What is An Editorial Calendar and How Can It Help Your Business?

Should I Pay Attention to Editorial Calendars in 2022?

Snippet from Lexie in January of 2021: “I got ahead of myself the other week and spent hours crafting what I thought was an EPIC 2021 Editorial Calendar. I hopped on Instagram and created a quick poll asking my audience who would be interested in a free copy. (Realistically I should have reversed this order.) Within an hour I got DM’d a question…

What is an editorial calendar?

This prompted me to wonder if this individual was alone or represented the masses. So in another poll I asked, “Do you know what an editorial calendar is and how it can help your business?”

The results?

A staggering 70% said NO. So, here I am, attempting to educate my fellow entrepreneurs on both the what but also the importance of using an editorial calendar in your business.”

OKAY SO, back to the present, let’s dive in, shall we?

What is an editorial calendar?

According to Wikipedia, “An editorial calendar is used by bloggers, publishers, businesses, and groups to control publication of content across different media…”

On the publishing side, outlets tend to make this data publicly available to both attract advertisers and control publication dates to ensure regular and planned content. Public relations professionals and PR-savvy entrepreneurs utilize editorial calendars to strategically pitch stories for placement. To talk through the strategy behind informed pitching, let’s look at an example of an editorial calendar first hand.

Below is part of Forbes Magazine’s 2021 Print Editorial Calendar. (For larger publications that operate both online and in print, there are typically two different calendars.)

Let’s look at August. In August we can see that Forbes was publishing an issue on “Self-made Women”. We can also see that advertising for this issue closed on 7/12, and the print edition hit the stands on 8/17. So, if you’re a female entrepreneur with a compelling story that you think would ultimately complement this issue, then these dates should have been on YOUR editorial calendar.

Now, the standard lead-time for the majority of print editions is 3-months, some can extend to 6-months for larger issues. This means you should begin pitching relevant angles 3-months BEFORE the publication date, at the very least. It’s also worth noting that online lead times are typically shorter, and can better service breaking news. (P.S. on occasion you may find you are too early; if so, just take note. It’s better than being late and missing an opportunity to impact headlines.)

Alright, now that you know what an editorial calendar is, here is your takeaway action item.

Make your OWN editorial calendar.

Here’s how:

1. Hop online, and gather/download the editorial calendars of all your target publications. (Typically found in the advertising department if not labeled in the outlet footer.)

2. Take note of relevant and key publication and issue dates.

3. Calculate when you should begin pitching based on the listed publication dates.

4. Transfer these notes and dates onto your very own editorial calendar (this can be a physical calendar or a Google calendar…no true rules here!)