Editorial calendars can be a valuable tool for keeping your content creation ideas flowing. In this week’s #ContentChat, I led a conversation with the community on how we’re making the most of our go-to editorial calendaring tools.

Q1: First things first: What should you include in an editorial calendar to help you to come up with creative ideas?

Include details that help you to maintain a good mix of different categories, topics, and content types.

A1: Having different categories, along with different post types for each is crucial for variety. #contentchat

— AgoraPulse (@AgoraPulse) February 12, 2018

A1 For starters, a solid editorial calendar should have a mix of contributing, curating, and created content fitting into evergreen and timely categories. #contentchat

— Bill Skowronski (@BillSkowronski) February 12, 2018

You have no idea what opportunities you miss out on with a lack of editorial structure through time. Still leave room for impromptu content based on real time events but you can’t drive conversations without knowing what conversations you need to drive. #contentchat

— Howie Goldfarb (@howiegoldfarb) February 12, 2018

Document important brand events and dates so you can plan content around them.

A1: You’ve got to include important dates and themes for your business. Whether it’s holidays, product release calendars, sale events, publication dates…know what the key days are before you plan anything else. #ContentChat

— Caitlin Kinser (@caitlinmarie89) February 12, 2018

A1: My editorial calendars typically include brand events, industry events, holidays, recurring topics, etc. #ContentChat https://t.co/TDX8AQe2Z1

— Erika Heald | Freelance Chief Content Officer (@SFerika) February 12, 2018

A1: Editorial Calendars should include important dates that are applicable to your organization. Plus any major holidays that may reduce traffic online for a day. #ContentChat

— 🎙JMatt (@JMattMke) February 12, 2018

Don’t forget to include your content goals and personas.

A1. Goals and your marketing funnel. What do you want to achieve, who are you writing for, and what stage of the funnel are they in #ContentChat

— Megan McCarthy (@ImMeganMcCarthy) February 12, 2018

A1 It is a good idea to have a brief synopsis of your goals and strategy front and center on your editorial calendar to help keep your ideas focused on what you’re trying to accomplish. #contentchat

— Derek Pillie (@dpillie) February 12, 2018

Make sure your editorial calendar builds in flexibility to address emerging/unexpected content while also being a day-to-day tool.

A1 We don’t make the content calendar a hard and fast topic. We allow flexibility of ideas that match to the theme #contentchat

— Scott Lum (@ScottLum) February 12, 2018

1. List of content to be published
2. Content creation and publishing dates
3. List of channels for delivering your content
4. Call to action #smnite #contentchat https://t.co/nATftJmjMh

— Ifeanyi Mba (@donvic17) February 12, 2018

Social media and national holidays can also be great content idea generators when included in your editorial calendar.

A1: You should include Holidays and National Days so you can tailor your content around trending topics and also plan ahead for the year! #ContentChat

— The Sway (@SwayWithSway) February 12, 2018

A1 I’d say start off by thinking about seasonal content that relates to your work/brand/product. It’ll help spark ideas or set the tone for content #contentchat

— Nancy Casanova (@nancycasanova) February 12, 2018

Consider combining your high-level content strategy into your editorial calendar.

A1 editorial calendars – you should have a top level plan, a year-view, that aligns with strategy. Beneath that, you can have something more tactical that stakeholders can feed into. You don’t necessarily need every detail, but block out time for reactive & proactive#ContentChat

— comfortwriter 📱🤓📝 (@ComfortWriter) February 12, 2018

A1 Another item that might be useful to you before you even start with your calendar is to generate a content opportunity report. @MarketSnare created a tool to build those you can learn about it at https://t.co/XsOhg0bhlc #contentchat

— Derek Pillie (@dpillie) February 12, 2018

Q2: How are YOU keeping your own editorial calendar? A simple list, a spreadsheet, a calendar tool, a project management tool, or…?

Many content marketers are using spreadsheets to manage their editorial calendars.

