10 Social Media Planners You Can Begin Utilizing Right this moment [FREE]

Success on social media begins with a stable plan. Relatively than posting when inspiration strikes, it’s necessary to zoom out to align content material along with your particular campaigns and general social media technique. Good social media planners may 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 giant content material groups that depend on visible cues and coloration coding to get work achieved. The software program expertly combines challenge administration rules with social media marketing in an intuitive and user-friendly approach.

Plus, it’s free for as much as two customers so you possibly can strive it out for some time with a small group earlier than deciding if it’s best for you.

It has every little thing it is advisable to plan new content material, keep organized, and observe the standing of your upcoming posts.

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

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

When recordsdata get too giant to add straight, you possibly can simply hyperlink them with Google Drive, Field, or Dropbox integrations as an alternative.

The template additionally connects with Facebook Adverts, letting you observe efficiency and tie it again to your assignments, high-level targets, and tasks with out leaving the platform.

For groups that want flexibility, monday.com affords every little thing you want, from calendar views and timelines to staff workload, Kanban boards, kinds, and extra.

ClickUp: Versatile social media administration for groups of all sizes

ClickUp affords complete challenge 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 Review | ClickUp vs Asana | ClickUp vs Notion.

Template 1: Easy cross-channel social media planning

Managing content material throughout a number of platforms could be tough. This templates you deal with frequent 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.

A notable benefit to utilizing this template is inbuilt information tacking. As a substitute of leaping between platforms to test analytics, you possibly can analyze put up efficiency proper inside the platform.

This makes it simple to determine profitable content material, sorts, and themes so you possibly can double down on what’s working.

The template additionally consists of 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 sophisticated different for planning, strategizing, and scheduling

The earlier template was on the easier 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.

General, it’s best for groups that deal with quite a lot of quantity and wish to keep up strategic overview whereas adhering to formal processes and high quality checks.

Other than statuses, it affords 5 customizable views plus distinctive options, like embedded X feeds and built-in SOP documentation you possibly can regulate for every channel.

As your campaigns and methods change, it’s additionally simple 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 total staff can keep looped in with customized alerts for process assignments and real-time notifications as content material strikes by means of your workflow.

Wrike: A social media planner for big groups

Wrike shines as a extra sturdy, inflexible, and complete resolution 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.

In the event you’re publishing tons of of posts each month throughout totally different channels, Wrike may help convey order and precision to the complexity.

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

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

You may simply arrange dynamic request kinds that permit non-marketing workers to submit content material concepts or content material requests, together with all the important particulars. Type submissions can embody every little thing from target market, put up sort, required property, lead targets, ROI tasks, deadlines, and extra.

These submissions routinely populate your backlog for scheduling, prioritizing, and assigning to the correct 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 challenge administration instrument, nevertheless it’s finest for companies or freelancers who repeatedly work with shoppers.

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

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

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

Groups could be devoted to consumer workspaces, shoppers can solely see what you permit them to, there are administration approval roles, and everybody can simply observe progress whereas sustaining open (and arranged) communication.

Each consumer has their very own account and permissions so you possibly can maintain social media content material organized with out by accident looping in somebody who shouldn’t be there.

You’ll have the ability to arrange particular person content material backlogs, calendars, plans, and tasks for every consumer. You may also handle suggestions and revisions in the identical place.

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

They’ve critically considered every little thing.

TeamGantt: Strategic, timeline-based social planning

Because the identify implies, TeamGantt makes a speciality of Gantt charts. Whereas this might 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, masking as much as one challenge and 60 duties, — it’s enough for preliminary technique planning earlier than rolling out to your staff.

Extra on TeamGantt: TeamGantt Review.

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

You’ll additionally have the ability to set distinctive targets for every platform permitting you to distinguish between LinkedIn’s position in driving blog site visitors versus Instagram’s concentrate on model consciousness.

