content-calendar

Content Calendar

Bridges asset generation (/execute) and actual publishing. Without this, assets sit in folders forever.

When to use

• After /execute — invoked by /distribute
• "Schedule these emails / posts for the next 4 weeks"
• "Build me a content calendar that mixes [channels]"

Inputs

Input	Path
Campaign brief	clients/<name>/campaigns/<campaign>.md
Generated assets	clients/<name>/campaigns/<campaign>-assets/
Tools the client uses	Ask user — don't assume
Timezone of primary ICP	Ask user — don't assume UTC

Framework

Step 1 — Inventory

Walk through <campaign>-assets/ and list every asset. Don't schedule something you didn't inventory.

Step 2 — Sequencing logic

Order matters. Bad sequencing = familiar copy feels cold; good sequencing = same copy feels warm.

Sequencing rules:

Rule	Why
LinkedIn warmup BEFORE cold email	Recipient checks profile, sees recent post → email feels familiar
Pricing post AFTER 3 value posts	Don't lead with sell
Case study email AFTER intro email	Cold case study lands flat
Founder post BEFORE company announcement	Personal reach > brand reach
Webinar promo: 3 weeks out, 1 week out, 2 days out, day-of	One-shot promo dies

Step 3 — Cadence per channel

Channel	Reasonable cadence (seed/SeriesA)	Avoid
Founder LinkedIn	3-5 posts/week	Daily — burns out fast
Company LinkedIn	2-3 posts/week	Reposting founder verbatim
Cold email	1 sequence (3-4 emails) per ICP segment per quarter	Spamming same person twice
Nurture email (SaaS)	Behavioral triggers, not blasts	Weekly newsletter without value
Blog	1-2 posts/week if SEO-led, 1-2/month if authority-led	Daily — quality dies
Ads	Run 2-4 weeks, then refresh creatives	Set-and-forget

Step 4 — Timing within day

• LinkedIn: Tuesday-Thursday, 8-10am or 12-1pm in ICP's timezone
• X: spread throughout day; engagement window is ~30 min
• Cold email: Tuesday-Thursday, 7-9am ICP timezone
• Newsletter: Tuesday-Thursday, 10am-2pm
• Webinar promo: Tuesday or Wednesday best

Avoid: Friday afternoon, Monday morning, holidays in ICP's region.

Step 5 — Owner assignment

Every row gets an owner. "Marketing" is not an owner. A name is.

If client doesn't have multiple owners → assign founder to high-leverage assets (LinkedIn, founder emails) and marketing/freelancer to scheduled background (blog, ads).

Output 1 — Master calendar

The calendar is the source of truth for /publish — every row needs a Status column so publish can track what's done.

# Calendar — <campaign>
Campaign window: <start> → <end>
Timezone: <TZ>

## Week 1

| Date | Time | Channel | Asset | Owner | Status | Notes |
|------|------|---------|-------|-------|--------|-------|
| Mon Mar 3 | 8am | LinkedIn (founder) | post-01.md | Ciro | pending | Warmup before cold email Wed |
| Tue Mar 4 | 9am | Blog | blog-01.md | Marketing | pending | Goes live + LinkedIn share |
| Wed Mar 5 | 7am | Smartlead | emails/01-cold-open.md | SDR | pending | ICP segment A (300 contacts) |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |

## Week 2 ...

Status values (managed by /publish):

• pending — not yet published (initial state)
• published <timestamp> — went live
• scheduled <timestamp> — queued in tool (Buffer, ESP) but not posted yet
• skipped <reason> — user chose to skip
• edited — user requested changes; back to pending after re-approval

Output 2 — Sequencing rationale

## Why this order

1. **LinkedIn before email** — recipients check profile, see recent activity, email lands warm
2. **Blog before ads** — ads link to blog; blog must be live first
3. **Case study email in week 2** — week 1 builds curiosity; week 2 builds trust
4. **Webinar promo escalates** — t-21, t-7, t-2, t-0 emails

Output 3 — Tool handoff (only if user has the tool)

Ask the user which tools they use. Generate exports only for those:

Buffer CSV (social)

date,time,channel,content,media
2026-03-03,08:00,LinkedIn,"<post body>",
2026-03-05,09:00,LinkedIn,"<post body>",

Smartlead CSV (cold email)

email,firstName,companyName,sequence_step,body
{{email}},{{firstName}},{{companyName}},1,"<email 1 body>"

Mailchimp / generic ESP (nurture)

JSON or instructions for manual setup.

SaaS vs Service nuances

SaaS calendar:

• Heavy on automation (in-product, behavioral triggers)
• Drip cadences > one-shot blasts
• Calendar covers triggers + scheduled, not just scheduled
• Re-engagement campaigns based on usage decline

Service calendar:

• Wave-based email outbound (segment list, send wave, wait, send next wave)
• Founder LinkedIn is highest-leverage channel
• Calendar focuses on awareness peaks (webinar, event, launch) + steady drumbeat
• Coordinate founder + SDR posts (don't duplicate angles same week)

Principles

• Sequencing > volume. 1 well-sequenced campaign beats 4 blasted simultaneously.
• Owner per row. No "TBD."
• Timezone of ICP, not your own. Posting at 3am ICP time = invisible.
• Tool-ready output. If client uses Buffer, give them Buffer CSV — not a generic table they'll re-type.

Don't

• Don't generate calendar without asking which tools they use — wasted CSV exports
• Don't recommend daily posts unless they've shown they can sustain it
• Don't schedule a "promotion" without 2-3 warmup pieces first
• Don't ignore ICP timezone — Brazilian ICP doesn't read US morning posts