A2 My editorial calendar, as well as all my clients’, is loaded into Google Sheets & Google Calendar. That way everyone involved on every piece of content sees the same things. Roles are clear, no confusion. #contentchat

— Bill Skowronski (@BillSkowronski) February 12, 2018

A2: I have plenty of “idea” lists; but I try to keep a separate calendar for each area of our business in terms of their annual priorities and needs, then I work to weave those together for our master calendar. It’s a lot of spreadsheets. #ContentChat

— Caitlin Kinser (@caitlinmarie89) February 12, 2018

A2: We use a spreadsheet to manage our editorial calendar! We love using the tabs feature to divide up our content by social platform. It’s the best for easy editing and reviewing. #ContentChat

— The Sway (@SwayWithSway) February 12, 2018

A2: I use a Excel spreadsheet. It’s simple. It has the month, potential authors, and a key that let’s us know where in the review/publication process each piece of content is in. #contentchat

— Javier Sanabria (@SanabriaJav) February 12, 2018

There are a few editorial management and calendaring tools #ContentChat participants use for editorial calendars.

A2: I’ve used @Kapost to manage a global content team’s calendar, @RedboothHQ (a former client) for clients with less complex workflows, and spreadsheets for everyone else. #ContentChat https://t.co/idw3D0q4Z4

— Erika Heald | Freelance Chief Content Officer (@SFerika) February 12, 2018

A2. I used to love CoSchedule until they changed the pricing. Now I just use a spreadsheet and a real calendar #contentchat

— Megan McCarthy (@ImMeganMcCarthy) February 12, 2018

Project management tools also have their fans for editorial calendar work.

A2: I love @trello for creating an editorial calendar and keeping track of the progress made on a piece of content. #ContentChat

— Express Writers (@ExpWriters) February 12, 2018

A2: I use @trello – you can add a calendar with your one free power-up. It’s great for teams that collaborate on the same calendar too. We primarily use it for blog & article content. #ContentChat

— 🎙JMatt (@JMattMke) February 12, 2018

A2: Asana is also a great task management program to use. #contentchat

— AgoraPulse (@AgoraPulse) February 12, 2018

A2: For our internal agency, we use spreadsheets for the blog calendar. For our work, we use @workfront #contentchat https://t.co/ogWwzMAJjZ

— Amy Higgins (@amywhiggins) February 12, 2018

A2 A cool tool that often gets overlooked for editorial calendars is @Smartsheet – it’s a great way to build secure, custom collaborative spaces with the structure of a database/data sheet. Ultimately you need to use an environment that works for your whole team. #contentchat

— Derek Pillie (@dpillie) February 12, 2018

So many different productivity tool can get into the mix.

A2: I have a running Word doc of suggested blog topics. When writers chose their topic, it goes into a calendar. #ContentChat

— Danielle Bullen Love (@daniellewriter) February 12, 2018

A2: I keep track of ideas in One Note & manage content in @Buffer! #ContentChat

— Cass (@cassipolzin) February 12, 2018

A2. I keep 3 X 5 cards on my desk too for important content and twitter chat subjects and blog oriented ideas for adapting to my analytics. #contentchat

— Dr. Dorrie Cooper (@sittingpretty61) February 12, 2018

I have so many content ideas in @Evernote I think of it as my external content brain. #ContentChat

— Erika Heald | Freelance Chief Content Officer (@SFerika) February 12, 2018

The right tool for the job can vary depending upon your team’s needs.

A2 The editorial calendar tools that seem to work best at enterprise level are Google Sheets for something that many teams need to look at, somewhat passively or infrequently. Or Trello, for something that teams need to actively track, frequently and participate in.#ContentChat

— comfortwriter 📱🤓📝 (@ComfortWriter) February 12, 2018

Q3: How can I keep up with what topics my community wants to hear about?

Check out relevant Twitter chats.

A3: Attend #Twitter chats they frequent, subscribe to their industry newsletters and ask them—1:1 and via surveys. #ContentChat https://t.co/fibT3bpQ7V

— Erika Heald | Freelance Chief Content Officer (@SFerika) February 12, 2018

Subscribe to industry email newsletters.

A3: I subscribe to industry email newsletters. They show me hot topics that I can spin to better fit our audience#ContentChat

— Danielle Bullen Love (@daniellewriter) February 12, 2018

Use social listening tools to monitor topic trends.

