We all know about the growing importance of content.Opens a new window  Why, then, do so many brands struggle to implement a sustainable content marketing strategy?
While 79% of marketers believe in the effectiveness of content marketing, only 6% know how to implement it according to a 2019 Zazzle Media surveyOpens a new window . Meanwhile, less than a third of us are “definitely clear†on the best way to run a content marketing campaign.
Too many marketers are creating content at the last minute, rushing to meet a deadline and, consequently, producing sub-par content.
If this sounds familiar, I’ll bet you don’t have an editorial calendar. If I’m right then heed this warning: You need one.
As Heather Eng explains:Opens a new window  “Content marketing runs on editorial content. And in order to publish high-quality content at a regular cadence, you need an editorial calendar.â€
What is an editorial calendar?
Such a critical tool literally outlines the key elements of each piece of content you plan to produce. That includes high-level, thematic frameworks as well as production details such as a timeline for delivery and publication, and who is responsible for the various stages of content development.
Together, these elements act as the foundation of your content management, pointing where you need to go and what needs to be done to get there. Even if you outsource content production, a calendar is essential for keeping operations on track.
An editorial calendar will streamline your content production on various fronts:
- Helping organize and manage content production and publication
- Mapping your content distribution across marketing platforms and channels
- Keeping content in line with your overarching content strategy, as well as brand voice and tone
- Ensuring teams and individuals are held accountable for their content production and publication duties
- Measuring the success of your efforts and helping pinpoint gaps in your content strategy.
Key tips
Each calendar will vary by company. These are among the most common and critical elements:
- Themes/topics (and even subtopics)
- Content owners: Assign tasks to each person responsible for creating, editing and publishing the content
- Deadlines: Each task should have a defined deadline
- Key distribution channels:Â Where will you publish and share your content (website, newsletter, social media, press release)
- Posting frequency:Â Decide how regularly you want to produce original content (weekly, monthly, quarterly)
- Stages of production:Â Be clear how close to completion each piece of content is. Is it still just planned, in progress, in the editing phase or ready for publication?
- KPIs:Â A dynamic calendar is relevant for the entire lifecycle of your content, not just pre-publication. Decide which metrics you want to track to assess its effectiveness.
The most important consideration is to determine which pieces of information will streamline your production and ensure you and your team stick to schedule.
Ultimately, the information housed in your editorial calendar should help make content production easier. If it doesn’t, remove that element.
For a look at some of the best free templates available, or to take inspiration, I suggest this useful blogOpens a new window from the Content Marketing Institute.
Identify your goals
Believe it or not, “producing more content†and “producing good content†are not good goals to set. It’s imperative that before you decide the topics or even the type/format of content to create that you determine what specifically you want to achieve. Generally, content marketers are looking to:
- Raise brand awareness
- Improve search ranking for targeted keywords and search phrases (SEO)
- Boost lead generation
My advice is focus on one of these three goals per quarter and dedicate your content strategy — and editorial calendar — to its support. That will help you identify the appropriate content types and topics for the editorial calendar.
After all, smart marketers will vary the the content they publish to target the various stages of the buyers’ journey.Opens a new window
Measure, measure, measure
I cannot stress enough the importance of measuring the success of your contentOpens a new window . Pinpoint the most important metrics for gauging the effectiveness of your content marketing as it relates to your stated goals.
KPIs will vary, but some generic metrics that can offer insights:
- Social shares and likes on the content you share
- Clickthrough rates from your content to other pages on your website
- New connections or follows on LinkedIn
- Conversion rates for blog posts and calls-to-action
- New leads generated from content
- Backlinks
- Traffic from organic search
- Search engine ranking for your target keywords and search phrases