--- name: editorial-calendar description: "Use when shaping cadence — evergreen / campaign / reactive split, beat-mapping across channel stages, content-debt management. Triggers on 'plan our content cadence', 'what should we publish'." status: active tier: senior source: package domain: product context_spine: [product, customer-segment, channel-stage, funnel-stage] recommended_for_user_types: [creator] workspaces: - gtm packs: - gtm-marketing lifecycle: active trust: level: professional confidence: high human_review_required: false install: default: true removable: true --- # editorial-calendar ## When to use - A content programme is producing assets in bursts (campaign-shaped only) and the cadence is brittle the quarter the campaign rests. - The team owes more drafts than it can ship and the backlog is functioning as content-debt rather than queue — surface and prioritise. - A new audience-by-message matrix exists and the team needs to translate it into a repeating cadence with beat-mapping across channel stages. Do NOT use to draft the asset itself (downstream), pick channel- specific tactics like ad creative or email subject lines (out of scope — channel-agnostic skill), or sequence a one-off launch wave (route to `gtm-launch`). ## Cognition cluster - **Mental model 3 — Pareto principle (80/20).** Roughly 20 % of the editorial beats produce 80 % of the audience pull. The calendar is the discipline of doubling down on the 20 % and letting the 80 % be reactive, not core. See [`docs/contracts/mental-models.md`](../../../docs/contracts/mental-models.md) § 3. - **Mental model 18 — Pull vs. push systems.** Evergreen content is a *pull* system (the audience finds it); campaigns are a *push* system (we time the arrival). The calendar separates the two so campaign collapse does not collapse pull. See `mental-models.md` § 18. - **Context-spine — product + customer-segment + channel-stage + funnel-stage.** Read **product** for what is shippable as proof, **customer-segment** for who reads which beat, **channel-stage** for where the audience is in the awareness arc, and **funnel-stage** for whether a beat is top-of-funnel reach or mid-funnel proof. See [`context-spine`](../../../docs/contracts/context-spine.md). ## Procedure ### Step 0: Inherit the message stack and audience matrix Identify the locked `primary-message.md`, `supporting-proofs.md`, and `audience-matrix.md` from [`messaging-architecture`](../messaging-architecture/SKILL.md). The editorial calendar is a cadence translation of the matrix; without the matrix it is content-as-impulse, not content-as-system. ### Step 1: Analyze the inherited cadence Review existing surfaces: what has the team published in the last two quarters, what is its evergreen pull (organic traffic over time), and what was campaign-only (a single spike and decay). The output is two lists: *load-bearing evergreen* and *campaign artefacts that have already paid back*. Everything else is content debt — name it explicitly. ### Step 2: Classify each beat — evergreen · campaign · reactive Three buckets, never collapsed: - **Evergreen.** Beats that map to a load-bearing proof and a durable audience question. Authored once, refreshed quarterly. Pull system. - **Campaign.** Beats keyed to a wave (launch, event, season). Authored to a date. Push system. Decommissioned by name when the wave closes. - **Reactive.** Beats keyed to a market or competitor event. No pre-allocated slot; the calendar reserves *capacity*, not a topic. ### Step 3: Beat-map across channel-stage × funnel-stage For each audience in the matrix, plot **one** evergreen beat per *(channel-stage, funnel-stage)* cell that the audience actually lives in. Empty cells are explicit gaps; they do not auto-fill. Beats per cell beyond one are content noise, not coverage. ### Step 4: Validate against the Pareto cut and the pull-vs-push line Validate the calendar on three checks: 1. **Pareto cut.** Identify the 20 % of beats that, if dropped, would visibly shrink audience pull. Verify exactly that 20 % has the highest authoring investment. If high investment is going into the 80 %, the calendar is upside-down — rebalance. 2. **Pull-vs-push separation.** Confirm campaign collapse does not collapse evergreen — evergreen surfaces are not on the campaign author's critical path. 3. **Reactive capacity.** Confirm reactive slots reserve hours, not topics. A reactive slot with a pre-decided topic is a campaign in disguise. ### Step 5: Manage content debt explicitly Inventory the debt list from Step 1. For each item: *repay* (refresh and republish), *archive* (remove from indexed surfaces), or *retire* (delete). Untouched debt compounds — it is not free to leave on the shelf. ### Step 6: Hand back Hand the artefacts to [`content-funnel-design`](../content-funnel-design/SKILL.md) for funnel-stage-to-shape mapping, and to [`release-comms`](../release-comms/SKILL.md) when campaign waves land near a launch wave from [`gtm-launch`](../gtm-launch/SKILL.md). ## Related Skills **WHEN to use this** - The unit of work is the *cadence* (which beats repeat at which frequency on which surface), not a single asset. - A team is over-investing in campaigns and under-investing in evergreen pull. - A content-debt list is silently growing and needs explicit repay / archive / retire decisions. **WHEN NOT to use this** - Mapping each funnel stage to a content **shape** (deep-dive, comparison, demo) — route to [`content-funnel-design`](../content-funnel-design/SKILL.md). - Drafting voice attributes or tone-by-context matrix — route to [`voice-and-tone-design`](../voice-and-tone-design/SKILL.md). - Sequencing a launch wave with gates and beats — route to [`gtm-launch`](../gtm-launch/SKILL.md). - Authoring the asset copy — out of scope here (downstream). ## When the agent should load this - "Build us an editorial calendar for the next two quarters." - "Wir produzieren zu viele Kampagnen-Artefakte — wo ist die Evergreen-Linie?" - "Beat-map the cadence against the audience matrix." - "What is our content-debt list and what do we repay first?" - "Reactive capacity is full of pre-planned topics — fix the calendar." ## Output 1. **`cadence-classification.md`** — every active beat tagged evergreen · campaign · reactive · debt, with the Pareto-cut ranking inside the evergreen bucket. 2. **`beat-map.md`** — audience × channel-stage × funnel-stage grid with one evergreen beat per occupied cell, empty cells explicitly named as gaps. 3. **`content-debt-ledger.md`** — every debt item with a *repay*, *archive*, or *retire* decision and the date it lapses. ## Gotcha - "We are evergreen-first" is the most common self-description and almost never true on the calendar — verify by authoring investment, not intent. - Reactive capacity that is full of pre-planned topics is campaign capacity wearing reactive clothing; the calendar will betray that mid-quarter. - Content debt with no archive / retire date is a roadmap pretending to be a queue. Refuse the open-ended *"we will get to it"* row. ## Do NOT - Do NOT draft channel-specific tactics (subject lines, ad creative, video specs) — the calendar is channel-agnostic; tactics live with the channel owner. - Do NOT collapse campaign and evergreen on the same critical path — campaign delay should not stall evergreen publish. - Do NOT inflate beats past one per matrix cell; the cadence will not survive a quarter of vacation. ## Runnable example Mid-market HR analytics tool, audience matrix locked (HR director · CFO · IT-security): - Cadence classification — evergreen (4 beats, Pareto-cut top 2 carry pull); campaign (2 beats keyed to board-quarter launch wave); reactive (8 hours per fortnight reserved); debt (11 items: 5 repay, 4 archive, 2 retire). - Beat-map — HR director (mid-funnel proof): one cohort-retention deep-dive per quarter. CFO (decision-funnel proof): one ROI calculator refresh per board-quarter. IT-security (top-funnel awareness): one HRIS-integration architecture explainer evergreen. - Hand-off → `content-funnel-design` translates each beat into its content shape; `release-comms` co-schedules board-quarter campaign with launch waves.