A3: Pay attention to what they’re talking about on social media. What questions do they need answered? #ContentChat

— Express Writers (@ExpWriters) February 12, 2018

A3: Social Monitoring and Listening definitely help. I like using Answer the Public to find more subtopics to delve into.
If you don’t know what your community wants, ask them! They’ll be excited to be involved & listened to.#ContentChat

— Cass (@cassipolzin) February 12, 2018

A3: I use a combination of following thought leaders/experts in my audience, tracking hot news topics and insights from @UnionMetrics to follow the topics that mu audience is talking about and engaging with on social. I try to dive as deep into their world as I can. #ContentChat

— Caitlin Kinser (@caitlinmarie89) February 12, 2018

I like your suggestions. I also think a tool like @nuzzel helps. It lets you see what your followers, and your follower’s followers 😎, are sharing. You can keep your finger on the pulse this way. #contentchat

— Javier Sanabria (@SanabriaJav) February 12, 2018

Make friends with the Customer Success team.

A3: Keep an open dialog with the Customer Service team. Not only what challenges customers are facing but double click down into intentions why they bought product in first place and how they plan to use it. #contentchat

— Scott Lum (@ScottLum) February 12, 2018

Ask them!

A3: ASK what your community wants more of!

Aside from that, you can see what sort of content responds well with your audience. What is your “competition” posting, that receives a good amount of engagement? #ContentChat

— 🎙JMatt (@JMattMke) February 12, 2018

A3. I think a weekly Twitter Poll would be cool to keep in touch and suggesting guests and topics related to content challenges and changes in Twitter’s algorithim. #contentchat

— Dr. Dorrie Cooper (@sittingpretty61) February 12, 2018

A3: Simply ask questions to your audience and see what they want to hear next? Use the polls on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can also track your content and see what type of content gets the most traction #contentchat

— Terry Schilling (@tschill86) February 12, 2018

Mine your analytics dashboards.

A3.2: You can also use your Google Analytics to see what’s popular on your website. If you’re paying for Google Adwords, you can see what people are searching for before landing on your website (Google Keywords). #ContentChat

— 🎙JMatt (@JMattMke) February 12, 2018

A3 Use data to support your decisions. Google trends, google search strings. 90% of the content I podcast about comes from me searching “marketing” or “how to market” & letting Google fill in the rest. It’s a giant database of topics. Find your niche and run with it. #contentchat

— Ross Morrone (@rossmorrone) February 12, 2018

Q4: What websites or tools can I use to take a high-level topic and turn it into a series of distinct pieces of content?

A4: @Buzzsumo and @Answerthepublic are fantastic for taking your keyword research and turning them into concrete topic ideas. #ContentChat https://t.co/ppu9WBO82j

— Erika Heald | Freelance Chief Content Officer (@SFerika) February 12, 2018

A4 I’m a huge advocate of podcasting. Simple analytic tools will help you understand your audience and the content they like. I saw a huge interest in my email marketing episode, so I constantly put out mini-series about email marketing. Diving deeper #ContentChat

— Ross Morrone (@rossmorrone) February 12, 2018

A4: It’s a little old school–but I like to do a solid SWOT analysis on the topic/theme. (Biz school drilled that into me.) How can I use the strengths and opportunities of my org. to make unique content for my audience? #ContentChat https://t.co/OUJmljQON3

— Caitlin Kinser (@caitlinmarie89) February 12, 2018

A4: I like taking a high-level concept from @harvardbiz, @mckinsey, @deloitte or another consulting firm & flush it out into several pieces. #ContentChat

— Shelly Lucas (@pisarose) February 12, 2018

Q5: What roles/departments in my organization should I partner with to keep the content topics flowing?

A5: The customer success and sales teams should be part of your core editorial team. They are on the front lines getting feedback. #ContentChat https://t.co/X4Vl87c2C6

— Erika Heald | Freelance Chief Content Officer (@SFerika) February 12, 2018

A5 Always have regular collaboration with Sales, Customer Support, PR, Employee Advocates and marketers in other areas who may have a different spin on the same topic #contentchat

— Scott Lum (@ScottLum) February 12, 2018

A5: It’s important to have one designated contact in each department to let you know what is happening within their area. That way you can make sure that you’re keeping the editorial calendar balanced and not missing anything. Planning meetings are key! #ContentChat

— Caitlin Kinser (@caitlinmarie89) February 12, 2018

A5: Everyone! Sales is the easy answer, but everyone at your organization interacts with the company daily and might have ideas. It’s great to have content brainstorming sessions each quarter. Try inviting different people each time! #ContentChat

