content-calendar

# Editorial Calendar Planning ## Before You Start 1. **Check for brand context**: Read `brand/VOICE.md` if it exists. Calendar planning should align content themes with brand pillars. If the user has already run the content-strategy skill, reference the content pillars and briefs from that output. 2. **Determine the calendar type**: Ask the user (or infer from their prompt) what kind of planning they need: - **Monthly Calendar** -- a full month of content planned across platforms (`templates/monthly-calendar.md.template`) - **Campaign Plan** -- a focused burst of content around a single theme, launch, or event (`templates/campaign-plan.md.template`) - **Content Series** -- a connected sequence of content pieces published over time (`templates/content-series.md.template`) 3. **Gather inputs**: Platforms the user publishes on, existing content pillars, any fixed dates (launches, events, holidays), production capacity (how much content per week is realistic), and current content pipeline. --- ## Planning Flow ### Stage 1: Context Gathering Understand the constraints before scheduling anything: - **Platforms**: Which platforms does the user publish on? Each has different cadence norms. See `cadence-guide.md`. - **Capacity**: How many pieces per week can the team realistically produce? Be honest -- overplanning leads to burnout and abandoned calendars. - **Pillars**: What content pillars exist? Reference `brand/BRAND.md` or the output of the content-strategy skill if available. If no pillars are defined, suggest 3-5 based on the user's context. - **Fixed dates**: Product launches, conferences, holidays, seasonal events, industry milestones. - **Existing pipeline**: Content already in progress, scheduled, or published recently. Avoid redundancy. ### Stage 2: Cadence Design Set the publishing cadence for each platform based on: 1. **Platform norms**: See `cadence-guide.md` for recommended frequencies. 2. **Team capacity**: Never exceed what the team can sustain. A calendar that collapses after two weeks is worse than a modest calendar maintained for six months. 3. **Content quality threshold**: Reduce cadence before reducing quality. One great post per week beats five mediocre posts. 4. **Audience expectations**: If you have trained your audience to expect a weekly newsletter, do not suddenly go monthly. Recommended starting cadences for a solo creator or small team: | Platform | Minimum Viable Cadence | Ideal Cadence | |---|---|---| | Blog | 1/week | 2/week | | X / Twitter | 3/week | 1-2/day | | LinkedIn | 2/week | 4-5/week | | Newsletter | 1/every two weeks | 1/week | | YouTube | 1/every two weeks | 1/week | | Reddit | 1/week | 2-3/week | ### Stage 3: Topic Mapping Assign topics to calendar slots: 1. **Map pillars to weeks**: Rotate through content pillars so no single pillar dominates. A simple rotation (Pillar A, B, C, A, B, C...) works for three pillars. 2. **Assign formats per platform**: The same topic can appear on multiple platforms in different formats. A blog post might become a thread, a LinkedIn post, and a newsletter section. 3. **Anchor content first**: Schedule your highest-effort content first (blog posts, videos, newsletter features). Then fill in lighter formats (threads, LinkedIn posts) that can be derived from or complement the anchor content. 4. **Leave buffer slots**: Mark 10-20% of calendar slots as "flex" for reactive content (responding to news, trends, or community conversations). ### Stage 4: Calendar Assembly Build the calendar using the appropriate template: - **Monthly calendar**: Use `templates/monthly-calendar.md.template`. Week-by-week view with columns for date, platform, format, topic, pillar, status, and notes. - **Campaign plan**: Use `templates/campaign-plan.md.template`. Timeline view with phases, content pieces per phase, and coordinated multi-platform execution. - **Content series**: Use `templates/content-series.md.template`. Sequential view showing how individual pieces connect, with consistent cadence and a connecting thread. ### Stage 5: Review and Adjust Review the assembled calendar for: - **Pillar balance**: Is any pillar over- or under-represented? - **Format variety**: Are you using the same format too often? Mix blog posts, threads, videos, images. - **Pacing**: Is there a natural rhythm? Avoid publishing three heavy pieces in a row followed by nothing. - **Dependencies**: If a LinkedIn post references a blog post, is the blog scheduled first? - **Realistic workload**: Can the team actually produce this? Be ruthlessly honest. --- ## Multi-Platform Coordination When the same theme appears across platforms, adapt it for each platform's norms: | Platform | Adaptation | |---|---| | Blog | Full-depth treatment with structure, examples, and detail | | X / Twitter | Extract the sharpest insight as a hook. Thread for more depth. | | LinkedIn | Professional framing, personal perspective, lesson-oriented | | Newsletter | Curated summary with personal commentary and links | | YouTube | Visual treatment, demo or walkthrough format | | Reddit | Community-first framing, practical value, avoid self-promotion tone | The key principle: **Same theme, different treatment.** Never copy-paste the same text across platforms. Each platform's audience expects content that feels native. --- ## Calendar Statuses Use these status labels for tracking: | Status | Meaning | |---|---| | `idea` | Topic identified, no brief yet | | `briefed` | Content brief is written | | `in-progress` | Draft is being written | | `review` | Draft is complete, being reviewed | | `scheduled` | Final version ready, publication date set | | `published` | Live | | `flex` | Slot reserved for reactive/timely content | --- ## Integration with Other Skills This skill coordinates with the broader content system: | Need | Skill | |---|---| | Define content pillars | `/content strategy` | | Write a blog post from the calendar | `/content blog` | | Write a thread from the calendar | `/content twitter` | | Write a LinkedIn post from the calendar | `/content linkedin` | | Create a video from the calendar | `/content video` | | Repurpose one piece into multiple formats | `/content repurpose` | | Audit a piece before publishing | `/content audit` | --- ## Output Checklist Before delivering the calendar, verify: - [ ] Calendar format matches the user's need (monthly, campaign, or series) - [ ] Publishing cadence is realistic for the team's capacity - [ ] Content pillars are balanced across the calendar period - [ ] Formats are varied (not all blog posts or all threads) - [ ] Fixed dates (launches, events) are accounted for - [ ] Multi-platform content is adapted per platform, not copy-pasted - [ ] 10-20% of slots are reserved as flex for reactive content - [ ] Dependencies between pieces are sequenced correctly - [ ] Every slot has enough detail (topic, format, pillar, platform) for someone to write a brief - [ ] Calendar is deliverable as a clean markdown table or structured document