1. Business Goals: Type of content format, Style/tone of the piece, & Goals for each piece.
2. Buyer Persona: Demographics, Professional Status, Psychographics, Pain Points & Challenges, Influences & Information Sources, & Purchasing Process.
3. Search Intent: Informational, Navigational, Commercial, & Transactional.
4. Keyword Research & SEO
5. Content Strategy: Content formats, Publication channels, Content management, Content construction, & Content performance.
6. Topic Research: Come up with strong, strategic ideas for your content that will resonate with your audience & drive results.

An editorial calendar provides the team with a clear view of the tasks:

• Allows the team to develop quality content in advance of publication time.
• Enables staff in other departments to be in the communication loop.
• Promotes posting consistency, which ultimately leads to improved communication with your customer base.

Drawing your content plan & calendar on a table, detailing the following for each post:

• The goals you have for the post
• Marketing promotion channels
• The chosen content type
• The topic
• Deadlines and publication dates
• Task owners or other team members involved in the process

When creating a content calendar, consider the following questions to determine what your calendar should look like based on your team's needs:

• How often do you publish content?
• Do you publish more than one type of content?
• How many people need to access the calendar?
• How many content stages do you go through prior to publishing?
• What platform will you use for the editorial content calendar?

• Make sure all content has a clear goal
• Think enticing titles
• Hook your readers from the first line. Start your copy with some exciting data, a one-sentence story, or a question.
• Make your copy scannable. Most people skim read, so use descriptive subheadings, lists, & white space between paragraphs.
• Use visuals
• Be consistent
• Choose an interesting angle
• Tell a story
• Use data
• Repurpose old content
• Use calls to action
• Modify the content type according to your goals
• Keep an eye on the metrics
• Avoid spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors