Before the publishing calendar: what do you need the content to do?
You might ask for “a month's content plan” and get a calendar full of occasions, ideas, and titles. But when you ask why you will publish all this, the only goal may be to keep the page posting. A calendar makes organization easier after the direction is clear.
Choose a goal that matters to your work: explaining a service people do not understand, attracting suitable inquiries, helping customers who have started using the product, or showing your expertise to a new audience. You may have several goals, but you need to know which one each piece serves.
Learning example: A trainer offers an Excel workshop for employees and wants to reach the people who actually need it.
If people ask about the level of an Excel workshop, part of our content should help them decide whether the training suits them. We may need a video with an exercise or a page explaining the prerequisites. A post about “the importance of self-development” may be pleasant, but it does not answer the same question.
Also write down what you can produce: who will write, film, and design? What examples do you have? What does your time allow? A plan you can review and publish is more useful than a large schedule you leave in a file.
Someone hearing about you for the first time differs from someone asking for details
The customer journey means a person needs different information while learning about a problem, comparing solutions, preparing to sign up, and after starting to use the service. People do not have to follow this order, and they may return to asking questions and comparing. Use it to understand what they need at that moment.
| The person’s question | Content that could help | Something to review |
|---|---|---|
| How can I save time on a recurring spreadsheet task? | Explain one problem and its solution with an example | Did people understand and try it, or save the guide? |
| Should I learn on my own or do I need a workshop? | A comparison based on level, time, and help needed | Have inquiries become clearer about the need? |
| Is my level suitable? | A sample exercise, prerequisites, and training method | Did the details reach them, and did suitable requests come in? |
| I attended and want to apply what I learned | A follow-up exercise and an explanation of a common mistake | Was the practice completed, and what difficulty appeared? |
Introductory content may lead to a signup, and specialized content may attract a new audience. Review what happened instead of turning the categories into rigid rules.
Choose an angle where you can add value
The topic might be “learning Excel.” The angle is narrower: “How do you choose training suited to your daily tasks?” An Insight is an observation that explains a need. For example, someone may need to see an application close to their work more than they need to learn more feature names. This observation needs evidence behind it, or it remains a hypothesis.
Ask the assistant to suggest directions from the questions and evidence you gathered, and explain their differences: one clarifies the problem, another compares two solutions, and another presents a real experience you are allowed to publish. If you have already chosen the angle, have it develop that angle rather than choose the topic again.
Kallaway’s materials in the notebook focus on differences in topic, depth of explanation, evidence, and presentation. We can use these questions: Do I have a real example? Am I explaining to a specific group? Can I clarify a part people rush past? I do not have to change everything competitors do to add something useful.
The same idea may need a different format
If you are explaining a software step, a screen recording with an example may clarify it faster than a long description. If you are comparing options, a table or carousel may help. If you are discussing a detailed experience, a longer post or explanatory video may suit it. Choose the format based on what the person needs to see and understand.
Choose the platform based on where your audience is, how they use it, and your production capacity. Do not assume LinkedIn must be formal or that every Instagram idea must be a Reel. Define the purpose, then test the format.
For a small trial plan for the workshop, we could start with three pieces: a screen recording of a recurring problem, a comparison of two learning paths, and a sample exercise that shows the level.
Prepare a brief for each piece before writing the text
Make the table help you produce the content. Include the audience, question, goal, angle, evidence, format, and platform, along with the action you suggest to the reader and who will prepare and review it. If evidence is missing, mark the piece as needing more work instead of moving it into design.
A CTA is what you ask someone to do: try a step, see the details, ask a question, or download a file. Choose it when it supports the content. Every post does not need to end with multiple requests, and every guide does not need a sales pitch.
You can follow the steps in whichever assistant you use. Open the tool and upload the inputs listed beside the prompt. File, search, and connection support varies by account. If there is no connection to the source, provide the material yourself.
Copy the prompt as it is, or tailor it with your details first.
Tailor the prompt to your workOptional: add your details and the prompt adjusts itself
View full prompt
Compare the result with the goal, then improve the plan
KPIs are the measures you track to see whether the work supports the goal. Reach and views matter when introducing yourself to new people. Relevant inquiries matter when explaining a service. Completing the practice matters when teaching. Views alone do not tell you what people understood or bought.
Keep details about each piece: when it was published, who it targeted, its goal, and whether it had paid promotion. Compare similar pieces, and distinguish the data you have from possible explanations. If messages increased, check whether they actually came from the intended audience. If you have no tracking that connects sales to content, do not invent a percentage of sales it generated.
Instead of asking “Analyze performance and tell me what is best,” ask for an evidence-backed observation and a limited next experiment. The issue may be the presentation, the page people visit, or the clarity of the service, rather than just the opening sentence.
Copy the prompt as it is, or tailor it with your details first.
Tailor the prompt to your workOptional: add your details and the prompt adjusts itself
View full prompt
Plan three pieces with different purposes
Take one audience need. Prepare a piece that explains the problem, one that answers a comparison question, and one that shows the application. Check whether their value really differs or they merely rephrase the same thing.