qa-aman/social-calendar

social-calendar

Plans a full month of content across channels. Every post has a job tied to a business goal and a quadrant in the Content Marketing Matrix. No random posting. No quadrant over-concentration.

Framework: Content Marketing Matrix

The 2x2 Matrix (Dave Chaffey, Smart Insights)

Map content by two axes:

• X axis: Emotional (left) to Rational (right) - does it appeal to feelings or logic?
• Y axis: Awareness (top) to Purchase (bottom) - is it for new audiences or ready-to-buy?

The 4 quadrants:

| Quadrant | Axes | Purpose | Content types | Primary metrics | |---|---|---|---|---| | ENTERTAIN | Emotional + Awareness | Build brand affinity through personality | Behind-the-scenes, culture, storytelling, humor | Reach, shares, followers | | INSPIRE | Emotional + Purchase | Drive action through aspiration and proof | Case studies, testimonials, transformation stories | Demo requests, trial signups | | EDUCATE | Rational + Awareness | Build authority through useful information | How-to guides, research, explainer posts, frameworks | Saves, newsletter signups, shares | | CONVINCE | Rational + Purchase | Close through logic and proof | Comparison posts, ROI data, product demos, pricing | Conversions, trial starts |

The 40/40/20 Rule

• 40% EDUCATE: builds the audience that buys
• 40% INSPIRE + CONVINCE combined: drives conversions
• 20% ENTERTAIN: builds the human brand people trust

Warning Signs

Flag these in the calendar summary if they appear:

• 60% ENTERTAIN: brand awareness without pipeline

• 60% CONVINCE: pushy, algorithmic penalty risk, audience fatigue

• 0% INSPIRE: missing social proof entirely - a critical gap in a B2B calendar
• <10% EDUCATE: no authority building, audience has no reason to follow

Weekly coverage rule

Each week should cover at least 3 of the 4 quadrants. A week that is all EDUCATE or all CONVINCE is out of balance.

When to use

• "Plan next month's content"
• "Build a content calendar for Q3"
• "What should we post this month?"
• "Give me a 4-week editorial calendar"
• "Schedule our LinkedIn and email content for June"

Inputs needed

1. Month and year: which month to plan (default: next calendar month)
2. Channels: LinkedIn organic, Twitter/X, newsletter, blog, YouTube - pick which apply
3. Primary goal this month: awareness, demand gen, retention, or event-driven (launch, webinar, conference)
4. Posting cadence per channel: how many times per week per channel (ask if not provided)
5. Themes or constraints: product launches, campaigns, events, or topics to avoid

Process

1. Load context. Read knowledge/brand/voice.md, knowledge/icp/personas.md, knowledge/kpis.md. If knowledge/brand/voice.md is missing, stop: "I need voice context. Run /onboard --brand first."

2. Check knowledge/learnings.md for past content performance data. Surface any patterns: what formats outperformed, what topics resonated, what cadence worked.

3. Check knowledge/content-library/ for existing content that can be repurposed or sequenced into the month.

4. Define the month's content pillars (3-4 max):

   • Each pillar maps to one ICP pain or goal from knowledge/icp/personas.md
   • Each pillar maps to one business outcome from knowledge/kpis.md
   • Map each pillar to its dominant quadrant (a pillar can span quadrants, but it should have a primary one)
   • Never let one pillar dominate more than 50% of posts

5. Pre-check the quadrant distribution before building week-by-week:

   • Count total planned posts for the month
   • Calculate targets: 40% EDUCATE, 20% ENTERTAIN, 40% INSPIRE+CONVINCE
   • Flag any warning signs before writing the calendar

6. Build the calendar week by week:

   # Content calendar: [Month YYYY]
   
   **Goal**: [primary goal]
   **Channels**: [list]
   **Cadence**: [X posts/week per channel]
   **Pillars**:
   - Pillar 1: [topic] -> speaks to [ICP pain] -> drives [metric] -> primary quadrant: [E/I/Ed/C]
   - Pillar 2: [topic] -> speaks to [ICP pain] -> drives [metric] -> primary quadrant: [E/I/Ed/C]
   - Pillar 3: [topic] -> speaks to [ICP pain] -> drives [metric] -> primary quadrant: [E/I/Ed/C]
   
   **Quadrant distribution target**: [N] EDUCATE | [N] ENTERTAIN | [N] INSPIRE | [N] CONVINCE
   
   ---
   
   ## Week 1 (DD-MM to DD-MM) | Quadrants this week: Ed, I, C, En
   
   | Day | Channel | Format | Pillar | Quadrant | Topic/Angle | Asset needed |
   |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
   | Mon | LinkedIn | Text post | P1 | EDUCATE | [specific angle] | None - write in chat |
   | Wed | LinkedIn | Carousel | P2 | INSPIRE | [specific angle] | 6-slide design |
   | Thu | Newsletter | Issue | P3 | EDUCATE | [specific angle] | Full draft |
   | Fri | Twitter/X | Thread | P1 | CONVINCE | [specific angle] | None - write in chat |
   
