What is editorial calendar software and why do you need it?

Planning and executing content is no easy feat.

It requires time, preparation, and a lot of organization to pull it off well. And with so many different types of content out there, the idea of keeping on top of everything can be overwhelming.

Fortunately, there’s a way to make content management easier.

Enter editorial calendar software: the perfect content management solution. 

In this article, we’ll take a look at what editorial calendar software is and how it can help you streamline your content planning process.

Let’s start at the top.

What is an editorial calendar?

Put simply, an editorial calendar allows writers and content creators to schedule their work.

Ranging from social media content, blogs, newsletters, and everything in between, editorial calendars help content marketers and editors stay on top of their content across different promotional channels.

Not to mention they also help the management team coordinate the schedules of copywriters, designers, and publishers, and schedule publishing dates.

What does an editorial calendar look like?

There’s no one way for an editorial calendar to look.

How you organize your content and the process you have in place for content production will determine the best format for your editorial calendar.

Having said that, there are a few features that will appear in every calendar, no matter its format.

• Publish date: every piece of content needs a due date. Without it, it’ll be pretty tricky to create a structured content plan.

• Content type: are you writing blog content for the website? A social media post for Twitter? A newsletter? Whatever it is, it needs to be clear in the calendar so everyone in the team knows what they’re working on.

• Publication stages: each piece of content needs to go through a certain process before being published.

For example, here’s an example of how content ideas become fully-fledged articles:

1. A Managing Editor identifies keywords and topics
2. Writers are identified based on availability and expertise
3. The writer outlines articles
4. Editorial staff review article outlines
5. Articles are drafted
6. Editorial staff review article drafts and approve them for publication

• Title or topic: every blog post needs a title or topic as a starting point.

• Assignee: writers need to know what they need to write, and you need to know who’s writing what content.

To see an editorial calendar in action, take a look at staging-mondaycomblog.kinsta.cloud’s editorial calendar template:

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What is editorial calendar software?

Editorial calendar software is an operating system used to create and customize your editorial calendar.

It keeps everything organized in one central location, making the management of content much easier than flicking between various spreadsheets and folders.

It also makes it pretty easy to get an umbrella view and keep content in line with the overall goals and objectives of your company.

With everything visible in one location, content marketers can make sure that the long-term publishing strategy aligns with the company’s overall strategic vision.

Why use editorial calendar software?

If you’ve been using a spreadsheet to organize your content, you might be wondering what all the fuss is about, especially if the spreadsheet’s working just fine.

The thing is… You can do better.

Using editorial calendar software allows businesses to plan their content more efficiently, keeping their content organized and providing them with better oversight of content progress.

Let’s take a look at some of these reasons in more detail:

1. Keep your content organized

Organization is key when it comes to planning and executing content. Period. Without it, keeping on top of your content can be an arduous task.

And even more so if you’re trying to schedule and plan content in different formats for various platforms.

By using marketing calendar software, organization becomes that little bit easier.

You can easily see what’s in the content calendar, when the content is due, and make sure that everything is aligned with the company goals and objectives.

This also helps with identifying content gaps too.

2. Provide everyone in the team with visibility

If everyone in your content team is working on the same software, it’s easy to see how tasks are progressing.

Everyone is accountable for their work, and team members can easily see who’s working on what task, and how far along they are.

Take staging-mondaycomblog.kinsta.cloud, for example. With our platform, users can see exactly how far along each task is progressing.

With this information, content marketers and editors can see if things are on track, or if anything’s falling behind.

3. Make your processes more efficient

Managing content requires a lot of back and forth with writers, editors, content creators, and designers.

That’s a lot of people all working in the same pot, which can make it difficult to streamline your workflow.

And that’s where software can help.

With the right editorial calendar software in place, processes can be more streamlined and the workflow becomes more efficient.

Automation is a perfect example of this.

With certain platforms, you can add custom automations to your editorial calendar, saving you from having to manually perform mundane and time-consuming tasks.

It’s a win-win for editors and marketers alike.

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What to look for in editorial calendar software

When it comes to finding the right editorial calendar software, every business has different needs. However, there are certain elements that every system should have no matter what.

So let’s explore exactly what it is you should be looking for in your editorial calendar software:

1. Flexibility

Even with a solid plan in place, we all know things can change at the last minute. And let’s face it, this happens more often than we’d like.

Publish dates might be delayed, your target audience might change, or the entire direction of your marketing strategy could be revamped, just to name a few.

So it’s extremely useful to have a platform that allows you to quickly change your schedule and add any last-minute additions to the calendar, like staging-mondaycomblog.kinsta.cloud.

With our software, users can easily amend due dates, reassign content, and add updated tasks.

2. The ability to collaborate

Collaboration is a vital part of producing content.

Whether that’s writers and editors working together on a draft, or designers and social media experts planning visuals for Instagram — collaboration is always important.

When you’re on the lookout for editorial calendar software, you need a platform that allows team members to easily collaborate. Without this capability, deadlines could be missed, and content might not be written to the standard you need.

3. An easy-to-use interface

When it comes to an editorial calendar, you want a platform that’s easy to navigate. Something that’s simple, intuitive, and transparent.

That way, you can take one glance at the platform and see everything you need without having to trudge through never-ending screens and workflows.

You also might want to consider using software that allows you to pick and choose which layout works best for you.

Maybe you’re fed up with Kanban boards and you want to try a Gantt view instead? Or perhaps you’d prefer to split your project into 2 different views at the same time?

Whatever you’re looking for, find the software that provides you with the layout that makes it easiest to get your content organized.

Using staging-mondaycomblog.kinsta.cloud as your editorial calendar software

If you’re thinking about using editorial calendar software but aren’t sure where to start, don’t worry. There are a lot of systems out there to choose from, and it can be overwhelming trying to find the right one for your needs.

To give you a helping hand, we’ve outlined some of the features and functions that make staging-mondaycomblog.kinsta.cloud the perfect editorial calendar software.

1. Customize your calendar

At staging-mondaycomblog.kinsta.cloud, we understand how important it is for editorial calendars to be intuitive and user-friendly.

That’s why we offer 100s of customizations, so you can build the perfect editorial calendar to suit the goals and needs of your business.

You can choose the layout of your calendar, customize your columns, and you can even split your calendar view into 2 layouts on one screen. Pretty flexible, don’t you think?

2. Collaborate with your team

Collaborating with your content creation team isn’t always easy, especially if the team works remotely. But with staging-mondaycomblog.kinsta.cloud, collaboration is pretty straightforward.

It doesn’t matter where in the world the team is working. With our platform, users can comment on tasks, share files, and provide progress updates, all in one central location.

So it’s pretty easy to collaborate with your team, even if you’re not working in the same place.

3. Integrate existing tools

With staging-mondaycomblog.kinsta.cloud, users can integrate external tools and platforms.

In fact, you can integrate over 40 applications into staging-mondaycomblog.kinsta.cloud, including Google Drive, Dropbox, the infamous Zoom, and plenty more.

So if you’re already using a Google Sheet to plan your content, it won’t be a problem to migrate your existing projects into staging-mondaycomblog.kinsta.cloud. That’s a relief, right?

Editorial calendar software brings visibility and structure

By now, you should have a good understanding of what editorial calendar software is, and how it can be helpful to the content creation process.

So what should you do next?

It’s time to take the reins and create your own editorial calendar. Whether you’re a content marketer or an editor, you’ve got all the knowledge you need to put things into action.

Why not take a look at staging-mondaycomblog.kinsta.cloud’s editorial calendar template to get started on the right foot? Trust us, you won’t regret it.

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