatic reminders. These features enhance the efficiency and usability of the content calendar, making it easier for teams to manage and execute their content plans effectively.
User Roles and Permissions: You should be able to define access levels for different team members to protect sensitive information.
View Settings: Multiple view settings, such as Kanban boards, tables, calendars, or photo galleries, should be available to suit different team preferences.
Embedded AI: Integration with AI tools can assist with content suggestions, optimizations, and building content from scratch.
Track Changes: Keeping an (automatic) record of changes made to each content piece, provides a clear history of edits.
Automatic Reminders: The calendar should send email notifications and alerts for due dates and task updates to keep the team informed.
Publication Features: Advanced tools should allow users to publish content directly to social media platforms or blogs from a single location.
Comments and Collaboration: Content calendars should allow users to comment and collaborate throughout the content creation process.
How to setup (and maintain) your Content Calendar
Creating an effective content calendar from scratch can be a daunting task, but with a structured approach, it becomes manageable and highly beneficial for your team. Here are the key steps to setting up and maintaining a comprehensive content calendar:
Gather background Information. If you don’t have it already, start by establishing clear content goals, identifying key performance indicators (KPIs), developing editorial guidelines, and creating a comprehensive content strategy. Research competitor insights, identify strategic keywords, and note key dates and events relevant to your industry and brand. This background information - on strategy, tone of voice, and business goals - is the foundation of every content plan.
Analyze content-specific requirements. What content types, such as blog posts, email marketing, social media updates, and videos, does your brand produce? Identify the content-specific data required for each type, including briefings, dates, roles, and SEO guidelines.
Brainstorm and generate content ideas Conduct brainstorming sessions with your team to generate fresh content ideas. Consider industry trends, audience needs, and upcoming events to inspire your content planning.
Draft a mockup Create an initial draft of the content calendar using simple tools. Include only key elements such as content types, publication dates, assigned roles. Use this draft to visualize the structure and flow of your content plan.
Identify stakeholders. Determine who will use the content calendar, such as copywriters, designers, and managers. Identify who will be informed about the plan, such as executives and other departments, and assign responsibilities for managing and maintaining the content calendar.
Choose a content calendar tool. Assess the capabilities of your current content calendar tools and ensure they offer necessary features like templates, status tracking, collaboration tools, file management, change tracking, publication features, automatic reminders, and user roles/permissions. Decide whether to continue using the initial draft tool or move to a more advanced platform.
Share the plan. Distribute the content calendar to all relevant team members to ensure alignment and awareness. Provide training or guidance on how to use it effectively.
Hold regular Content Plan meetings: Schedule regular (daily or weekly) meetings specifically for content plan reviews. During these meetings, teams should focus on the operational aspects of content creation, including progress tracking, status updates, and addressing any roadblocks.
Separate content plan meetings from strategic discussions. Strategic content meetings should be held less frequently (e.g., monthly or quarterly) and focus on broader goals, audience insights, competitive analysis, and long-term planning. This separation ensures that daily operational tasks do not overshadow strategic thinking.
Review and Update. Hold regular (daily or weekly) content plan meetings to track progress, analyze KPIs, and make data-driven adjustments, ensuring continuous improvement and relevance of the content calendar.
Articulate Content Calendar App, the only platform built for content marketing
At Articulate, we have helped hundreds of brands create and maintain their content plans. Through our experience, we have tried and tested countless content planning tools – from Google Sheets to blank canvas tools like Asana or Trello, and more specific content marketing tools like HubSpot or Teamwork. Yet, none of these tools were built specifically with the needs of content marketers in mind. So, we built our own.
Our custom content planning tool offers a comprehensive solution tailored to the unique needs of content marketing teams. Here’s what our tool provides:
Comprehensive Content Plan Structure: Manage every platform in a single place with features like dates, formats, channels, version history, track changes, reviews, and more.
Centralized Background Information: Input your brand’s background information, such as content strategy and guidelines, to guide your team seamlessly.
Collaboration and User Roles: Collaborate with team members and set specific user roles to ensure clarity and efficiency in your content creation process.
Competitor Tracking: Choose competitors to track their blog posts and keywords, helping you generate new ideas for your content calendar.
Strategic Keyword Tracking: Set up strategic keywords, track your ranking on search engines, and analyze who ranks higher and why to refine your content strategy.
Ready-to-Use Templates: Leverage our extensive range of templates to simplify and expedite the content creation process.
Embedded AI: Utilize our embedded AI to create high-quality content with ease, tailored to your brand’s unique background information.
Notifications and Reminders: Receive notifications on any changes and email reminders of upcoming tasks, ensuring you never miss a deadline.
All these features are available for free, providing you with a robust and user-friendly tool to streamline your content marketing efforts.
With Articulate's custom content planning tool, managing your content calendar has never been easier or more efficient. Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, our tool is designed to meet your needs and help you achieve your content marketing goals.
Articulate, improve your content calendar
Creating and maintaining an effective content calendar is essential for any content marketing team aiming to stay organized, aligned, and efficient. By following a structured approach, gathering the right information, utilizing appropriate tools, and maintaining a clear workflow, you can ensure your content strategy is executed seamlessly.
At Articulate, we understand the unique challenges content marketers face, which is why we developed our custom content planning tool. This tool, designed specifically with content marketers in mind, offers a comprehensive solution to manage your entire content planning process from a single platform. With features like centralized background information, competitor tracking, strategic keyword monitoring, ready-to-use templates, embedded AI, and seamless collaboration capabilities, our tool empowers you to create high-quality content efficiently and effectively.
Whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to enhance your current content planning process, we are here to support you every step of the way. If you’re ready to enhance your content planning and execution, let’s work together to keep your audience engaged and your content strategy on point. Get in touch!