How I Plan My Editorial Calendar

D.C. blogger Alicia Tenise shares how she plans her blog and social media editorial calendar out with the help of CoSchedule

One of the most frequent questions I’m asked about blogging is about organization. How does one plan out content and promote their content on a regular basis? Over the last few years that I’ve been blogging, I’ve tried a million different programs. I started off by planning an editorial calendar in Google Calendar, and then planning out my social media posts with Hootsuite. The method was okay, and worked for a while, but I disliked that my edit calendar and my social media scheduling were housed in two separate programs.

I was doing pretty okay with social and edit planning, when I saw that one of my blog friends, Pink Champagne Problems, was using this awesome tool called CoSchedule. Trust me: if you own a WordPress blog and want to seamlessly plan your blog and social calendar, this is the tool for you!
 

How CoSchedule Works…

Plan a blog calendar. There are three main features that I use with my plan: tasks, planning out blog posts, and planning out social media. My process typically looks like this: if I get a sponsored campaign, I mark it down in my calendar immediately. It syncs up to WordPress, and when you put a blog post in CoSchedule, it will automatically make a draft for you in WordPress. Pretty cool, huh? You can set the time you want the post to go live, as well as the categories the post should fall under right on the CoSchedule website as well.

CoSchedule's Task Option

Plan out tasks. The second thing I do? I can schedule out tasks in CoSchedule, which is a gamechanger. This helps a lot whenever I have a sponsored post, and I have a draft due on a certain date: I can mark what date I need to get it done, and cross it off when I complete it. CoSchedule can also send an email reminder a day before any of your tasks are due to help keep you on track as well!

CoSchedule Editorial Calendar

Plan out social posts. The third feature? Well, this is my favorite: I can use CoSchedule to schedule out my social media which is amazing. As soon as I’m done writing a blog post and hit “Schedule”, I have the option to write out social posts for Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram and CoSchedule will schedule these posts out automatically at the most optimal time for my audience. As you can see, I end up scheduling several social blasts per day — which is amazing.

CoSchedule Social Media Planning for Bloggers

If you don’t want to head to the CoSchedule website on a regular basis, that’s ok too — as soon as you wrap up a post, you have these amazing options to blast out the post on social media on the same day as publish, or a later date. As soon as I wrap up a post, I schedule it to be promoted on a variety of different days, because it’s super important to share your content on social more it once!

Boom, there you have it: the tool that pretty much saved my social strategy. I was honestly considering bringing on an intern or VA because promoting on social is another beast of it’s own as a blogger, but CoSchedule seriously helped me step my game up!

Want to try CoSchedule for yourself? Get it free for 14 days

Leave a Comment

31 Comments

  1. Nataly Kimball wrote:

    Such great tips! I am always struggling with planning my calendar. This will come in handy!

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  2. Gosh I’ve never heard of them, I’m seriously considering this! I’m having such a hard time consistently posting on Twitter & Facebook. I feel like I could spend 10 hours scheduling social media!
    I’m really partial to Buffer, but this is pretty amazing. Thanks for the overview Alicia, I like hearing how other people use platforms before I make a big jump!
    xx

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  3. Kristina wrote:

    What a great tool! And can I just add that your bedroom is SO pretty!!

    xo, Kristina

    Medicine & Manicures

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  4. Kelsey H wrote:

    What a great tool to help you stay organized! I need to start planning out my posts in advance!

    xo Kelsey | http://www.chasingcinderellablog.com

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  5. Brock wrote:

    Thanks for this! Glad to hear you’re enjoying CoSchedule. 🙂

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  6. This is super helpful! Thank you for the details on CoSchedule!

    https://bybreannamarie.com/

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  7. Wow this sounds amazing! Can you use it with blogger too?

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  8. This looks amazing, i’ve never heard of this before! I definitely need to get better with scheduling blog posts and creating proper content calenders, so this has definitely inspired me. Thanks!

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  9. Planning my tasks is what always gets me in trouble! I need to do a lot better about that. Great info!`

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  10. Oh how I’ve fallen in love with Coschedule! I’m trying the Instagram feature this weekend, can’t wait to see how that works! Do you use it for Insta too?

    Xx Taylor
    http://lightscameracatwalk.com/

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  11. Kaitlyn Brough wrote:

    I love this and def need to use it! CoScheduler sounds incredible. As a new blogger, I really appreciate this!

    Kaitlyn
    http://www.mypostpartumlife.com

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  12. This is so great! I’ve been looking at getting my scheduling and planning more organized this year. Thanks for the tips!

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  13. Kassy Sanchez wrote:

    I’m definitely going to have to check this one out! I need something to kick myself into high gear when it comes to organization for my blog!

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  14. Kayleigh wrote:

    This sounds amazing! I want to start looking into more softwares that help plan blogging work.
    http://www.kayleighskloset.com

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  15. Dana Mannarino wrote:

    HOW AMAZING IS IT?! I don’t know life without CoSchedule now! So happy you’re loving it girl!

    Pink Champagne Problems

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  16. lexi wrote:

    Umm, I think you’ve just sold me! This sounds awesome. <3
    xx Lexi, Glitter, Inc.

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  17. Neelofar wrote:

    Thanks for the tips! Looks so user friendly!
    Neelofar
    http://www.theloveliestlily.com

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  18. CoSchedule is fantastic. It’s truly changed the game for me!

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  19. MichelleCat wrote:

    This is awesome and going to look into it ~ Thank you for the tips and page posts 🙂

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  20. Jenny wrote:

    I’ve heard good things about CoSchedule but have never tried it for myself. I might need to though!

    Posted 1.6.17 Reply
  21. Mom Noms wrote:

    I have heard nothing but good things about coschedule! I am going to try the free 14 days and see if it’s right for me!

    Posted 1.7.17 Reply
  22. Rachel Kendall Koller wrote:

    I’m just starting out and haven’t heard a lot about coschedule. I’m definitely going to be looking into it. Thanks for sharing!

    Posted 1.7.17 Reply
  23. I’ve heard great things about CoSchedule! I love their Headline Analyzer tool! 🙂

    Posted 1.7.17 Reply
  24. Ashleigh wrote:

    This is amazing! I have been needing to get on the scheduling train where social media is concerned! Thank you for sharing!

    Posted 1.7.17 Reply
  25. Every where I turn lately people are talking about coschedule! I use their headline analyzer but i think i should use it for more!

    Rachel | The Confused Millennial

    Posted 1.8.17 Reply
  26. I LOVE coschedule! It makes social media so much easier!

    Posted 1.8.17 Reply
  27. Natasha Massey Stoneking wrote:

    this is SO helpful!!!! i’ve been wanting to get more organized for my blog this year and i am saving these pins for sure

    Posted 1.9.17 Reply
  28. Planning is so key in blogging!!! Esp when working another full-time job on top of it. Thanks for sharing these tips for getting organized

    -Morgan
    How 2 Wear It [] http://how2wearit.com

    Posted 1.9.17 Reply
  29. Mollie Sheperdson wrote:

    Ohhhh def going to need to check this out!

    xx Mollie

    Posted 1.9.17 Reply
  30. Brianna Dance wrote:

    Very helpful information for a new blogger like myself!

    Thanks,

    Brianna Dance
    http://www.powerofcare.org/

    Posted 1.16.17 Reply