# Content Calendar

> Build content strategies, editorial calendars, and social media plans for organizations, personal brands, and academic departments. Use this skill when the user asks to plan content, create a posting schedule, build an editorial calendar, develop a content strategy, organize social media posts, or plan a content pipeline. Also trigger when the user mentions content pillars, posting frequency, platform strategy, content mix, audience engagement planning, or newsletter scheduling. Handles multi-platform strategies across LinkedIn, X/Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, newsletters, blogs, and podcasts. Outputs structured calendars as spreadsheets, markdown documents, or interactive artifacts.

- Skill: `emaduneme/content-calendar` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add emaduneme/content-calendar`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/emaduneme/content-calendar/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: DevOps & Infra
- License: MIT
- Author: emaduneme (https://skillmd.com/u/emaduneme)
- Updated: 2026-09-22
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/emaduneme/content-calendar

---


# Content Strategy & Editorial Calendar

## Overview

This skill helps users develop structured content strategies and produces actionable editorial calendars. It handles the full pipeline from audience analysis and content pillar definition through to daily/weekly posting schedules with specific content prompts.

## When This Skill Triggers

- User says "help me plan my content" or "create a content calendar"
- User asks about posting frequency, content pillars, or platform strategy
- User wants to build a social media presence for a brand, department, or personal profile
- User mentions newsletter planning, blog scheduling, or podcast content pipeline
- User asks "what should I post about?"

## Process

### Phase 1: Strategic Foundation

Before building any calendar, establish:

**1. Audience Definition**
- Who are you trying to reach? (Be specific: not "everyone" but "mid-career journalists exploring AI tools")
- Where do they spend time online?
- What problems do they need solved?
- What content formats do they prefer?

**2. Content Pillars** (3-5 themes)

Content pillars are the recurring topics that define your brand's territory. Each pillar should:
- Connect to your expertise or mission
- Address a specific audience need
- Be broad enough for dozens of posts but narrow enough to be distinctive

Example for an academic in journalism + AI:
- Pillar 1: AI tools for newsrooms (practical tutorials, tool reviews)
- Pillar 2: Research insights (translating academic findings for practitioners)
- Pillar 3: Teaching and pedagogy (classroom experiments, student work)
- Pillar 4: Industry commentary (responding to news about journalism's future)
- Pillar 5: Behind the scenes (personal journey, academic life, career reflections)

**3. Platform Selection**

| Platform | Best For | Posting Frequency | Content Type |
|----------|----------|-------------------|--------------|
| LinkedIn | Professional authority, B2B, academic networking | 3-5x/week | Long-form posts, articles, carousels |
| X/Twitter | Real-time commentary, community engagement | Daily | Short takes, threads, quote tweets |
| Instagram | Visual storytelling, personal brand | 3-5x/week | Reels, carousels, stories |
| TikTok | Discovery, younger audiences, viral potential | 3-7x/week | Short video, trends, educational |
| YouTube | Deep dives, tutorials, long-form | 1-2x/week | Videos 8-20 min, shorts |
| Newsletter | Owned audience, depth, loyalty | 1-2x/week | Long-form, curated, personal |
| Blog/Website | SEO, portfolio, evergreen content | 2-4x/month | Articles, guides, case studies |
| Podcast | Relationship building, thought leadership | 1x/week or biweekly | Interviews, commentary, series |

**4. Content Mix Formula**

A healthy content mix typically follows a ratio:
- **40% Value content**: Teaches, informs, solves problems
- **25% Engagement content**: Asks questions, sparks discussion, shares opinions
- **20% Authority content**: Research, case studies, credentials, media appearances
- **15% Personal content**: Behind the scenes, reflections, celebrations

### Phase 2: Calendar Construction

**Monthly Planning View**
- Map key dates: holidays, industry events, product launches, academic calendar
- Assign content pillars to weeks (rotating or themed)
- Identify "anchor content" (one substantial piece per week that smaller posts support)

**Weekly Planning View**
- Assign specific post types to days
- Include platform, content pillar, format, and a content prompt/brief
- Note which posts can be cross-posted vs. platform-native

**Daily Post Brief**
Each calendar entry should include:
- Date and day of week
- Platform(s)
- Content pillar
- Post type (educational, engagement, authority, personal)
- Content prompt: 1-2 sentence description of what the post covers
- Format: text, image, video, carousel, thread, story
- Call to action (if applicable)
- Hashtags or keywords (if applicable)

### Phase 3: Output Formats

**Spreadsheet (.xlsx)**: Best for teams and ongoing management
- Tab 1: Monthly overview (calendar grid)
- Tab 2: Detailed post briefs (one row per post)
- Tab 3: Content pillar definitions
- Tab 4: Performance tracking columns

**Markdown (.md)**: Best for individual creators
- Weekly sections with daily entries
- Content prompts as checklists

**Interactive artifact (.jsx)**: Best for visual planning
- Calendar view with drag-and-drop
- Color-coded by pillar or platform
- **Required:** Always include at least one fully written example content brief in the text output alongside the artifact, so the user can verify prompt quality and use it as a writing guide for remaining entries.

## Output Checklist

Before presenting any calendar, verify:

1. **Posting frequency matches time budget** — cross-check total weekly posts against the user's stated hours. If over, trim before presenting.
2. **Every pillar tied to user's actual expertise** — no generic topics the user can't speak to authentically.
3. **At least one fully written example brief included** — if producing an artifact, always include one complete example entry (with full prompt text, format, CTA) in the text output alongside it.
4. **No em dashes** — replace with commas, semicolons, or rewritten sentences.

## Content Prompt Examples

Good prompts are specific enough to reduce blank-page paralysis but flexible enough to allow creativity:

**Weak**: "Post about AI"
**Strong**: "Share one specific AI tool you used this week in your classroom, what you asked it to do, what worked, and what didn't. Include a screenshot of the output."

**Weak**: "Share research"
**Strong**: "Take one finding from your latest paper and explain it in 3 sentences a journalist could understand. End with 'Why this matters for your newsroom.'"

## Before You Begin

Ask these questions before building any calendar. Do not begin Phase 1 until you have answers to 1, 2, and 4.

1. **Platforms**: What platforms are you currently active on, and which do you want to add?
2. **Time budget**: How much time per week can you realistically spend on content creation?
3. **Existing content**: Do you have existing content (lectures, papers, talks) that can be repurposed?
4. **Goal**: What's the primary goal — visibility, community building, lead generation, or thought leadership?
5. **Brand type**: Is this for a personal brand, an organization, or a department?

## Hard Rules

- **Never suggest a posting frequency the user can't sustain.** Consistency beats volume.
- **Always tie content pillars to the user's actual expertise.** Don't suggest topics they can't speak to authentically.
- **Include repurposing strategies.** One piece of anchor content should generate 3-5 derivative posts.
- **Build in flexibility.** Leave 20% of calendar slots for reactive/timely content.

## Reference Files

This skill does not require user-provided reference files. Platform specifications, content formulas (PAS, AIDA, storytelling arc), and posting conventions are built into Claude's training.

> For spreadsheet-format output, use the `xlsx` skill after generating the calendar here.

## Test Cases

1. **Academic personal brand**: Monthly LinkedIn + newsletter calendar for a journalism professor
2. **Organizational launch**: 90-day content plan for a new research center's social media presence
3. **Repurposing pipeline**: Turn a 30-minute conference talk into 2 weeks of multi-platform content