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

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

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

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

Notion: Social media planners to maximise productiveness

In the event you prefer to tinker and customise templates as a lot as doable, Notion needs to be in your radar. It’s extra of a doc creator and light-weight database resolution for brainstorming concepts, creating SOPs, and making a centralized workspace to 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 properly collectively. However should you needed to decide only one, the primary has all it is advisable to get began.

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

Template 1: Simplified content material administration

Notion has hundreds of templates to select from, a lot of which can work simply effective for managing social media content material. I like this one specifically due to its simplicity — it permits you to plan, handle, and monitor every little thing from one display screen.

Posts can be sorted by class, platform, or standing, making it simple to view your pipeline in numerous methods.

Though you possibly can 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 have the ability to 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 consists of devoted areas for model property, channel pointers, and staff sources.

As a result of Notion’s so customizable, you possibly can simply add on and construct out extra modules that join to one another should you’d like. The chances are countless.

Template 2: AI-powered brainstorming and content material era

In the event you need assistance developing with new concepts, modifying, or writing content material, this template leverages AI to assist with all three. You may simply pull it into your current workspace (or the template above should you determine to make use of it).

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

As a result of it could actually perceive every little thing 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 much more context to provide you extra related strategies, suggestions, and duplicate.

It could actually even aid you determine content material gaps, do fundamental analysis, get to know your target market, and extra.

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

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

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

Venture administration platforms and comparable software program can get costly and will even be overkill. In the event you’re working by your self or publishing fewer than 10 to fifteen posts a month, you possibly can most likely get by with one thing extra guide.

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

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

Template 1: A easy weekly social planning template

The very best factor about this template (except for its simplicity) is the variety of methods you possibly can obtain it. It’s obtainable without cost as an Excel, Phrase, PDF, PowerPoint, Google Docs, and Google Sheets template.

You may obtain a clean model or one with pattern information so you possibly can see it in motion earlier than changing every little thing with your individual data.

General, it affords an easy strategy to weekly content material planning.

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 possibly can regulate it to match the channels you put up on, embody precise dates as an alternative of days of the week, make duplicate copies, and even change the colours should you’d like.

Template 2: Audit your social media profiles

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

Designed for quarterly or semi-annual audits, it gives 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 happening.

With it, you’ll have the ability to determine profitable methods and underperforming channels to tell future content material selections.

The draw back is you need to add your entire information manually until your approach round scripting. Though it probably received’t take very lengthy to do your self, you run the chance of human error throughout information entry.

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

In the event you don’t thoughts paying for Smartsheet, you too can use this template alongside its wide selection of automation, collaboration, and app constructing capabilities.

How to decide on the perfect social media planner

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

Maybe crucial distinction is whether or not or not you propose to collaborate with a staff. In the event you’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 doable. Google Sheets or one other free Microsoft Excel alternative is commonly greater than sufficient.

In case you are working with a staff, you need to contemplate what they’re comfy 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.

The best project management solutions include much more collaborative capabilities. That stated, Google Sheets and Excel have come a good distance in terms of including a few of these options as properly. 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.
• Mobile entry.
• Asset administration.
• Storage wants.

The best resolution that checks all of the containers is probably going the best choice. This may maintain 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.

Suggestions and finest practices for utilizing a social media planner

Planning social media content material can really feel intimidating with out the correct instruments, processes, and methods in place. That is very true should you’ve by no means achieved it or should be taught the instrument as you’re planning.

The very best place to start out is with clear aims you possibly can break into smaller deliverables. This ensures every little thing aligns along with your targets so that you’re not posting for the sake of posting.

From there, you possibly can create project milestones and begin to map out campaigns together with particular person items of content material on totally different channels.

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

• Guarantee each piece of content material aligns to a excessive degree objective.
• Take into account creating themes to remain organized and on matter.
• Embody a mixture of totally different content material sorts, like movies, photographs, and carousels.
• Doc every little thing, together with processes and model data.
• Keep away from planning too far prematurely — issues change.
• Hold a backlog of concepts you need to use to fill in gaps.
• Don’t skip over common audits and critiques.

Nevertheless, the perfect recommendation I may give is to choose 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 possibly can contemplate switching to one thing that higher matches your wants.