Success on social media begins with a stable plan. Fairly than posting when inspiration strikes, it’s essential to zoom out to align content material along with your particular campaigns and general social media technique. Good social media planners will help you construct model consciousness, drive engagement, and keep a constant posting schedule.

monday.com: A visible social media planner for content material groups

monday.com is a standout selection for small, medium, or massive content material groups that depend on visible cues and coloration coding to get work performed. The software program expertly combines mission administration ideas with social media advertising and marketing in an intuitive and user-friendly manner.

Plus, it’s free for as much as two customers so you’ll be able to attempt it out for some time with a small group earlier than deciding if it’s best for you.

It has the whole lot you should plan new content material, keep organized, and monitor the standing of your upcoming posts.

Extra on monday.com: monday.com Evaluate | monday.com vs Wrike | monday.com vs Airtable.

Handle each facet of social media from a single supply of reality with monday.com. Picture: monday.com

monday.com is especially helpful for centralizing social content material. You’ll be able to add your whole digital property, plan your content material calendar, and assign work to the suitable staff members in a single place.

When information get too massive to add straight, you’ll be able to simply hyperlink them with Google Drive, Field, or Dropbox integrations as an alternative.

The template additionally connects with Fb Advertisements, letting you monitor efficiency and tie it again to your assignments, high-level objectives, and tasks with out leaving the platform.

For groups that want flexibility, monday.com provides the whole lot you want, from calendar views and timelines to staff workload, Kanban boards, types, and extra.

ClickUp: Versatile social media administration for groups of all sizes

ClickUp provides complete mission administration and staff collaboration options, beginning with among the best free plans I’ve seen in the marketplace.

There are over 1,000+ templates within the ClickUp library, however the two under stand out for social media planning. One is easy, the opposite is for extra strategic planning and superior scheduling.

Extra on ClickUp: ClickUp Evaluate | ClickUp vs Asana | ClickUp vs Notion.

Template 1: Easy cross-channel social media planning

Managing content material throughout a number of platforms will be tough. This templates you deal with widespread questions, like timing your posts and adapting content material for various channels.

Its color-coded calendar shows key data at a look, together with publish dates, channels, content material sorts, and themes.

This beginner-friendly social planner will help you propose concepts and schedule upcoming posts. Picture: Clickup.com

A notable benefit to utilizing this template is inbuilt knowledge tacking. As an alternative of leaping between platforms to verify analytics, you’ll be able to analyze put up efficiency proper inside the platform.

This makes it straightforward to establish profitable content material, sorts, and themes so you’ll be able to double down on what’s working.

The template additionally contains area to plan hashtags, arrange content material concepts, and arrange an approval workflow to manage high quality earlier than posts go reside.

Template 2: A complicated various for planning, strategizing, and scheduling

The earlier template was on the less complicated facet. This one takes issues a bit additional. On high of fundamental planning and scheduling, you additionally get 19 customized standing choices for detailed workflow administration.

Total, it’s very best for groups that deal with loads of quantity and want to keep up strategic overview whereas adhering to formal processes and high quality checks.

Plan each facet of your social media posts with this customizable template from ClickUp. Picture: Clickup.com

Other than statuses, it provides 5 customizable views plus distinctive options, like embedded X feeds and built-in SOP documentation you’ll be able to regulate for every channel.

As your campaigns and methods change, it’s additionally straightforward to regulate plans on the fly, change up your schedule, add new duties, delete duties, tag related staff members, and have conversations about these updates with out leaving ClickUp.

Your complete staff can keep looped in with customized alerts for process assignments and real-time notifications as content material strikes by your workflow.

Wrike: A social media planner for big groups

Wrike shines as a extra sturdy, inflexible, and complete answer for big groups. Whereas its free tier has fewer options than its opponents, premium plans provide enterprise-grade capabilities whereas sustaining ease of use for all kinds of customers.

If you happen to’re publishing lots of of posts each month throughout totally different channels, Wrike will help convey order and precision to the complexity.

Extra on Wrike: Wrike Evaluate | Wrike vs Smartsheet | Wrike vs. Asana.

Handle and prioritize excessive quantity social media schedules with Wrike. Picture: Wrike.com

Wrike’s social media planner offers clear deadline monitoring and planning options, however its actual power lies in streamlining the content material pipeline from idea to publication.

You’ll be able to simply arrange dynamic request types that enable non-marketing staff to submit content material concepts or content material requests, together with all the important particulars. Kind submissions can embrace the whole lot from target market, put up kind, required property, lead objectives, ROI tasks, deadlines, and extra.

These submissions robotically populate your backlog for scheduling, prioritizing, and assigning to the fitting ream.

On high of that, Wrike permits you to consolidate and arrange crucial social media metrics in a single place, letting you monitor efficiency at scale with out disrupting established workflows.

Teamwork: Streamlined social media planner for companies

Teamwork is an all-around stable mission administration device, however it’s finest for companies or freelancers who frequently work with purchasers.

