Creating an Effective Podcast Editorial Calendar
As you get going with your podcast, you may realize that there are a lot of pieces that go into making a podcast and you are feeling overwhelmed from all the steps.
That’s why it’s important to create an editorial calendar to be able to organize your podcast content in advance and make sure you don’t miss any tasks for each episode.
Especially if you are doing everything yourself!
Here are my tips for helping you create your own calendar to help manage your time and make sure to complete all tasks with your show.
Define Your Podcasting Goals and Objectives
First, you’ll want to define your podcasting goals and objectives.
You may have already done this when you launched, but it doesn’t hurt to re-examine and confirm those goals are still what you want to achieve now.
But getting clear on your goals is important so you can align your calendar with them. That way you are staying on track with what you want to achieve with your show and there may be tasks that you are currently doing but aren’t necessary for your current goals.
So, figure out what your key objective is such as audience growth, staying consistent with your show, or even making money.
Then turn them into SMART goals that you create your calendar around. For more tips on how to create goals for your podcast, check out our blog on Golden Goose Creative on the topic, here!
Understand Your Audience and Niche
Next, you’ll want to understand and get clear on your audience and niche.
Again, you may have already done this when you launched but you may have yet to have an idea of who and what these were.
Now that you’ve been podcasting, do your research on who your audience is, what their preferences are, their interests, and even their pain points.
These insights will help you tailor your editorial calendar to their specific needs.
For example, think about what platforms they hang out on, what topics they have been enjoying (and not enjoying) with your show, and when it seems they tend to listen in most — that way you can cater to their needs.
Choose Your Content Themes and Topics
After you’ve gotten clear on what your show’s goals are and how you are going to give your listeners what they are looking for, it’s time to start brainstorming themes and topics for your episodes.
You will want to look for topics that cover an array of things such as being evergreen, trending, seasonal, and for your niche specifically.
This is also where knowing your audience can help. Consider asking them for feedback, see if there is anything specific they would like covered or what questions they’ve asked, and if you can elaborate on those in an episode.
Depending on how far out you do your content (I would recommend monthly), I would do research once or twice a month to be able to stay on top of these things but not be too far ahead where the content may not be as relevant (like trending topics).
Plan Your Content Schedule and Frequency
Now, that you’ve got your list of episode ideas, it’s time to plan your calendar.
If you aren’t currently consistent with your show I would consider determining your podcast schedule and how often you release episodes. Think about what day of the week and how often you’ll be posting (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.)
If you are already consistent I would add the days that you are posting on your calendar so you can continue to stay consistent and know what’s coming up.
I would also start planning when you’d like to record episodes, what days you prefer to do post-production and promotional creation. That way you know exactly what tasks you have to do and when you’ll get them done.
If you are looking for additional tips on how to stay consistent and batch content, check out our blog on GGC here.
Create a Content Calendar Template
After you’ve made your plan on when you are going to do certain tasks, especially if you decide to batch, it’s time to create your content calendar template.
This is something you will refer to every time you are organizing your podcast episodes and helps you not miss a task and keep track of what is to come.
Things to include are:
- Topic — that way you can insert your ideas monthly from your brainstorming list
- Episode title — you can create/brainstorm titles off your topic idea
- Guest information — make it easy for guests to schedule and you can keep track of who is coming up (and when you are recording).
- Release date
- Promotional plan — where will you be promoting and what do you plan on using to help promote?
Here are some examples of editorial calendar templates to get you started:
There are many tools that you can use to do this but I would recommend either the project management tool you already use such as Notion, Airtable, Trello, etc., or even just in your Google Calendar.
Either way, set it up so it’s easy for you to use, access, and get reminders on when tasks are coming up so you never miss anything important.
Review and Adjust Your Editorial Calendar Regularly
Once you’ve created your editorial calendar don’t forget to regularly review and adjust it so it’s always working with you and not against you.
You want to evaluate your podcast’s performance, audience feedback, and how effective your content/promotional strategy is. That way you know that it’s still helping you reach your podcasting goals and not turning your listeners off.
Then you can apply these insights to make adjustments and continue providing value and topics that your listeners want.
I encourage you to take these tips and implement the ones that work for you so you can create an effective podcast editorial calendar for your show.
Having an organized schedule will help you stay on track with your goals, stay consistent with your show, and help avoid burnout and overwhelm.
Let me know in the comments one of your favorite ways to organize your show.
If you are ready to delegate some tasks out so you can focus on the ones that you love and have time for, send us an email at Golden Goose Creative, and let’s chat about how we can support your podcasting needs.
Aleea
