In its simplest form, an editorial calendar is a two-column spreadsheet: one column for dates and one column for blog topics. To really take advantage of all an editorial calendar has to offer, we have to add a few more items. First, you should add a “purpose” column (I’ll explain why below) and second, you need a column(s) to track post-publishing metrics that are important to you. If you don’t already have an editorial calendar, here are five reasons you should.
1.) Planning takes the pressure off – Coming up with blog topics on the spot can be frustrating. If you plan your topics out in advance, you can spend more time writing. Not only will this will make the writing process smoother, but you’ll also be less likely to dread looming deadlines.
2.) Take advantage of seasonality – Seasonality is bound to be a factor no matter what your niche or subject matter. Do you write about the holidays or annual events? If so, a good portion of your editorial calendar may already be done. Once you have these posts scheduled out, you can round out the remainder of your calendar with less timely topics.
3.) Have a purpose – I cannot stress this one enough: you should have strategy behind your blog and tactics in place to support that strategy. For example, in your purpose column you may have “rank for SEO keywords,” “earn social shares,” or simply “build trust with existing audience.” Whatever the goal is, it will be easier to craft strategies for and achieve a goal if it’s clearly defined.
4.) Track what matters – This one is easy because there is no fudging–it just comes down to numbers. Add columns for what is most important to you. That may be page views, Facebook likes, Twitter shares, email sign-ups, or product sales. Whatever your key performance indicators are, add them to your editorial calendar so you can keep track of your metrics in one place.
5.) Refine & iterate – For me this is the most important reason to have an editorial calendar. Look through the data for your previous posts to see what your audience responded to – and what they didn’t – to help you plan out future topics. Did a post fall flat or get a negative reaction? Avoid that topic next time. Conversely, if a blog goes viral or spikes in page views, you can learn from that success and build upon it. Your audience shouldn’t always dictate what you write about, but if reaching more people is important to you, pay attention to their engagement and learn from it.