It’s free for as much as 5 customers however its paid plans are packed full of specialised options for shopper collaboration and managing dozens of tasks on the similar time. Plus, each plan contains limitless shopper customers so that you by no means must pay for touchdown extra offers.

Extra on Teamwork: Teamwork Evaluate | Teamwork vs monday.com.

Plan out collaborative social media schedules, assign your staff, and monitor progress with Teamwork. Picture: Teamwork.com

This template and the platform itself excel at creating clear workflows between you and your purchasers.

Groups will be devoted to shopper workspaces, purchasers can solely see what you enable them to, there are administration approval roles, and everybody can simply monitor progress whereas sustaining open (and arranged) communication.

Each shopper has their very own account and permissions so you’ll be able to preserve social media content material organized with out by accident looping in somebody who shouldn’t be there.

You’ll be capable of arrange particular person content material backlogs, calendars, plans, and tasks for every shopper. It’s also possible to handle suggestions and revisions in the identical place.

Most plans embrace time monitoring and the choice of setting billable hours, measuring precise vs deliberate budgets, and even deal with invoices straight inside the platform. Increased tiers offer you retainer administration, useful resource scheduling, superior reporting, and dashboards.

They’ve critically considered the whole lot.

TeamGantt: Strategic, timeline-based social planning

Because the identify implies, TeamGantt makes a speciality of Gantt charts. Whereas this will not be the very first thing you consider utilizing for social media planning, it’s helpful if you wish to plan out long-term content material campaigns that align with higher-level timelines.

There’s a free plan for particular person customers, overlaying as much as one mission and 60 duties, — it’s enough for preliminary technique planning earlier than rolling out to your staff.

Extra on TeamGantt: TeamGantt Evaluate.

Plan long-term content material campaigns and methods that tie in to your high-level enterprise objectives with this social media planner for TeamGantt. Picture: Teamgantt.com

This planner locations an emphasis on strategic planning past fundamental put up scheduling. You’ll be able to allocate time to analysis the market, outline your objectives, and in the end outline a technique that aligns with what you’ve uncovered.

You’ll additionally be capable of set distinctive objectives for every platform permitting you to distinguish between LinkedIn’s position in driving weblog site visitors versus Instagram’s concentrate on model consciousness.

The visible timeline format makes it straightforward to attach social content material to broader advertising and marketing initiatives, too.

Utilizing color-coded Gantt charts, groups from throughout your small business can simply visualize how your social technique matches in with the work they’re doing.

That is significantly true for occasions like product launches or seasonal promotions.

Whereas TeamGantt provides fewer mission views and customization alternatives than different instruments, its timeline targeted strategy serves groups that prioritize strategic alignment.

Notion: Social media planners to maximise productiveness

If you happen to prefer to tinker and customise templates as a lot as potential, Notion must be in your radar. It’s extra of a doc creator and light-weight database answer for brainstorming concepts, creating SOPs, and making a centralized workspace in your staff.

Notion’s free plan is nice for particular person customers however is extra of a free trial if you wish to use it along with your staff.

The 2 social media planners under work effectively collectively. However in the event you needed to choose only one, the primary has all you should get began.

Extra on Notion: Notion Evaluate | Notion vs Asana | Notion vs Confluence.

Template 1: Simplified content material administration

Notion has 1000’s of templates to select from, lots of which is able to work simply high-quality for managing social media content material. I like this one specifically due to its simplicity — it permits you to plan, handle, and monitor the whole lot from one display.

Posts may also be sorted by class, platform, or standing, making it straightforward to view your pipeline in several methods.

Caption: Keep organized with a easy, but extremely customizable social media planner for Notion. Picture: Notion.so

Though you’ll be able to handle your content material pipeline in a single view, there’s a separate board with customized fields for managing digital property.

You and your staff will be capable of monitor the standing of customized picture creation for each bit of content material, serving to you guarantee all visible necessities are met earlier than a put up is because of go reside.

This template additionally contains devoted areas for model property, channel tips, and staff assets.

As a result of Notion’s so customizable, you’ll be able to simply add on and construct out extra modules that join to one another in the event you’d like. The probabilities are infinite.

Template 2: AI-powered brainstorming and content material technology

If you happen to need assistance arising with new concepts, modifying, or writing content material, this template leverages AI to assist with all three. You’ll be able to simply pull it into your current workspace (or the template above in the event you resolve to make use of it).

It could additionally learn all the content material inside your workspace, together with SOPs, historic content material, upcoming content material, feedback, and extra.

Use Notion AI to brainstorm new concepts primarily based in your content material historical past for on-brand options each time. Picture: Notion.com

As a result of it will possibly perceive the whole lot you’ve already written, it has a leg up on different AI platforms. You don’t have to go away Notion to make use of it and it has way more context to provide you extra related options, ideas, and replica.

It could even make it easier to establish content material gaps, do fundamental analysis, get to know your target market, and extra.

