content-calendar

name	content-calendar
description	Plan a content calendar tied to product, brand, or marketing goals. Use when the user asks for a content plan, editorial calendar, content strategy, posting schedule, or wants to map content to themes and audiences over a period of time.

content-calendar

plan content with intent. tie every entry to a goal, an audience, and a channel.

what this skill does

builds a content calendar that's actually a plan, not a list of dates. each entry has: who it's for, what it's trying to do, where it goes, who owns it, and what counts as success.

when to use

• a team is starting content from scratch
• existing content is happening but nobody can name why
• before a launch, to plan supporting content
• quarterly, to set the next cycle's themes

inputs required

before building the calendar:

1. goals for the period (1-3 max; if more, the calendar will drift)
2. audiences the content needs to reach
3. channels available (owned, earned, paid; blog, social, email, video, podcast)
4. team capacity (writers, editors, designers; hours per week)
5. content already in motion (don't double-book)
6. brand voice (extracted or canonical; content without voice is just text)

if any of these are missing, surface that before planning. content calendars built on hope drift fast.

the structure

period: [Q1 2026 / month / week — whatever fits]
goal 1: [specific, measurable]
goal 2: [optional]
goal 3: [optional]

themes (3-5 for the period)
  theme 1: [short label]
    why: [the bet this represents]
    audience: [primary]
    channels: [list]
    content count: [planned pieces]

calendar by week
  week 1
    [piece]: [title / topic, channel, owner, due date, status, goal it serves]
    [piece]: ...
  week 2
    ...

quality bar
  - every piece names its audience
  - every piece names its goal
  - every piece names its primary channel
  - every piece names its owner
  - every piece has a date

what's not in this calendar
  - content that doesn't tie to a goal
  - "let's just be present on platform X" without a why
  - reposts of last quarter's content with new dates

the rules

1. one goal per piece: if a piece is supposed to drive signups AND build authority AND nurture leads, it'll do none of them well.

2. named owner: "marketing team" is not an owner. one person's name. accountability requires a name.

3. less than you think: most teams plan 2-3x more than they ship. plan to capacity, not to ambition.

4. theme over topic: a theme is a bet on what to teach or claim. a topic is a single piece. themes generate topics; topics don't accumulate into themes.

5. don't fill weeks for the sake of filling: a week with one strong piece beats a week with five mediocre ones. plan capacity, not cadence.

6. leave 20% open: news happens. opportunities show up. burnout happens. a fully-booked calendar can't absorb any of these.

7. end-of-period review goes on the calendar: if you don't schedule the review, it doesn't happen, and the next calendar is built on guesses.

channel-specific guidance

blog / longform

• 1-2 substantive pieces per week is plenty
• name the search intent or the share intent before drafting
• check past performance before committing to a topic

social

• frequency depends on platform; resist the urge to match what others do
• if posting daily means posting filler, post less
• distinguish original content from reshare

email

• frequency tied to subscriber expectation (set on signup)
• one primary CTA per email
• segment by audience, not by guess

video

• highest production cost per unit; plan accordingly
• one good video > four mediocre ones
• platform-native vs. cross-platform: decide upfront

podcast

• consistency matters more than frequency
• guest pipeline is a separate ops problem; build it before announcing
• transcripts and clips are content too; plan their lifecycle

output

a full calendar in markdown with the structure above. plus:

• a one-page summary for sharing
• a per-channel view (what's on the blog this quarter, what's in email, etc.)
• a per-owner view (what each person is responsible for)
• gaps list (themes with too few pieces; weeks with too many)

what this skill doesn't do

• write the content (that's downstream of the calendar)
• guarantee distribution (the calendar plans creation; promotion is a separate plan)
• replace conversation with the people who'll execute (review the draft with them)

related

• voice-extract (voice for the content)
• messaging-architecture (the claims content should reinforce)
• launch-planning (launches generate content needs; align here)
• release-narrative (content that ships alongside product releases)