What's the difference between an editorial calendar and a content calendar? Doug Digital

In this video, I explain what is the difference between an editorial calendar and a content calendar.

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To know the differences between the platforms, we first need to know why you would use either calendar.

The editorial calendar is used by digital marketing teams in order to map out core themes, topics, campaigns and brand partnerships for the year a head. Generally presented in a spreadsheet or slidedeck format, an editorial calendar is intended to be distributed both internally and externally; for internal colleagues, an editorial calendar will inform them of overarching content themes for the marketing team, and it can enhance collaboration; for external parties, an editorial calendar informs brand agencies where opportunities for brand collaborations rest, as well as opportunities to buy media space at relevant opportunities.

A shareable calendar means that it must be high-level, easily digestible and a well-branded piece of collateral as it will be used to win brand deals.

In contrast, a content calendar is precisely the opposite: dense, packed with information and not intended for external circulation.

The exact purpose of the content calendar is to give structure to the day-to-day content production process within a marketing team, ensuring content is drafted, written, designed, approved and published while providing the content and marketing managers oversight of their team's workloads.

A clearly defined content calendar will often tie into the editorial calendar because content will be aligned with the wider editorial visions for the quarter or month. This alignment gives content teams greater lead times, and allows for better quality and quality control -- rather than chasing collateral on the day of publication. (we've all been there, and it's stressful!)

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[mercedessanroman]

This is excellent, Doug. Thank you for all the valuable information!

[kidubaru]

Thank you for this video! I came across many videos of people trying to educate people on this topic, but they often blend elements of each- formulating a video that's anecdotal. You distinguished the nuisances of an editorial calender vs content calender and articulated the intrinsic qualities of each! Thumbs up for this video!

[gracedreamy]

Thanks for this video. Very well explained

[thebizmiss]

I'm just getting started as a freelance writer. I am working through my first proposal and this was helpful. Any suggestions on how to schedule submissions, reviews, revisions etc?

[hawkseo]

thanks for the info. got any free templates there?