Even in the event you construct a completely customized Notion setup to handle social media content material, you should utilize this template on high of it. It’s extremely versatile regardless of how you employ the platform.

Whereas this template by itself isn’t sufficient that will help you get began, the 2 mixed will help you create a streamlined workflow from ideation to execution.

Social media planners for Excel, Google Sheets, Microsoft Phrase, PDF, Google Docs, and PowerPoint

Undertaking administration platforms and related software program can get costly and will even be overkill. If you happen to’re working by your self or publishing fewer than 10 to fifteen posts a month, you’ll be able to most likely get by with one thing extra guide.

Easy spreadsheets and paperwork will be simply as efficient for managing social media content material.

Plus, you gained’t be tempted by all the additional options to convolute your workflow.

Template 1: A easy weekly social planning template

One of the best factor about this template (apart from its simplicity) is the variety of methods you’ll be able to obtain it. It’s accessible without spending a dime as an Excel, Phrase, PDF, PowerPoint, Google Docs, and Google Sheets template.

You’ll be able to obtain a clean model or one with pattern knowledge so you’ll be able to see it in motion earlier than changing the whole lot with your individual data.

Total, it provides a simple strategy to weekly content material planning.

Plan social content material over the following seven days without spending a dime with instruments you already use. Picture: Smartsheet.com

It makes use of a row-based system for every social channel, permitting you to plan content material of various sorts for every day of the week.

Relying on what model you obtain, you’ll be able to regulate it to match the channels you put up on, embrace precise dates as an alternative of days of the week, make duplicate copies, and even change the colours in the event you’d like.

Template 2: Audit your social media profiles

This spreadsheet-based template provides you a simple solution to consider social media efficiency earlier than planning new content material.

Designed for quarterly or semi-annual audits, it offers a side-by-side comparability of crucial metrics throughout totally different channels. Whether or not your channel is model new or established, it’s a good way to grasp what’s occurring.

Audit your social media calendar with this free template for Excel and Google Sheets. Picture: Smartsheet.com

With it, you’ll be capable of establish profitable methods and underperforming channels to tell future content material selections.

The draw back is it’s important to add your whole knowledge manually except you understand your manner round scripting. Though it possible gained’t take very lengthy to do your self, you run the chance of human error throughout knowledge entry.

That stated, this template may be very easy and efficient so long as you keep in mind to make use of it.

If you happen to don’t thoughts paying for Smartsheet, you can too use this template alongside its big selection of automation, collaboration, and app constructing capabilities.

How to decide on one of the best social media planner

There’s no common “finest” social media planner for everybody. Understanding your particular wants will information you in the fitting course.

Maybe crucial distinction is whether or not or not you propose to collaborate with a staff. If you happen to’re working by your self, you’re free to decide on no matter you’d like however I strongly suggest one thing so simple as potential. Google Sheets or one other free Microsoft Excel various is commonly greater than sufficient.

In case you are working with a staff, you must think about what they’re snug with, the way you’ll assign work, how they’ll view their work, and the way you’ll guarantee everybody’s on the identical web page.

One of the best mission administration options include way more collaborative capabilities. That stated, Google Sheets and Excel have come a good distance by way of including a few of these options as effectively. That stated, a devoted platform will most likely provide a greater general person expertise.

Other than that, you also needs to take into consideration:

  • Planning vs. planning and execution.
  • How far prematurely you need to plan.
  • Publishing quantity.
  • Visualization preferences.
  • Analytics and efficiency monitoring.
  • Integration necessities.
  • Cellular entry.
  • Asset administration.
  • Storage wants.

The only answer that checks all of the packing containers is probably going the most suitable choice. This may preserve you from including on extra bells and whistles than you want or losing time navigating a bunch of options you’re by no means going to make use of.

Ideas and finest practices for utilizing a social media planner

Planning social media content material can really feel intimidating with out the fitting instruments, processes, and methods in place. That is very true in the event you’ve by no means performed it or must study the device as you’re planning.

One of the best place to start out is with clear goals you’ll be able to break into smaller deliverables. This ensures the whole lot aligns along with your objectives so that you’re not posting for the sake of posting.

From there, you’ll be able to create mission milestones and begin to map out campaigns together with particular person items of content material on totally different channels.

Listed here are some extra finest practices to bear in mind:

  • Guarantee each piece of content material aligns to a excessive degree aim.
  • Think about creating themes to remain organized and on matter.
  • Embody a mixture of totally different content material sorts, like movies, pictures, and carousels.
  • Doc the whole lot, together with processes and model data.
  • Keep away from planning too far prematurely — issues change.
  • Hold a backlog of concepts you should utilize to fill in gaps.
  • Don’t skip over common audits and critiques.

Nevertheless, one of the best recommendation I can provide is to select a platform and keep it up for some time. After a number of months, you’ll have a greater thought of what works and what you’re lacking.

Then (and solely then) you’ll be able to think about switching to one thing that higher matches your wants.