Social Media Content Calendar: Plan Multi-Platform Campaigns

This skill turns a vague request like "build next month's social calendar" into a structured, verifiable plan. It owns the campaign structure, post briefs, channel adaptation, approvals, and publishing verification, while leaving the actual API calls to platform-specific skills such as xurl. You would reach for it when you need to coordinate several platforms at once, not for a single one-off post.

What it does

In practice, this skill walks you through a seven-step procedure that takes a campaign from constraints to confirmed publication. It forces you to define the objective, audience, and message before any content is written. It then inventories your source material so you are not publishing unsupported claims. You build a balanced theme mix, write platform-specific briefs, draft copy and assets, run an editorial and risk review, and finally schedule or hand off. The skill is strict about verification: nothing publishes from a draft or needs review state, and every published slot must have a provider-confirmed ID. For platforms without a connector, the handoff ends at approved drafts for your scheduler, and you say so rather than claiming publication.

Before you start

This is an optional skill, installed on demand. It lives at optional-skills/creative/social-media-content-calendar and is version 0.1.0. It is authored by Ben Barclay (benbarclay) for Hermes Agent and is MIT licensed. It runs on linux, macos, and windows. You will need access to the read_file and web_extract tools for inventory, the humanizer skill for voice, and the image_generate tool for visuals. For publishing, you need the relevant platform skill, such as xurl for X. If a platform has no connector, you will need your own scheduling tool to complete the handoff.

Procedure

1. Define campaign constraints

Record the objective, audience, offer or message, platforms, date range, cadence, voice, mandatory and prohibited claims, links, tracking convention, localization, and approval or publishing authority. You are done when each proposed post has a clear business purpose. This step prevents the common failure of posting content that does not serve the campaign.

2. Inventory source material

Collect verified product facts, launches, articles, media, testimonials with permission, brand assets, and key dates using read_file and web_extract. Mark claim owners and expiration. You are done when unsupported claims and missing assets are visible. This is where you catch a testimonial you do not have permission to use or a product fact that will be outdated by launch day.

3. Build themes and calendar slots

Create a balanced mix such as education, proof, product, community, event, behind-the-scenes, and conversation. Account for platform cadence and campaign milestones. You are done when dates, platforms, themes, and objectives form a coherent calendar rather than duplicate cross-posts. The goal is variety, not the same post repeated everywhere.

4. Write platform-specific briefs

For each post specify hook, core message, format, copy length, CTA, link, asset dimensions and content, accessibility text, tags and mentions, and success metric. Adapt rather than copy-paste between platforms. You are done when a creator can produce the asset without hidden context. A brief for X will not look like a brief for Instagram, and that is the point.

5. Draft copy and assets

Load humanizer for voice; generate visuals with the image_generate tool where assets are needed. Preserve factual claims and shared campaign identity while respecting platform norms. You are done when every calendar slot has draft copy and asset status. This step produces the actual content, but it is not yet ready to publish.

6. Run editorial and risk review

Check factual accuracy, tone, repetition, rights and permissions, accessibility, disclosures, link destination, date relevance, and crisis sensitivity. Mark draft, needs review, or approved; do not publish from draft. You are done when every post has a disposition and owner. This is the gate that keeps unverified claims and tone-deaf posts off your feeds.

7. Schedule or hand off

Present the approval batch. Publish or schedule only approved posts using available platform skills (xurl for X); for platforms without a connector, deliver the approved package (copy, assets, timing) for the user's scheduling tool and mark those slots handed-off, not published. Read back scheduled time, account, content preview, and provider post or job ID for anything actually published. You are done when the calendar reflects verified publishing or handoff status per slot.

When not to use it

Do not use this skill for single one-off posts. If you just need to publish one update, use the platform skill directly. The full calendar procedure would be overhead for a single post.

Limits and gotchas

The source lists several pitfalls to avoid. Identical copy on every platform is a failure, not a time-saver. Filling cadence with low-value repetitive posts undermines the campaign. Publishing unverified metrics, testimonials, or future claims is a risk. Confusing generated asset completion with scheduled publication is a common mistake. And claiming "scheduled" for platforms where the handoff ended at drafts is dishonest. The verification section reinforces these: every post must trace to a campaign objective and a verified claim inventory, no post publishes from draft or needs review, published slots have provider-confirmed IDs, and rights, permissions, and disclosures are checked before any publish.

What pairs with this

The related skills are xurl for platform API commands and humanizer for voice. Use xurl when you actually publish to X, and load humanizer when drafting copy so the voice stays consistent across the campaign.