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We recently published a detailed look into what an editorial calendar is and why it is so important to a business’s marketing strategy. Now, we are going to show you exactly how you can create this powerful marketing calendar if you are in the retail industry. 

We’ll also show an example of a retail marketing editorial calendar so you can use it as inspiration as you create your own schedule and plan.

 

Step #1) Download Our Marketing Editorial Calendar

There is no reason to start from scratch as you set out to create your retail marketing editorial calendar. Save yourself the effort of building out your database on your own by downloading our free editorial calendar template.

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The Excel sheet includes a pre-made template with suggested content types that will last you for the next year.

 

If you choose to create a calendar on your own, consider the type of content that your organization produces. Includes a row for each content type as it relates to:

  • Content marketing
  • Social media
  • Paid advertising
  • On-property signage
  • On-hold messaging
  • Community relations and PR

Also, include a row that highlights important themes, major messages, and events as they relate to specific time periods. Then, you can start filling out your calendar.

 

Step #2) Fill In Your Promotions For The Year

The first step in filling in your retail marketing editorial calendar is adding information about your upcoming promotions.

Look at your year, and include any sales, specials, or launches that will be a part of your upcoming plans. Include each in the section for the correlating month.

To show you what that looks like, we’ve created a sample marketing editorial calendar for a candy store. In the example below, you can see that the business added notes about their St. Patrick’s Day and Easter candy special sales events.

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Step #3) Add Relevant Holidays

In the example, the candy store has already starting to plan for the holidays because they relate to their promotions. Do the same for your business.

Consider what upcoming holidays are relevant to your audience and highlight them on your calendar. Include holidays that have mass appeal as well as holidays that may relate specifically or uniquely to your industry or audience.

For example, the candy store may include upcoming “food holidays” that would be interesting and fun for their audience to experience.

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For help identifying holidays, check out these resources:

Step #4) Create Content Themes

To make a more cohesive content plan, develop themes that will direct your content strategy for a given amount of time. The easiest way to assign a theme is to do it on a monthly basis.
But depending on your publishing schedule, you may want to create themes that change weekly or every few months. If you frequently publish, try changing themes often. If you don’t share content frequently, stick to a theme for a longer period of time.

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Step #5) Schedule Your Promotional Content

Start by outlining the content that must create for the year. That begins with the content you need to support your promotions.

Go through all of the types of content and fill in the blanks for the promotional pieces you will create. Pay close attention to sections on:

  • Content marketing (especially website content)
  • Paid advertising
  • On-property signage
  • On-hold messaging 
  • Overhead messaging

In the example of the candy retail store, you can see how they would fill in sections that relate to their St. Patrick’s Day candy promos.

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Step #6) Schedule Your Essential Content

Once you’ve laid out the plans for your primary promotions, begin to fill in the sections of your retail marketing editorial calendar that relate to your content strategy.

Set guidelines for how often you want to publish on platforms that relate to:

  • Content marketing
  • Social media

Develop content ideas that support your promotions. And, consider upcoming themes and holidays and create posts that relate to those topics and celebrations.

The candy store may choose to fill their retail marketing editorial calendar with blog posts that connect with national food holidays, promote their St. Patrick’s Day specials, and support their monthly theme.

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Step #7) Find Inspiration For Other Content Types  

At this point, you have your promotional and essential content sections filled in. Now, take some time to explore how you can expand the impact of that content.

Consider the section on Community Relations and Public Relations to see if there are ways you can further promote your content through events, press releases, events, and sponsorships.

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Once you have all of your plans laid out in front of you, identify opportunities or content gaps. Look for ways to:

  • Fill underserved content platforms. See where you can expand into new content types.
  • Repurpose content. Consider how you can take content and use it on other platforms. (Use this full guide to learn how to repurpose content.)
  • Cross-promote content. Identify ways to promote content assets across multiple platforms.

With all of your content in one place, you can see your entire strategy and easily identify opportunities for you to build, grow, and strengthen your content plans.

It’s important to note that as you fill in the blanks — don’t feel like you need to create a piece of content for every type of content in the sheet.

Stick to what type of content works best for your audience and organization. While you may want to explore other channels, test it first to see what works before creating content for every platform.

 

Start Your Retail Marketing Editorial Calendar Right Now

If this post inspired you to create a new, organized, and strategic plan for your content — grab our free download.

The Marketing Editorial Calendar Excel template provides the framework you need to start, grow, and organize all of your messaging for the next year to come.