   **Week 1 theme**: [one sentence connecting the week's posts]
   **Leading into**: [what week 2 builds toward]
   **Quadrant coverage this week**: Ed (2), I (1), C (1), En (0) - [flag if <3 quadrants covered]
   
   ## Week 2 (DD-MM to DD-MM)
   [same format]
   
   ## Week 3 (DD-MM to DD-MM)
   [same format]
   
   ## Week 4 (DD-MM to DD-MM)
   [same format]
   
   ---
   
   ## Quadrant distribution summary
   | Quadrant | Count | % of total | Target | Status |
   |---|---|---|---|---|
   | EDUCATE | X | X% | 40% | [on track / over / under] |
   | ENTERTAIN | X | X% | 20% | [on track / over / under] |
   | INSPIRE | X | X% | 20% | [on track / over / under] |
   | CONVINCE | X | X% | 20% | [on track / over / under] |
   
   **Warning sign flags**: [list any quadrant >60% or missing entirely, or clear the flags]
   
   ---
   
   ## Asset production queue
   List every asset that needs to be created, by type:
   - **Write in chat** (no design needed): [list of posts]
   - **Needs design**: [list with specs]
   - **Needs long-form draft**: [list]
   - **Needs video/audio**: [list]
   
   ## Skills to run for production
   - `/linkedin-post` for: [list specific posts by week/day]
   - `/newsletter-writer` for: [list issues]
   - `/content-repurposer` if: [list any anchor pieces to atomize]
   - `/thought-leadership-writer` for: [list long-form pieces]
   

7. Self-check:

   • Every post has a quadrant label
   • Monthly quadrant distribution hits 40/40/20 target (within 5% tolerance)
   • No quadrant is >60% of the total
   • No quadrant is 0% (especially INSPIRE - missing social proof is a common blind spot)
   • Each week covers at least 3 of 4 quadrants
   • Every post maps to a pillar, and every pillar maps to a business metric
   • No two consecutive posts on the same topic on the same channel
   • At least one proof point or customer reference per week
   • Newsletter anchors the week it falls in (other posts support it)
   • Cadence matches what was requested - do not over-schedule
   • Does the calendar serve all stages of the buyer journey? (Awareness through Purchase)

8. Save to output/social-calendar/<DD-MM-YYYY>-<month-slug>.md with frontmatter:

   ---
   format: social-calendar
   month: [Month YYYY]
   goal: [awareness|demand|retention|launch]
   channels: [list]
   pillars: [list]
   quadrant-distribution: {educate: X%, entertain: X%, inspire: X%, convince: X%}
   created: DD-MM-YYYY
   ---
   

9. Offer next actions:

   • "Run /linkedin-post for any post on the calendar and I'll write it now."
   • "Run /newsletter-writer for [month] issue [N] to draft it."
   • "Run /content-repurposer on [anchor piece] to generate derivative posts."
   • "Set a reminder to run /retro at the end of the month to capture what worked."

Channel-specific rules

LinkedIn organic:

• Max 5 posts/week or engagement drops
• Vary formats: text, carousel, poll, document
• Best days: Tuesday-Thursday
• Never post twice in one day

Twitter/X:

• Threads outperform single tweets for B2B
• 3-5 tweets per thread is the sweet spot
• Quote-tweet your own LinkedIn posts for cross-channel reach

Newsletter:

• One issue per week maximum for B2B audiences
• Tuesday or Wednesday sends outperform Monday and Friday
• Issue topic should anchor the week's social content

Blog/SEO:

• One pillar article per month minimum
• Long-form takes 2 weeks to write, edit, publish - account for lead time
• Every blog post generates 3-5 social posts via /content-repurposer

Rules

• Never plan more posts than the team can realistically produce. If cadence seems high, flag it: "This is [N] posts/week. Confirm this is achievable before I finalize."
• Never schedule a product post without a paired proof point (stat, customer quote, or case study reference). Product posts without proof are CONVINCE posts that cannot convince.
• If knowledge/learnings.md has data showing a format underperforms, do not include it in the plan without flagging.
• No filler content. Every post earns its slot with a specific business reason and a quadrant assignment.
• If the user's goal is pure awareness, the mix can shift to 50% EDUCATE + 30% ENTERTAIN + 20% INSPIRE/CONVINCE. Adjust and note the shift explicitly.