— Cass (@cassipolzin) February 12, 2018

A5. we assigned different topics to different execs (e.g., Marketing VP would write on marketing, Product VP on products, etc) to get diff voices and perspectives #contentchat

— carrie maslen (@carriemaslen) February 12, 2018

A5 Customer Service, Sales, C-Suite, HR, Account Management to name a few #contentchat

— Kathy Kopacz MS (@kkopacz1) February 12, 2018

A5: Marketing should be involved. Any client-facing or public-facing departments should also be included. #ContentChat

— 🎙JMatt (@JMattMke) February 12, 2018

A5: Connect with your partners up and down the supply chain. Get them to help produce content that connects to your calendar #contentchat

— Scott Lum (@ScottLum) February 12, 2018

A5: We partner with our strategy & insights department to harness their knowledge of the data and performance analysis of our sponsored campaign content. We then use that info to tailor the content on our blog. #ContentChat

— The Sway (@SwayWithSway) February 12, 2018

Q6: I’ve done all the things. And I’m STILL out of ideas. What are some evergreen ideas or resources you can turn to when your idea well runs dry?

Take a deeper look at your analytics tools.

A6: Look at your Google analytics and search console dashboards. What are people searching for and not finding on your site? What old content is still getting search visitors? #ContentChat https://t.co/CXJ6IQ3bho

— Erika Heald | Freelance Chief Content Officer (@SFerika) February 12, 2018

A6: Are there any previously successful topics that you can create a new story with? Are there any pieces that could use a general update? Is there something you can elaborate on more from what you’ve already created? #ContentChat

— 🎙JMatt (@JMattMke) February 12, 2018

A6. That’s when I look at content from the very beginning and see if it can be updated/refreshed. Or that’s a sign you need to go take a walk and refresh your brain #ContentChat

— Megan McCarthy (@ImMeganMcCarthy) February 12, 2018

Take a piece of content that’s performing well and think about how you can trasnform it into a different kind of content.

A6 How-To Guide, How-To Choose Guide, Help documents, FAQ, New Client’s Questions, Best practices, History (as an expert), etc #contentchat

— Kathy Kopacz MS (@kkopacz1) February 12, 2018

Also consider ways to repurpose old content. Can I turn that blog post into an infographic? What about hosting a Facebook Q&A about the topic from last month’s guest article? Repurposing is KEY. #contentchat

— Caitlin Kinser (@caitlinmarie89) February 12, 2018

Conduct a content audit.

A6: Do a content audit of your existing pieces and make a full list of things that are evergreen or relevant every year at a certain time (think flu prevention in winter). That way you always have a fall back when you don’t have something new to share. #ContentChat

— Caitlin Kinser (@caitlinmarie89) February 12, 2018

Try a brainstorming process.

A6: James Altuchar has a great brainstorming process – Come up with 10 ideas – 10 ideas for your project, 10 ideas for each of your competitors, 10 ideas for a company in crisis, 10 ideas for an industry that’s failing. Get’s creative juices flowing #contentchat

— Scott Lum (@ScottLum) February 12, 2018

Q7: This came up earlier, so let’s poke at it a bit. Do you use set content themes in your calendar? If not, why not? If so, how frequently do you change themes?

A7: Sometimes. It can feel forced. And when it feels forced to you, it will come across to your community as well. I have been using monthly themes for #ContentChat this year — how does that feel to folks so far? https://t.co/5UyqbxbLuS

— Erika Heald | Freelance Chief Content Officer (@SFerika) February 12, 2018

A7 Absolutely! Think of it like a monthly magazine when a publication hits newsstands each month #contentchat

— Kathy Kopacz MS (@kkopacz1) February 12, 2018

A7: We sometimes ‘theme’ our content by the month, if it’s relevant. Like May is National Foster Care Awareness month and November is National Adoption month. #ContentChat

— 🎙JMatt (@JMattMke) February 12, 2018

A7 Content themes help a lot. It helps focus the creation team to do a deep dive on a topic. We would have a monthly or bi-monthly theme that ladders up to the bigger idea #contentchat

— Scott Lum (@ScottLum) February 12, 2018

A7: I use themes for an area of our org whose content doesn’t fit into a “timely” schedule–the content that they produce is general evergreen–so we use themes to keep them focused and productive. #contentchat

— Caitlin Kinser (@caitlinmarie89) February 12, 2018