A Day in the Life: Digital Content Editor

8:30 AM: Arrive at desk with large coffee in hand. Worked a long day yesterday editing an article that came in late from one of the contributors. Check phone messages, and read and respond to e-mails relating to the next edition of the magazine. It’s a monthly publication so deadlines are usually tight for submissions, and with all the events going on at the school for alumni, there’s always a lot of ground to cover. I also scan the blog on our site, and our Facebook and Twitter pages, taking note of any trends in conversation and responding to questions as needed.

10:00 AM: Team meeting with the editors and assistants to discuss article ideas and assignments. One of the interns takes notes and then sends them to the team within a day or two of the meeting so that we’re all on the same page.

11:00 AM: Photo interview with an alumnus who authored a book that’s been on the NY Times bestseller list for the past year. She graduated 10 years ago and has accomplished much in a short time. We feature several profiles of successful alumni in each publication. It took awhile to secure this interview because she’s been on the book tour circuit, traveling around the country.

11:45 AM: Flesh out my notes from the interview and start to write the draft profile, using the content management system. 

1:00 PM: Lunch meeting with prospective advertiser, who also happens to be an alumnus.

2:00 PM: Check our social media pages again. Someone mentions on a Facebook thread that a link on our Web site isn’t working. I check our site and see that it’s true and fix the link. I also see that we still have mention in the events section of our site about an alumni event that happened over the weekend. I find the file with the photos and captions, and replace the text on the site with a post-event write-up.

3:00 PM: Write an e-mail broadcast about a new alumni career workshop that we’re kicking off this year. But I don’t send it out as soon as I’m done. As eagle-eyed as I am, it’s always a good idea to have a second, and third when possible, set of eyes review the content. I always send the draft to the managing editor and associate editor for comments and final approval.

4:00 PM: Review social media and Web analytics for the year and see that we grew our follower base by 20 percent compared to the previous year. I also see that our December magazine, which featured a cover article about alumni who have been making a name for themselves in TV and film, received a record number of clicks, shares, favorites, and retweets. I write an e-mail note about this and send it to the team.

4:30 PM: Meet with art director to review the photos, graphics, and layout for the upcoming magazine. We also discuss ideas for the images and videos for the online version of the magazine.

5:15 PM: I scroll through our Web site again and discover a technical glitch with the subscribe page. I’m unable to fix it so I call a developer and he walks me through the steps to solve the problem.

6:00 PM: After work there's an industry event. I can’t always take time out for these things but the managing editor recommended this one and I’m looking forward to enhancing my knowledge of content development and strategy. I’m especially interested in learning more about community engagement strategy. It’s also fun to meet other people in the field and learn what they’re up to with their online and social media content.