content-calendar-planner

Content Calendar Planner

The "Editor-in-Chief" of your content operation. Designs a strategic narrative that moves your audience from Awareness to Conversion using the Pillar-Cluster (Cascade) model — calibrated to your offer price and audience temperature.

Step 0: Offer Calibration

Before planning content, classify the offer to determine how much trust-building is required:

Ticket	Trust depth needed	CTA progression
< €200	Minimal — 2-3 touchpoints	Can move to soft CTA in week 2
€200–€999	Moderate — 4-6 touchpoints	Soft CTA in week 3, hard CTA week 4
€1000–€5000	High — 6+ touchpoints before any pitch	Week 1-2: pure value, Week 3: social proof, Week 4: invitation
> €5000 / B2B	Very high — direct CTA is rarely the close	All content routes to "book a call" or "apply", never to a buy button

Rule for high-ticket: Asking for a sale in week 1 with a €3000 offer destroys trust. The calendar must EARN the right to pitch. Content months 1-2 should contain zero direct sales messages.

Step 1: Load Strategic Context

• Business Goals: data/2-Domaines/business-profile.json — what is being sold, offer type
• Audience: data/2-Domaines/icp.json — pain points, vocabulary, trust barriers
• Voice: data/2-Domaines/voice-dna.json — format matches style
• Constraints: Frequency per platform, team size, primary channel

Step 2: Monthly Belief Goal

Ask: "What one belief should the audience hold at month end that they don't hold today?"

This is the editorial spine. Every piece of content either builds toward or reinforces this belief. If you can't name the belief shift, you don't have a strategy — you have a schedule.

Step 3: Evergreen vs Topical Split

Before generating topics, classify them:

Type	Definition	Placement
Evergreen	Relevant in 12 months. Foundational ideas.	Write first — becomes the Hero asset
Topical	Tied to news, season, trend. Expires.	Fill gaps — never anchors the calendar
Perennial	Evergreen but needs updating annually (data, examples)	Mark for review date

Rule: Hero assets must be evergreen or perennial. Never anchor the calendar on a trend piece that expires.

Step 4: The Cascade Architecture

HERO (1x/week or bi-weekly)
└── Long-form blog, newsletter, or YouTube video
    └── Answers a core question the ICP has
    └── Optimised for search or shares

SPLINTERS (2-3x/week, 24-48h after Hero)
└── LinkedIn post / Twitter thread / Instagram carousel
    └── One idea from the Hero, reframed for platform
    └── Different angle — not a summary

SIGNALS (Daily or 5x/week)
└── Short observations, questions, reactions
    └── Pure relationship-building, no selling
    └── Easiest to create — lowest stakes

Step 5: Content Mix Check

Category	Target	What it does
Value (how-to, insight, framework)	40%	Builds authority and trust
Proof (case study, result, testimonial)	30%	Reduces risk, builds credibility
Personal (story, opinion, behind-scenes)	20%	Builds relationship, humanises
Sales (soft or direct CTA)	10%	Converts — only when trust is earned

For high-ticket offers: Sales = 0% for first 6-8 weeks. Redistribute to Value (50%) + Proof (35%) + Personal (15%).

Step 6: Assemble the Calendar

Week [N] — Theme: [Belief being built]

MON: [Hero] — [Title/Angle] | Type: [Evergreen/Topical] | Format: [Blog/Newsletter/Video]
TUE: [Splinter 1] — [Platform: LinkedIn] — [Angle from Hero]
WED: [Signal] — [Platform: Twitter/LinkedIn] — [Short observation]
THU: [Splinter 2] — [Platform: Instagram/Twitter] — [Different angle from Hero]
FRI: [Signal or Curation] — [Platform] — [Resource share + opinion]

CTA level this week: [None / Soft / Direct]
Trust-building phase: [Awareness / Consideration / Decision]

Step 7: Phase KPIs

Each phase of the calendar has measurable success indicators:

Phase	Weeks	Primary KPI	Secondary KPI
Awareness	1–2	Reach / Impressions	Follower growth
Consideration	3–4	Saves / Shares / CTR	Email signups
Conversion	5–6	Click-to-offer rate	Booked calls / Purchases
Retention	Ongoing	Replies / DMs / Testimonials	Churn rate (email unsubscribes)

Minimum measurement setup: Track at least one KPI per phase. A calendar with no measurement is a production schedule, not a strategy.

Step 8: Production Queue

After generating the calendar, output a production to-do list:

PRODUCTION QUEUE — [Month]

MUST WRITE FIRST (Hero assets — evergreen):
□ [Title] — [Format] — [Deadline: DD/MM]

SPLINTERS (can batch after Hero is done):
□ [Post title] — [Platform] — [Day]

SIGNALS (generate in batches of 5):
□ [Batch description] — [Platform]

RECYCLE (evergreen from archive):
□ [Old piece] → [New angle] — [Platform]

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Sentinel Integration (when installed)

SENTINEL_ROOT = "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/../sentinel-v8"
sentinel_installed = file_exists(f"{SENTINEL_ROOT}/.claude-plugin/plugin.json")

If Sentinel is installed, activate before the Cascade model runs — between Step 2 (belief goal) and Step 3 (evergreen/topical split). Run sentinel-diverge on the proposed monthly theme:

1. Skeptical reader — "This person has seen 200 posts on this topic. What makes yours worth reading?"
2. Your best client — "Does this month's content address what they're struggling with right now?"
3. Competitor — "If a direct competitor saw this calendar, what would they do to outflank it?"
4. New subscriber — "Someone finds you for the first time. What impression does this month create?"
5. Search intent — "What are people actually typing when they have this problem?"

Ask: "Which perspective shifted your thinking?" Let the answer refine the belief goal before ideation begins.

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Output

Markdown table grid + production to-do list. See references/strategy.md for extended Cascade Architecture templates and anti-patterns.

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Integration Points

• Receives from: voice-dna-creator, icp-creator, business-profile-creator
• Feeds into: All content skills via {{calendar.this_week_theme}}
• Triggered by: /copywriter:plan